My feeling, for years, has been, if the Bush administration is not brought down and put out of power by scandal or some other process before the 2004 Republican convention when the propaganda machine gets real traction, then Bush will retain power, even without resorting to anything obvious like vote fraud or gigantic events.
My feeling now is stronger than ever. The Republican hate machine is well-oiled (pun intended), far more brutal than its opposition, and infinitely more shameless. From a purely partisan politics standpoint, their use of Zell Miller as assassin was pure Third Reich, worthy of Goebbels. Rove's game is obvious for all to see: set the dogs loose to assassinate Kerry using all means necessary from the ridiculous (Kerry's designer sunglasses) to the lies (Swift Boats) to the close-to-truth (Kerry's foreign policy is a waffly version of the Bush program). Then insulate W., and let him posture around like Mussolini.
What few weak Democratic counters is exploited and reversed. The Dems complain about the "unfairness" of the Swift Boat operation, and they turn it around. "Yeah, let's get rid of 527s", said George H.W. Bush, "shut down those scurrillous liberal groups". Has the Kerry camp made anything stick so far? Have they even criticized Bush where he is actually vulnerable? Hell no.
To make this hopeless situation worse, active-but-ignorant groups like MoveOn respond to last night's Zell Miller event with the below e-mail, urging Dem voters to support "courageous" DENISE MAJETTE, a Republican loyalist and supporter of extreme right wing lunatic Alan Keyes, who "switched over" to the Democratic ticket with Zionist lobby support to steal Cynthia McKinney's congressional seat.
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/031904_LA_mckinney_ruppert.html http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/040504_mckinney_announcement.html
Ignorance breeding ignorance, while crime goes unpunished.
L
------------------------- MoveOn e-mailer says:
Don't get mad, get even. We don't need Democrats like Zell Miller. Instead, we can elect true progressive champions to the Senate. Luckily, several are running this year. Better still, four of them are women, including Denise Majette, who's running for Miller's seat. Click here to support these four courageous women now.
Dear MoveOn member, Last night, Senator Zell Miller, a Democrat, gave the Republican keynote address in New York. Miller's brazen prime-time betrayal is shocking. But this week, we're not getting mad. We're getting even. The fact is, we don't need Democrats like Miller -- he's been selling us out in the Senate for years, voting with the right wing across the board. We can do better. Much better. This year, we have a great chance to elect a slew of real progressive champions to the Senate -- people whose values and principles we can count on. One of them, Denise Majette, is running for Zell Miller's seat. Another, Betty Castor, just came off a landslide victory in a three-way primary in Florida with huge momentum. Click here now to help Denise Majette, Betty Castor and other terrific women take back the Senate: https://www.moveonpac.org/give/04endorsed.html It's probably no coincidence that four of the strongest progressives running for the U.S. Senate today are women, but it's cool. Check them out:
Denise Majette is a bright, charismatic African-American Congresswoman from Atlanta, running for Zell Miller's U.S. Senate seat. Although she was not in Congress at the time of the original Iraq war resolution, Majette courageously opposed a second resolution on the Iraq war, voting against it and declaring, "I cannot in good conscience support such a deceptive resolution.² Majette has already made history in Georgia by becoming the first black woman to capture her party¹s nomination for U.S. Senate. Betty Castor won a huge primary victory this past Tuesday in Florida's critical U.S. Senate race, in part because of recent support from MoveOn members. Any Senate race in Florida would be important, but Castor is a particularly appealing candidate. She's a former state Education Commissioner and university president who led reforms of Florida¹s poorest schools and expanded health insurance coverage to thousands more Florida kids. Betty Castor is a true progressive with real momentum on her side, and she needs our help now in her campaign against a well-funded Republican opponent. Nancy Farmer is another terrific champion. She's running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, a key battleground state. As the current state treasurer and formerly a state legislator, she has a great record of making fair and progressive tax policies. Nancy Farmer is one of the few candidates speaking out about the importance of repealing President Bush's enormous tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. She's running against U.S. Senator Kit Bond, who has accomplished little during his three terms in the Senate while voting with President Bush 98% of the time. Finally, there is U.S. Senator Patty Murray of Washington State, who was once told early in her political career that she was just a "mom in tennis shoes." Instead of giving up she became determined and started her rapid rise in politics. In 1992 Murray won an amazing uphill battle to become one of just a handful of women in the U.S. Senate. Since then, she has been a leader on key issues from health care to education, and she courageously voted against the war in Iraq. Now she's in one of the toughest races of her career, against a right-wing White House ally. Patty Murray has more than earned our support.
These four women are exactly the kind of brave leaders who can help us take back the Senate and provide the strong voices needed to change the debate in Washington. Support them now, at: https://www.moveonpac.org/give/04endorsed.html All four of these candidates have made important and heroic decisions in their political careers, whether it was voting for the civil rights of gay people when the majority of citizens opposed them, standing up against a misguided war in Iraq, or fighting selflessly for their most vulnerable constituents. All four women have proven that they are not afraid to vote their conscience. These candidates are already facing negative and false attacks from their Republican opponents. But with our support, they'll be able to fight back and share their positive visions for America and our future. In just five minutes you can make a difference in each of these four races with a contribution. Whether you can give $25, $50, or $100, your money will have a tremendous impact. Please give what you can now, at: https://www.moveonpac.org/give/04endorsed.html Zell Miller's betrayal is a reminder that we can't relax for a moment. We've got to do everything we can to take back America, by winning back both the White House and the Senate. Thanks for all you do. Sincerely, -- Hannah, Eli, and the whole MoveOn PAC team
Thursday, September 2, 2004 Authorized by: Betty Castor for U.S. Senate People for Patty Murray Denise Majette for U.S. Senate Nancy Farmer for U.S. Senate PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC