Daddy Dick must be proud of his Liz
Okay, I know it's been a long, LONG time, but I'm back for real this time. If you wouldn't mind indulging me, I'm going to skip past the part where I prostrate myself before the world, berating myself and begging for your forgiveness for taking so long to post. Ahem. Thanks.
Anyway, after a year of much-needed political change in America in 2009, it hasn't taken me long to get thoroughly angered at "the system," and that's WITH President Obama in power. My biggest peeve right now is the healthcare "debate" that's happening on Capitol Hill, but before I get to that, I must comment on a thoroughly detestable ad put out by Liz Cheney and her cohorts over at Keep America Safe (I'm not linking to it) a few weeks ago. In case you haven't seen it, here's the ad:
What a sickening display of faux patriotism. An indication of just how sickening could be heard on just about any news channel these past few weeks (except Faux News, but I don't consider propaganda for the RNC "news"). If you're a conservative, you know you've done something when the vile, contemptible and insipid Kenneth W. Starr (of Monica Lewinsky fame) is speaking out against you. (Starr was on NPR last week, of all places, speaking out against the ad, which I didn't understand, since NPR is nothing but a "lib-rul network.")
This is nothing more than fear mongering on the part of Repubes regarding how President Obama is fighting the War on Terrorism (I hate that term, but I'll use it here to illustrate a point). It's not a stretch to say that Obama has been much more effective at fighting terrorism than Dubya Bush ever was. Of course, you wouldn't know that from watching, listening or reading right-wing media (and you don't have to go very far to find it these days). It seems to me that we're killing or capturing more and more leaders of Al Qaeda on a daily basis than during the Bush years, and the right doesn't like it; and since they don't, we get a red herring like this bullshit ad.
A political commentator said this a month or so ago, and I can't remember who, so I apologize in advance, but it went something like this: Cheney and Co. keep harping about how Obama is making us less safe for a reason. They are staking out this position at rock bottom prices, and in the off chance that there is another attack on America, Cheney and the sheeple who believe anything he says (in addition to the RNC Network) will all claim, "See?!? We told you he was making us less safe! Obama is putting America in danger!!!" Hell, they probably already have the ads made up- all that's needed is another terrorist attack, and violà! - it will take minutes for these people to begin attacking Obama. If you think I'm accusing these people of rooting for another attack against America for political gain, you would be right.
It's amazing how GOPers, led by Rudy 9iu1ian1, re-write history on a moment's notice, too. Remember the underwear bomber from last Christmas? Toothy Rudy was on TV saying, with a straight face, that America wasn't attacked when George Bush was president. Really?
Getting back to the above ad, I find it laughable that this even got any traction. Our judicial system has a long and storied history of everyone having the right to the best defense possible, period. And it's also laughable to accuse lawyers of believing in the crimes their clients are alleged to have committed just because they are defending them.
As a post-script, here's Liz on the "O'Lielly Factor" defending her organization's ad (and I love how they both give each other a tongue bath at the beginning about "The Factor" - Puleeze).
Draw your own conclusions.
Christ, even blowhard Bill took issue with Cheney's view that the Obama Justice Department views terrorists in the same light as tax cheats, etc.
Another BIG problem I have with Cheney's view is this, and I'll write this one loud for the cheap seats: NOT ALL PEOPLE BEING HELD AT GITMO ARE GUILTY OF A CRIME! In fact, when you look at the stats on who has been released and how many, it's rather appalling that the right is continuing to stake out this position with regard to the GWOT. I don't have the figures right in front of me, but even a cursory research effort reveals that dozens and dozens of Gitmo detainees have been released (some during the Bush administration), many after years of incarceration, without ever being formally charged or tried. Sickening.
What's more, this is just another demonstration of how the right has contempt for history. John Adams, a true patriot and a Founding Father of our country (not to mention our first vice president and second president), defended British soldiers who were charged with murder in the Boston Massacre. He remarked later in life that it was one of the proudest moments of his career. But, let's not let history get in the way, right conservatives? After all, just last week Texas agreed to adopt history textbooks that contain no reference to Thomas Jefferson, another former president and Founding Father. Twenty years from now, I can't wait to see what Texas textbooks will say about President George W. Bush- he'll have probably "saved our Democracy" by invading Iraq, and "avenged 9-11, an attack that happened under President Clinton, by invading Afghanistan." Too funny.
Anyway, after a year of much-needed political change in America in 2009, it hasn't taken me long to get thoroughly angered at "the system," and that's WITH President Obama in power. My biggest peeve right now is the healthcare "debate" that's happening on Capitol Hill, but before I get to that, I must comment on a thoroughly detestable ad put out by Liz Cheney and her cohorts over at Keep America Safe (I'm not linking to it) a few weeks ago. In case you haven't seen it, here's the ad:
What a sickening display of faux patriotism. An indication of just how sickening could be heard on just about any news channel these past few weeks (except Faux News, but I don't consider propaganda for the RNC "news"). If you're a conservative, you know you've done something when the vile, contemptible and insipid Kenneth W. Starr (of Monica Lewinsky fame) is speaking out against you. (Starr was on NPR last week, of all places, speaking out against the ad, which I didn't understand, since NPR is nothing but a "lib-rul network.")
This is nothing more than fear mongering on the part of Repubes regarding how President Obama is fighting the War on Terrorism (I hate that term, but I'll use it here to illustrate a point). It's not a stretch to say that Obama has been much more effective at fighting terrorism than Dubya Bush ever was. Of course, you wouldn't know that from watching, listening or reading right-wing media (and you don't have to go very far to find it these days). It seems to me that we're killing or capturing more and more leaders of Al Qaeda on a daily basis than during the Bush years, and the right doesn't like it; and since they don't, we get a red herring like this bullshit ad.
A political commentator said this a month or so ago, and I can't remember who, so I apologize in advance, but it went something like this: Cheney and Co. keep harping about how Obama is making us less safe for a reason. They are staking out this position at rock bottom prices, and in the off chance that there is another attack on America, Cheney and the sheeple who believe anything he says (in addition to the RNC Network) will all claim, "See?!? We told you he was making us less safe! Obama is putting America in danger!!!" Hell, they probably already have the ads made up- all that's needed is another terrorist attack, and violà! - it will take minutes for these people to begin attacking Obama. If you think I'm accusing these people of rooting for another attack against America for political gain, you would be right.
It's amazing how GOPers, led by Rudy 9iu1ian1, re-write history on a moment's notice, too. Remember the underwear bomber from last Christmas? Toothy Rudy was on TV saying, with a straight face, that America wasn't attacked when George Bush was president. Really?
Getting back to the above ad, I find it laughable that this even got any traction. Our judicial system has a long and storied history of everyone having the right to the best defense possible, period. And it's also laughable to accuse lawyers of believing in the crimes their clients are alleged to have committed just because they are defending them.
As a post-script, here's Liz on the "O'Lielly Factor" defending her organization's ad (and I love how they both give each other a tongue bath at the beginning about "The Factor" - Puleeze).
Draw your own conclusions.
Christ, even blowhard Bill took issue with Cheney's view that the Obama Justice Department views terrorists in the same light as tax cheats, etc.
Another BIG problem I have with Cheney's view is this, and I'll write this one loud for the cheap seats: NOT ALL PEOPLE BEING HELD AT GITMO ARE GUILTY OF A CRIME! In fact, when you look at the stats on who has been released and how many, it's rather appalling that the right is continuing to stake out this position with regard to the GWOT. I don't have the figures right in front of me, but even a cursory research effort reveals that dozens and dozens of Gitmo detainees have been released (some during the Bush administration), many after years of incarceration, without ever being formally charged or tried. Sickening.
What's more, this is just another demonstration of how the right has contempt for history. John Adams, a true patriot and a Founding Father of our country (not to mention our first vice president and second president), defended British soldiers who were charged with murder in the Boston Massacre. He remarked later in life that it was one of the proudest moments of his career. But, let's not let history get in the way, right conservatives? After all, just last week Texas agreed to adopt history textbooks that contain no reference to Thomas Jefferson, another former president and Founding Father. Twenty years from now, I can't wait to see what Texas textbooks will say about President George W. Bush- he'll have probably "saved our Democracy" by invading Iraq, and "avenged 9-11, an attack that happened under President Clinton, by invading Afghanistan." Too funny.
Labels: Al Qaeda 7, Boston Massacre, John Adams, Keep America Safe, Kenneth W. Starr, Liz Cheney, Thomas Jefferson
posted by RJ at 6:53 AM
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