I'm on everyone's email list. In addition to every kind of spam imaginable, I get regular emails from the NRDC, from Moveon.org, from the NRA, from the Cato Institute and most recently from my fellow Franklin & Marshall graduate Ken Mehlman at the Republican National Committee.
Ken emailed to let me (and probably a million others) know about a new video the RNC has put together showcasing comments by prominent Democrats on the need to go to war with Iraq. It's quite a selection, covering a five year period and featuring all the major luminaries of the party from Pelosi to Reid to a Clinton doubleheader. The video wraps up with a segment from President Bush's speech on Veterans day. The production values are nice and the message is clear, but it just doesn't work as well as it could have.
The clips from the Democrats on the video are pretty damning. They're not just supportive of war with Iraq, most of them are downright enthusiastic. They're voices of absolute conviction expressing certainty that Saddam has WMDs, that he's a threat to the US and that the only way to save the world is to remove him from power, and many of the statements are from after the war began or from the critical period when the Clinton administration was laying the groundwork for the war that Bush eventually executed. There's no qualification or equivocation, they sound about as hawkish as anyone I've ever heard. Knowing what these same people are saying now the hypocrisy is too obvious to ignore.
Yet the concluding section from Bush's speech is a real mistake. I guess it works if the video is intended for an audience of party loyalists, but I can't believe that's who they are targeting. Bush's comments are from the section of his speech where he condemns Democrats for changing their positions and trying to rewrite history for purely partisan reasons. It's the obvious criticism, but placed right after the statements from the Democrats it makes it look very much like Bush is lowering himself to their level, and it certainly is obvious. We can figure it out perfectly well without his explanation. Up until that point their own words stand as an incontrovertible testament to their hypocrisy. Nothing more really needs to be said, unless it would have been to include clips from even more Democrats - and there are plenty who were left out. Putting Bush after it looks weak and defensive. It would have been better to just leave them hanging in the wind once they put the rope around their own necks.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Shark
Oh boy.
The GOP is still "marketing" their quagmire.
...Z..Z.ZZZZZZZZZZ...zzzzzzzzzzzz...
Gotta run! Baghdad just blew up on CNN!
xoxo,
Shark
2 - Dave Nalle
How can they resist when the Demos give them such good material to work with? Blatant hypocrisy just begs to be exposed in the media age.
Dave
3 - Maurice
"Putting Bush after it looks weak and defensive".
There is no way to make a weak man look strong.
4 - Dave Nalle
Yes, but put in there as an afterword like that he's going to look weak whether he is or not.
Dave
5 - troll
Hawks of a feather catch the flu together
Vote green (or red) in 06 - if you're still alive
troll
6 - Michael
I have stated that democrtas deserve some blame, but the ultimate blame is not them, the cia, the world intelligence...it is the bush administration. It was their directive, they wanted the information on iraq with the notion of attacking...nobody came to them saying iraq is an imminent threat and we must take care of it now, except maybe chalabi...and he seems a friend of democracy.
This is bush's war and its failure is entirely on him.
7 - Dave Nalle
Michael, I'm sure you'll be as eager to praise Bush if the war comes out a success, right?
Dave
8 - Scott
And what does "success" in Iraq mean anymore really? Anyone?
9 - gonzo marx
ahh...it wouldn't be a complete day if residing Apologist, Mr Nalle didn't spew out the GOP meme of the newscycle...
note the veiled attempt at pretending to any kind of Objectivity by finding flaw in the delivery of the Message....but NOT with the message itself...
in another Thread i did link to an article in yesterday's WaPo that laid out the full timetable and political environment when these Dem statements were being made, it also laid out just how little raw Intel info got to the average senator/congressman....almost ALL of it ( unless you were on the Intel Committee) was right from the WH ( read: Cheney and Rumsfeld's offices)
but, you know...actual Facts and understanding the history of the situation isn't important..
just the day's talking points...
"Know your Enemy" - Sun Tzu
Excelsior!
10 - Michael
Dave,
I will praise bush if:
1. the iraqi's truly have a government for the people, by the people
2. if this leads to a lasting peace in the middle east
3. In a time of true threat, our american military and public will back a military operation
4. if we deem torture as unamerican, so in future conflicts, americans are not totured as a backlash
dave, it is not in this guy you call president, he does not have what it takes!
11 - Scott
"I'd like to move on and start looking for constructive solutions to the Iraq problem. But if the left is going to keep harping on things like their endless 'Bush lied' cannard, this is the kind of response that's needed"
I see, so since the right can't construct solutions for Iraq, the logical action is to attack those on the left who aren't coming up with solutions for Iraq and now are, gasp, not for the war? Brilliant! Republican landslide in '06!
In the meantime, is there anyone out there who has any ideas on how to end our war/shitstorm?
12 - RogerMDillon
I find it a mistake for Bush or the RNC to even deal with the issue. They are letting the Dems set the discussion and as bad as they may look, Bush was ultimately responsible and this just reminds people of the mistakes his administration made.
He needs to get ahead of the story and deal with how we are going to win and get out of Iraq. He's already losing congressional Republicans on this issue. If he can't turn things around, he's going to have a lot of free time in '06 because no one is going to want him to campaign. Ask Santorum.
13 - Resistor
Dr. gonzo the medium IS the message. fact is that they did say an awful lot of rabidly pro war stuff and haven't had the grenouilles to stand by their words. one could even say that by their lying supportiveness they encouraged bush to go to war.
14 - Scott
Did Marshall McLuhan just enter the room?
15 - Jon Fowler
Since this video is presented by a partisan group it is obvious that it will not be objective. But that's not the purpose of it. They are trying to show one point and that is the fact that Democrats had many of the same opinions as Republicans during the time leading up to the war. I agree that we should get past this crap of blaming each side and find a constructive way to fix Iraq. Bush and Company probably did lie about one thing or another, but that's what politicans do. If Congress wanted to find out if there was any misinformation they should have done it before hastily voting for war. But in the end we must remember that Republicans hold majority in the Senate and the majority will usually be blamed for mistakes by the minority.
16 - Dave Nalle
IMO the point of this video ought to be to get the democrats to shut up and start doing something constructive. Admittedly the RNC is partisan, but the quotes themselves have every appearance of objectivity because they're just pure, undoctored quotes. That's a strong presentation. Sticking Bush on the end turns it into something else and much less effective. With his comments it goes from being a strong, objective statement to the partisan whining we're all so tired of. Big mistake IMO.
BTW, Resistor, you may have the germ of a good idea there. Why aren't we blaming the Democrats for being 'enablers' here. If they hadn't been so gung-ho for war starting way back in '98 would Bush have ever thought he could get away with it?
Dave
17 - RJ
Good post, Dave. But I'll disagree with your review of the video.
It ends with the President standing and speaking before our military, and pointing out the lies of the Democrats. This is great stuff. You have an unwavering CIC in front of supportive American military personnel on Veteran's Day. And his comments merely summarize the point made by the first portion of the video: Democrats are opportunist liars.
I think it's a wonderful bit of GOP propaganda. And unlike Democrat propaganda, it's actually based on truth...
18 - MCH
"Democrats are opportunist liars."
- RJ
Oh boy, more stereotyping from little Bobby.
19 - RJ
"more stereotyping from little Bobby"
One wonders if this conflicts with:
"Personal attacks are not allowed."
20 - Bliffle
All propaganda is based on truth.
21 - alienboy
This video doesn't work very well if you are not in the USA mindset. I saw a string of clips of Dems saying things they believed back in the day, and assume, though the point didn't appear to be made, that they say other things today.
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE: POLITICIANS CHANGE THEIR MINDS says startling new survey. Now where did I see that in the current admiistration? Oh yes, why did the USA go to Executive Action (not War, that would take guts and integrity)?
Dave, for someone who has repeatedly professed neutrality, whilst never quite shaking off some persistently lingering whiff of Republican, you sure are getting sucked into this political propaganda.
The best thing the Republicans have going for them is that they're not the Democrats, in that the Dems don't appear to have a leader or anyone capable of presenting a credible set of policies to contrast with the Republicans narrow ambitions. This is not hard.
Republicans? Democrats? A plague on both your houses, you're both doing a crap job.
22 - alienboy
MCH/RJ: The original remark "Democrats are opportunist liars" was written as an accurate summary of the "argument" presented in that new Republican propaganda clip, so no stereotyping took place.
I'm a rhino-skinned sort myself so don't see "more stereotyping from little Bobby" as much of an attack personally, although there is its inaccuracy in that the stereotyping was done by the Republicans.
Shall we move on?
23 - Jon Fowler
I agree with you for the most part Dave. The Democrats need to stop touting rehtoric about acoutability without looking at what they have said themselves. Both Democrats and Republicans need to work on fixing the problems at hand and stop whining at each other without looking at themselves first.
I also agree putting Bush at the end of video was a bad choice. I was interested with it up until that point and it just kind of turned me off from it. But the Democratic quotes were good.
24 - Dan
Bush normally stays above the fray, but this one time descent is long over-due. Let's face it, Democrat politicians are dis-honest weasels with no shame. But, they have powerful propagandistic media organs shilling for them. Along with a gullible, and willfully ignorant constituency.
Sadly, a certain amount of truthful mudslinging is necessary from time to time. Otherwise, the dark forces of liberal disengenuousness overwhelm the rational and objectively honest among us.
25 - Anthony Grande
I just love these tapes from the RNC. It is just sooo sweet that I can hardly find the right words to describe it.
The Democrats have been exposed. They had the same intelligience reports as Bush and they all most agreed that it was time for war and the overthrow of Saddam and his WMDs
And a couple years later when the going gets rough they back away and change sides. Is this really who the American people want leading their country?