Guest Contributor
Rob Griffith
Rob Griffith is a graduate of Cal-Poly and News Director for KTKZ, KFIA, KCEE and KKFS - Salem Radio Network cluster in Sacramento, California.[go to Guest index]

Critical of the Bush Administration...
The Elements...
[Rob Griffith] 6/30/04

More and more, support for the re-election of President Bush is slipping, at least according to the most recent polls. This erosion is taking place in the great middle ground of undecided voters, the ones least engaged in the depth of current events and the political process, the ones who are most malleable in their opinions, and, the ones who ultimately decide elections.

So far, the Democrats, with their cohorts in the mainstream press, have succeeded in delivering their message, playing off some 15 elements of "conventional wisdom," then weaving all this into the ‘Big Lie’ that “…the country is headed in the wrong direction!”

The elements:

Bush lied about Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.

Truth: everyone responsible knows there were WMDs in Iraq; the question now is what happened to them.

The Iraq War was launched because Saddam was not cooperating with UN mandates. The international debate at the time was whether or not to allow more time for inspections. Nobody of recognition was arguing there were no weapons.

Bill Clinton lied, but it was just about sex.

President Clinton was impeached because of a long pattern of obstruction of justice and manipulation of witnesses, of which his conduct to obscure the Monica Lewinski investigation was just the last in string starting with the Whitewater Land deals. President Bush hasn't lied about anything.

Bush attacked Iraq to make up for the "mistakes" of his father.

Truth: His father was following a U.N. mandate to repel Iraq from Kuwait, not to overthrow Iraq.

Bush attacked Iraq just to grab oil. (Fighting a war for oil.)

Truth: the oil and its wealth are being used to rebuild Iraq, and is being sold on the world market. This process that would be proceeding faster if it wasn't for outside sabotage by world leaders and political opponents.

Iraq is a quagmire, just like Vietnam.

Truth: Those soldiers and contractors who have actually spent time in Iraq are amazed at the slanted media coverage coming out of that country, showing only the negative aspects, and not the positive.

The Invasion of Iraq increased the threat of terror to the U.S.

9-11 took place after years of holding back against Muslim terrorists. The lesson they were learning is that the U.S. was a paper tiger. So, fighting back is encouraging these cowards?

The Bush Administration has sought to stifle dissent, making the country less free.

Nobody who has exercised dissent against the Bush foreign policy has been threatened with loss of freedom or property. But apparently, some people think it's wrong for the Administration to respond to criticism of its policies, especially when that criticism can and has been used to aid and comfort our terrorist enemies. That's not censorship or oppression. But freedom of expression does not mean freedom from response. The Administration enjoys freedom of expression, too.

Bush approved the torture of prisoners.

This was hardly torture, it was carried out by low-level members of the National Guard, and there is no clear connection between that abuse and the White House, and in fact, just the opposite has been shown. (Right CNN?)

The 9-11 Commission says there's no connection between Saddam Hussein and Al-Queda.

A staff level report (not the finished Commission report) stated there was no clear connection between the 9-11 attacks and Saddam Hussein. And, there are numerous pieces of intelligence showing long-term connections between Al-Queda leadership and the Saddam regime.

Bush has no exit strategy.

Hello. The exit has starting with the new government of Iraq on June 28th.

The economy is in shambles (not like when Bill Clinton was President.)

Truth: Bill Clinton inherited a rising economy, and even despite the once-in a lifetime high tech boom, managed to drive it into the ground during his last year in office.

President Bush inherited a plunging economy, and despite 9-11, has turned the economy around, with recovery first in the financial markets, and now into solid job growth. Unlike the boom of the 90's, this growth is on a solid footing.

Bush gave tax cuts to the rich.

Truth: Bush gave tax cuts to the people who actually pay taxes. The ones who pay the most the most taxes get the biggest breaks. Those who don't pay net taxes didn't get tax breaks.

The United States has never led a strike to remove a dictator from power that hadn't directly attacked the U.S.

Slobidon Milosivich might take issue with that assertion.

The U.S. is going it alone in Iraq, and has enraged the rest of the World with its arrogance.

Despite the U.N. taking a pass, The Iraq war has been conducted by a coalition of 37 countries. While its true Western Europe elites, (a rising hotbed of anti-Semitism, by the way) the Russians, the Chinese, and the Middle East outside of Israel don't like what the U.S. is doing, who really cares? (Russia and China have both paid dearly for the loss of Saddam's regime.) If the U.S. has no monopoly on morality, which country would you point to that does? And consensus does not equate to moral superiority.

Bush is out of control, stepping on the rights of Americans.

While there has been a tightening of control in the U.S. post 9-11, this is in direct response to those terrorist strikes. A war footing changes things. President Lincoln tossed out the rule of Habeas Corpus during the Civil War to prevent the Maryland Legislature from seceding, leaving Washington D.C. surrounded by the Confederacy.

President Roosevelt ordered the West Coast Japanese population into concentration camps over sabotage concerns. Bush hasn't come close to approaching either act. At the end of the day, Lincoln is remembered for his resolve in protecting the Union, and for liberating slaves, Roosevelt is remembered for leading the world in liberating Western Europe, Africa, and Asia, and Bush will likely be remembered for liberating Iraq and setting the bar on how to effectively wage war on terrorism.

With the help of the mainstream press - and the likes of Michael Moore – only one message, the anti-Bush message is being heard. John Kerry is free to engage is his focus group politics, making ridiculous assertions such as how providing high speed internet to the inner cities is going to create a half-trillion dollars in wealth. He's getting a free ride with his message of government giveaways, giveaways that are tailored to whatever group he's addressing at the particular time. With the press focused on foreign policy, nobody's taking a critical look at what it is Kerry's saying. And when it comes to foreign policy, Kerry really has presented no great difference in how to engage Iraq, except to turn more responsibility (control) over to the U.N.

The challenge for Bush is to deliver these truths in a new coherent message to the American people, or 2005 will see the swearing in of President Kerry. Should that occur, America will again be subject to a President without honor, without resolve, without determination to lead in the face of poll taking and focus groups. The very factors that threw America into 9-11, and gave us the War on Terrorism - like it or not. CRO

copyright 2004 Rob Griffith

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