DETROIT -- The radical blabbermouths reverberating in the "shout politics" forums found great opportunities in Osama bin Laden's latest communication. They bowed to our low expectations of their work as they spread fear and lies and tried to protect President George W. Bush from any criticism, while the al-Qaeda leader hurled more threats. Only traitors challenge our noble leader in these perilous times. We are in a war! Wake up, America!
With the season of Lent just around the corner and penitential exercise a virtue, I just happened to spot disgraced former house speaker Newt Gingrich on "Hannity and colmes" last week. Thanks to Al Franken for the apt lower-case relegation of that carefully chosen "liberal" who cowers to Hannity's bullying and makes Caspar Milquetoast seem like the Incredible Hulk. "Gee, Sean, I don't think you're telling the whole story. That's not fair," colmes said, doing his liberal-prop duties.
I did my penance, paying a small price for the wages of sin, listening to Gingrich and the loathsome Mr. Hannity pontificate and pat each other on the back as they suggested that critics of Bush's war on terrorism, especially liberals, are aiding and abetting bin Laden.
Gingrich took a short leave from his new post as moral guidance counselor for the Republican Congress -- that's sort of like, well, Rush Limbaugh lecturing pill-poppers -- to appear on the Fox News Channel show to explain that Democratic critics of Bush are saying much nastier things about him than bin Laden.
Gingrich touted his "great idea." He wants right-wing talk show hosts to pick the 50 harshest criticisms of Bush's war in Iraq and show how those words are meaner than bin Laden's attacks on the president.
What an inspirational exercise in civic virtue! Hannity loved it. You could just see his undereducated, poorly read, overly opinionated mind ready to pounce, spinning and churning. Hannity is a blind Bushevik who tries to use conservative ideology as a fig leaf for his partisan harangues.
Gingrich and Hannity ranted away as colmes sat silently by, not wanting to upset his corporate sponsors. Newt and Sean then huffed about how the words of Bush's war critics provide comfort for bin Laden as he contemplates American domestic politics. They figure the world's most feared terrorist spends his days watching cable news, smoking a hookah and getting dialysis treatments in his bat cave in the mountains of Pakistan. He dances a little jig when critics slam Bush. Nonsense.
Osama bin Laden doesn't think in terms of U.S. election cycles and the fleeting fancies of public opinion. While American political culture morphs in moments, bin Laden's base -- that's what al-Qaeda means -- is steadily committed, and everything he does is framed in careful planning and execution spanning years and decades.
In his latest message, he reminded us of his past achievements in Afghanistan fighting the Soviets in those days when the CIA supported bin Laden. He promised more of the same. "Don't let your strength and modern arms fool you," bin Laden said in the recorded message. "They win a few battles but lose the war. Patience and steadfastness are much better. We were patient in fighting the Soviet Union with simple weapons for 10 years and we bled their economy and now they are nothing. In that there is a lesson for you."
Bin Laden sees ephemeral American politicians as insignificant in his plans. His rage and wrath are rooted in centuries and eras. He wants the restoration of the caliphate and a vast, omnipotent Islamic theocracy, purged of the evil forces and influences of the West.
The al-Qaeda leader effectively thanked Bush for invading Iraq and revitalizing his mass murder organization and recruitment efforts. "Iraq has become a point of attraction and restorer of our energies." bin Laden said.
The U.K. Guardian marveled at bin Laden's resilience. "The most wanted man in the world has proved again that he has an unrivaled ability to cock a snook at the American-led global manhunt against him," the Guardian reported. "Cock a snook" -- the colorful Britishism for the American "thumb your nose" -- is just what bin Laden is doing.
He offered a truce to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan so "both sides can enjoy security and stability," and stop "wasting billions of dollars that have gone to those with influence and merchants of war in America who have supported Bush's election campaign." That got Vice President Dick Cheney out of his cave and he quickly declared al-Qaeda was on the run and the truce offer was a "ploy."
Bin Laden predicted the "ultimate defeat" of American forces in Iraq. "Declaring this defeat is just a matter of time, depending partly on how much the American people know of the size of this tragedy. The sensible people realize that Bush does not have a plan to make his alleged victory in Iraq come true." Bin Laden has all the time in the world. The politicians who planned the invasion of Iraq and hear the footsteps of an upcoming election don't.
The Busheviks are gearing up for that and the president's brain, "Turd Blossom" Karl Rove, is already out on the stump accusing Democrats of being soft on terrorism because many of them oppose Bush's illegal and unconstitutional phone-tapping -- an impeachable offense in the eyes of the enlightened.
Last Friday, Rove told the GOP crowd that critics of Bush's trampling on the Fourth Amendment and basic civil liberties were making "wild and reckless" charges. Then Rove feigned the high road, "This doesn't make them unpatriotic, not at all. But it does make them wrong, wrong deeply, and profoundly and consistently."
The Democrats are weak on terrorism and unpatriotic. That will be the Republican rebel yell this November.
Rove's surrogates are already targeting Congressman John Murtha, a wounded and decorated Marine Corps veteran who dared to call for an orderly withdrawal from Iraq to save American lives. Now, right out of the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" play book and lie machine, the vermin and sleazes Rove brings into his turd circle are questioning Murtha's war record.
The Murtha smear is no surprise to James Webb, who served as secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration. Webb, who is now a best-selling author, wrote in an op-ed piece in The New York Times, "After all, in recent years extremist Republican operatives have inverted a longstanding principle: that our combat veterans be accorded a place of honor in political circles. This trend began with the ugly insinuations leveled at Senator John McCain during the 2000 Republican primaries and continued with the slurs against Senators Max Cleland and John Kerry, and now Mr. Murtha."
Bush loves to cast himself as a beloved figure and friend of the U.S Armed Forces. He can't wait to put on a military jacket to address a uniformed audience about "progress" in his war.
But Webb, who served as a Marine platoon and company commander in Vietnam, finds Bush's use of people in uniform disturbing. "Military people past and present have good reason to wonder if the current administration truly values their service beyond its immediate effect on its battlefield of choice. The casting of suspicion and doubt about the actions of veterans who have run against President Bush or opposed his policies has been a constant theme of his career."
Webb blasted Bush's strategy in Iraq, posing the crunch question, "Under what circumstances will the United States military withdraw from Iraq?" He's never heard a good answer. Webb says bluntly, "If you can't answer the question, then you shouldn't have been there in the first place."
Bush is trying to use war to promote his agenda. Rove told the Republican faithful the republic requires "a commander in chief and a Congress who understand the nature of the threat. ... Unfortunately the same cannot be said for many Democrats."
Rove, Cheney, Gingrich, DeLay, Wolfowitz, College Republicans and all their sorry ilk can dodge their connection to the war they fostered, but not the few good men and women Webb cares deeply about. "A young American now serving in Iraq might rightly wonder whether his or her service will be deliberately misconstrued 20 years from now, in the next rendition of politically motivated spinmeisters who never had the courage to step forward and put their own lives on the line."
There is a grassroots campaign underway to get Webb to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Virginia -- as a Democrat. That's a marvelous idea. We need brave forthright voices in Congress.
Over in the House, John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich are supporting Murtha and his views on Iraq. The Senate is another story. There, far too many high-profile Democrats sound like they belong to the GOP Lite Party.
Joe Lieberman is a lost cause and should get a primary for his unflinching support of Bush's madness. The White House's favorite Democrat deserves another kiss from the Shrub and early retirement.
Columnist Molly Ivins, the national treasure from Texas, has Hillary Rodham Clinton's number and sees how the New York senator's presidential aspirations ought to be judged.
Hillary, who treated Cindy Sheehan like she was Typhoid Mary, has never admitted any error in her support of Bush's horrible war, and instead dances all over the most important issue before us.
"Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation," Ivins wrote. "Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone. This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq and that alone is enough to disqualify her."
Our nation needs leaders like Jim Webb. We have far too many Hillary Rodham Clintons.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | Jan. 24 2006 |