the war on dissent
drowning in a flood of bad polls, the Prez is in the midst of a pr offensive (who said this adminstration doesn't watch the polls?). a new poll by the American Research Group has Bush's approval rating at just 36% - actually lower than Nixon's (39%) at the depth of the Watergate scandal. apparently demonizing the majority of the American public is part of the White House strategy:
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at any rate, if the public is dissatisfied with the war, wait till they see the bill: Quote:
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I wouldn't even call it a war on dissent. Where are the dissenting ideas?
All you hear is bitching and wailing about whatever the administration is doing, never any viable alternatives. Maybe a 'war on baseless knee-jerk opposition to the US' is a more appropriate term. |
"the total outlay for the war could stretch to more than $1.3 trillion, or $11,300 for every household in the United States."
Luckily, 95% of that bill will be paid by the richest 5% of Americans. So much for tax cuts for the rich, eh? |
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'Cause when everyone gets the same tax cut it's the rich that always get the biggest cut, right? At least that's what I keep hearing. :RE: I don't know what the actual numbers are, but I bet I'm close. Anyway, over seven years, $11,300 comes to $1,614.29 annually, cheaper than the price of a plasma TV. Some families actually pay less than half that, while others pay more than twice that number. It's really not that big a deal in my opinion. We're one of the richest nations on Earth, I think we'll be able to bear the monetary costs of this war.
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but free association and the linkage of unrelated events seems to be your Dear Leader's modus operandi these days as well. in a week of pr events designed to prop up his slumping support, the Prez is trying to push every emotional hot button his speech writers can think of, regardless of relevance. in a speech in to a vet's convention in Salt Lake, Bush mentioned 9/11 no less than 6 times in a 30 minute speech, well aware that there is absolutely zero connection between 9/11 and iraq. the inference that war support is slipping because we've all forgotten 9/11 is insulting to say the least - i know of no one who has fogotten 9/11, do you? in another speech this week, Bush claimed the terrorrists "had converged on Iraq" and that pulling U.S. troops out would only embolden them. he neglects to point out the violence in Iraq is largely the result of the Sunni insurgency, directed at US troops, and in fact, very few of the people in US custody in Iraq had ever been involved in anything political prior to the US occupation. the "converging terrorist" spin correlates the "fight them in Iraq so we do't have to fight them in the streets of the US" theory, which presumes that the average iraqi insurgent would have been on his way to New York a long time ago, had we not invaded Iraq. but while the war on terror is as subjective as ever, the war on dissent is sharpening. the Prez picked up a strong ally in the bid to stifle and demonize war critics: Quote:
hmm...why don't we just cut to the chase and suspend the consitutional rights to free assembly, free speech, and freedom of the press? edit: Rocky Anderson, Mayor of Salt Lake City, has got some cajones and he's not afraid to make a stand in the strongest Bush state in the country. at a demonstration outside the same vets convention where the Prez was speaking, he laid it down right: Quote:
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Everyone wants consensus, that's what this whole discussion is about. You can't force people to agree with you, but you can make concessions for the sake of unity as long as being right all the time isn't the most important thing for you. The war is loosing support here at home, and we're comming to a consensus as a result. So the real issue isn't whether we get out of Iraq but when. We all want the occupation to end as soon as possible, that much is certain. There's no reason to stay there a day longer than we have to. I don't see this as a war on dissent so much as a disagreement on the timetable for an already agreed upon withdrawal. The problem is that most people don't know what has to happen for a peaceful retreat to occur. I'm not a military strategist, and neither is anybody here as far as I know. Likewise, most people don't know what kind of shape Iraq would be in if we left too soon or stayed too long. The fact that a majority of Americans want an immediate withdrawal means squat because, God love 'em, they really don't know what they're talking about. At any rate, I won't support a hasty pull-out any more than you supported a rush to war. I think that if we've learned anything from this whole thing it's that getting all in a hurry to do something never yields the desired results. I always say 'there's always time to do it right.' |
stung by the undiminished presence of Cindy Sheehan, the "peace mom", and a growing anti-war movement, the White House today trotted out Tammy Pruett, the "war mom":
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Perhaps they should, but their reactions to the changes in Iraq aren't poll driven. I imagine Bush has more people working on Iraq than on his public image.
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one of reasons the administration gets away with a financial fiasco like the iraq war is because most americans don't see the bill and aren't smart enough to make the connection between a multi-billion dollar war and high taxes, underfunded schools, underpaid teachers, high college costs, reduced mental health services, reduced government aid programs, medicare cutbacks, projected Social Security bankruptcy, national parks cutbacks, rotting roads and bridges, etc etc., not to mention staggering national debt, which falls on future generations with the same effect. |
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- js. |
Taken from the same link/page that the knife posted.
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I still remember how before the war George read a letter to the nation written by a pre teen girl who told him she understood that her daddy could be killed in Iraq but that she is willing to “give” her dad to George. I mean come on, if a pre teen girl - imho the love of a pre teen girl for her dad is nothing short of unconditional - can understand such a thing, the line between terrorists and a minority within your country is getting thin. Quote:
Did she ever claim that she was speaking for the entire nation? If she didn’t this is one hell of an empty one liner. Talk about empty one liners Quote:
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It would be nice to get an invoice every month itemizing everything my taxes pay for. All I get now is a pay stub that shows how much they take from me every two weeks. When I pay for water, electricity, phone, and even sewer services I get itemized bills, why not for taxes?
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But it's good you didn't see them, the sight of brave americans serving their country would probably send you into a shrieking hysteria. |
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Yeah, yeah, this isn't a democracy, I know that. :dhorse: (<--that got added quickly!) Still, it might make getting re-elected more difficult for some people. There are a lot of watchdog groups out there, and there's always the freedom of information act, but that isn't always enough.
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It was a quick addy indeed :)
Wonder who made it an official smilie, was only ment to an addy to toyboy's post. tg? |
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Ok, now proceed with the debate... :abd: - tg :WA: |
great op-ed piece by fallen Dem and one-time contender Gary Hart:
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