Let the Fearmongering Continue
22 May 2009 9:00 am by Taylor Marsh
–updated–
It’s the how low can you go? game, with Michael Steele and the Republicans. Desperation time and it’s not even an election season.
The web ad is a take off on the famous “Daisy” ad taken to new lows. This time it’s not nuclear war to fear, but the closure of Guantanamo. Nuclear war equals closing Gitmo? Mind you, at the time the ad aired it was considered so over the line that as soon as it was aired it was pulled. It also didn’t help the Republicans at the time, and boy do they need help right now.
But it is special that a couple of Senate Democrats, Reid and Webb, provide the sound, with Robert Gibbs offering the exclamation. How Greg Craig allowed the President and Mr. Gibbs to be caught in this position I’ll never understand.
The RNC relishes this stuff, as you can see in Charles Krauthammer’s column today. Trying to make the case that Obama plans a national security strategy akin to what Bush did in his Administration, just with a little different window dressing.
I don’t remember Bush saying anything about Israel getting rid of settlements do you? That’s because he didn’t. Bush also didn’t lift a finger in the Middle East, except to aid Israel in a war with Lebanon that was a disaster for them.
I also don’t remember Bush doing anything concrete in Afghanistan after bombing them to smithereens. Instead, he invaded a country that wasn’t a clear and present danger to this country, tipping the balance of power towards Iran.
As for Pakistan, Bush’s Musharaff policy got us into the mess over there. All Bush did was prop up a man who was actually not helping our aims in Pakistan at all, while completely ignoring the unraveling.
As for our alliances, Bush-Cheney obliterated relations with most of our Arab allies so that President Obama basically has to start from scratch.
On the other hand, you simply cannot contend that you’re going to continue military tribunals, only with a twist, after promising change and think blowback won’t occur.
You cannot say you’re bringing change then reverse decision on releasing torture photos, which was hailed by the right and Dick Cheney as not only a flip flop, but siding with the Bush administration.
You cannot talk about law and order and the Constitution throughout a mostly laudable national security speech then say the people who concocted U.S. torture policy should not be held accountable.
And you cannot talk about ending DADT then think a long winding court route to ending it will bring cheers from die hard supporters who thought change meant reversal.
It’s going to take a lot more than one speech to break away from Bush’s policies. Action in the opposite direction on the things that caused Bush-Cheney to be held in such contempt would be a good start. You know, like this.
UPDATE: McClatchy has an excellent round up of some of the things Cheney didn’t talk about.
