Monday, October 25, 2004
Attack the Real Enemy
It’s really not George Bush that Kerry is running against. He’s running against Karl Rove. It would be a highly educational move for the public if the Kerry campaign were to explain this, because although probably many people recognize “that those ads are full of lies,” it’s not likely that they realize to what degree.
I don’t understand why Karl Rove is so feared and considered to be such a genius. He’s not a genius. He’s simply unscrupulous and criminal. There’s nothing too low for him to pull. Plus he’s worked out a few simple tricks that have been successful time after time merely because they’re unbelievable. He has a pattern of attacking somebody directly on his strengths. Who would imagine – I’m sure Kerry didn’t – that Rove would have the guts to attack Kerry on his war record? Because it’s so outrageous, and because the innocent public probably imagine that nobody would simply invent from scratch such a massive lie, they think there must be something behind it.
It’s almost impossible to defend yourself against a completely baseless accusation. (As Lyndon Johnson famously recognized, insinuating that his opponent was a little too intimate with farm animals.) The attacked person flounders and looks foolish. Well, the correct way isn’t to refute the lie, especially since the press isn’t much interested in refutations. They like attacks. So what you do is attack the correct target, and attack with truth, not lies. Attack George Bush – but more than that, bring the fight directly to the real enemy, Karl Rove. Don’t let him hide in the background! Give him the celebrity he deserves! You probably can’t prove what he’s doing in this particular election. But pick out every filthy trick he’s been shown to have done in the past and draw the parallels. Show how Bush via Karl has fought election after election with jaw-dropping lies. Detail them. They make great copy. Let’s see the Bushies do some refuting for a change.
Remember that most people are ignorant about both Bush and Kerry and everything that’s been going on under their noses. They probably base their voting decision on only one or two bits of information they picked up somewhere – something memorable. If you can memorably discredit Bush’s whole campaign he will have nobody left but his groupies to re-elect him. And it’ll be a lot harder for Karl Rove to push through outrageous lies when everybody’s saying, “Oh, here comes another illegitimate black baby!”
I don’t understand why Karl Rove is so feared and considered to be such a genius. He’s not a genius. He’s simply unscrupulous and criminal. There’s nothing too low for him to pull. Plus he’s worked out a few simple tricks that have been successful time after time merely because they’re unbelievable. He has a pattern of attacking somebody directly on his strengths. Who would imagine – I’m sure Kerry didn’t – that Rove would have the guts to attack Kerry on his war record? Because it’s so outrageous, and because the innocent public probably imagine that nobody would simply invent from scratch such a massive lie, they think there must be something behind it.
It’s almost impossible to defend yourself against a completely baseless accusation. (As Lyndon Johnson famously recognized, insinuating that his opponent was a little too intimate with farm animals.) The attacked person flounders and looks foolish. Well, the correct way isn’t to refute the lie, especially since the press isn’t much interested in refutations. They like attacks. So what you do is attack the correct target, and attack with truth, not lies. Attack George Bush – but more than that, bring the fight directly to the real enemy, Karl Rove. Don’t let him hide in the background! Give him the celebrity he deserves! You probably can’t prove what he’s doing in this particular election. But pick out every filthy trick he’s been shown to have done in the past and draw the parallels. Show how Bush via Karl has fought election after election with jaw-dropping lies. Detail them. They make great copy. Let’s see the Bushies do some refuting for a change.
Remember that most people are ignorant about both Bush and Kerry and everything that’s been going on under their noses. They probably base their voting decision on only one or two bits of information they picked up somewhere – something memorable. If you can memorably discredit Bush’s whole campaign he will have nobody left but his groupies to re-elect him. And it’ll be a lot harder for Karl Rove to push through outrageous lies when everybody’s saying, “Oh, here comes another illegitimate black baby!”
Monday, October 18, 2004
The upcoming debacle
I guess you could say I’m pessimistic, but I’m really not looking forward to November.
I’m certain now that the only way the Republicans are going to win this presidential election is if they cheat. And you know they’re going to, there’s evidence that they’ve been doing it already one way or another in a number of locations – that we've heard about. Throwing away Democratic voter registrations in several states, sloughing off thousands of alleged “felons” in Florida – again – intimidating elderly black people, etc., etc., etc. Trying all the same old tricks again. And who knows what other tricks we haven’t heard about yet. And of course, all this is not to mention the very real fears most of us have about those weird little gambling gadgets they’re calling touchscreen voting machines.
The real horror is going to begin after the polls close on November 2 – when every damn precinct in the country erupts with some kind of lawsuit. Okay, maybe only two-thirds of them. I’m afraid the upcoming election aftermath is going to make the 2000 one look like a snooze on the beach.
You already know that the Republicans, if they lose the Presidential race, will flatly refuse to admit defeat. They’re not going to abandon power merely because they were outvoted. And the Democrats, if they lose, will be profoundly, unshakably suspicious they were cheated. It’s going to be a knock-down, drag-out brawl, and I’m afraid that however the results come out, this country will be more divided than ever.
If Kerry becomes President, you know the Bush true believers will never give him even the chance that Clinton got. Let’s hope he at least has a Democratic majority in the Senate to work with. Regardless of that, it’ll be nag, nag, nag, lie, lie, lie, squabble, squabble, squabble, for his entire term, no matter what he does. If Bush stays on, the whole world will turn its back on us, and half of this country will be in hysterics. Or there’ll be an unprecedented emigration. And if in fact it is finally decided that Kerry is going to take over in January, God knows what the neocons will come up with in the time remaining before they have to go. After all, the last thing this administration is going to want to happen is to have somebody come in who hasn’t already agreed to grant them amnesty for every move they made over the last four years.
Come to think of it, maybe Kerry should simply volunteer to do that right up front. Although the administration will scream and yell and scoff, it might calm them down a little in the long run. Maybe. On the other hand, it’ll more likely be taken as a sign of weakness and he’ll just be attacked that much harder once the crooks have made their getaway.
No... I’m definitely not looking forward to November. Or the next four years. And – my goodness, if he does actually become President, look at the catastrophic mess the poor man is going to have to clean up! Poor John Kerry, I feel for you. I feel for us all.
I’m certain now that the only way the Republicans are going to win this presidential election is if they cheat. And you know they’re going to, there’s evidence that they’ve been doing it already one way or another in a number of locations – that we've heard about. Throwing away Democratic voter registrations in several states, sloughing off thousands of alleged “felons” in Florida – again – intimidating elderly black people, etc., etc., etc. Trying all the same old tricks again. And who knows what other tricks we haven’t heard about yet. And of course, all this is not to mention the very real fears most of us have about those weird little gambling gadgets they’re calling touchscreen voting machines.
The real horror is going to begin after the polls close on November 2 – when every damn precinct in the country erupts with some kind of lawsuit. Okay, maybe only two-thirds of them. I’m afraid the upcoming election aftermath is going to make the 2000 one look like a snooze on the beach.
You already know that the Republicans, if they lose the Presidential race, will flatly refuse to admit defeat. They’re not going to abandon power merely because they were outvoted. And the Democrats, if they lose, will be profoundly, unshakably suspicious they were cheated. It’s going to be a knock-down, drag-out brawl, and I’m afraid that however the results come out, this country will be more divided than ever.
If Kerry becomes President, you know the Bush true believers will never give him even the chance that Clinton got. Let’s hope he at least has a Democratic majority in the Senate to work with. Regardless of that, it’ll be nag, nag, nag, lie, lie, lie, squabble, squabble, squabble, for his entire term, no matter what he does. If Bush stays on, the whole world will turn its back on us, and half of this country will be in hysterics. Or there’ll be an unprecedented emigration. And if in fact it is finally decided that Kerry is going to take over in January, God knows what the neocons will come up with in the time remaining before they have to go. After all, the last thing this administration is going to want to happen is to have somebody come in who hasn’t already agreed to grant them amnesty for every move they made over the last four years.
Come to think of it, maybe Kerry should simply volunteer to do that right up front. Although the administration will scream and yell and scoff, it might calm them down a little in the long run. Maybe. On the other hand, it’ll more likely be taken as a sign of weakness and he’ll just be attacked that much harder once the crooks have made their getaway.
No... I’m definitely not looking forward to November. Or the next four years. And – my goodness, if he does actually become President, look at the catastrophic mess the poor man is going to have to clean up! Poor John Kerry, I feel for you. I feel for us all.
