http://thedailybrew.com/The Daily Brew
© September 5, 2004
Throwing Mud
Liberals ranging from the embarrassing Susan Estrich of Fox News to the brilliant Digby of blogger fame have finally reached the conclusion I landed on three years ago. To beat Bush, John Kerry is going to have to go profoundly negative. And while a general consensus has been reached that the time has come to throw down the gauntlet, in my humble opinion, no one (at least no one that I have read) has put their finger on which attack will actually work. So let me repeat another observation I made three years ago.
Bush must be attacked for his chicken-shit response to the attacks of September 11.
To win this election, Kerry has to tear a hole in Bush’s machismo, and stories about Bush going AWOL in the national guard 30 years ago aren’t going to do it. The electorate doesn’t care if Bush was a pussy when he was 22. Karl Rove’s smoke and mirrors have effectively convinced them that Bush is now the Buford Pusser of the post cold war world, walking tall, carrying a big stick. Fortunately, the facts show that Bush hasn’t changed. His courage is still limited to wars where other people’s kids are killed. When his own ass is on the line, Bush is still Barney Fife.
I suggest that Kerry, and those of us who support Kerry’s campaign, aggressively remind the public that Bush is a coward, and his response to September 11 proved it. Let’s have a conversation about that fateful day, when Bush sat for seven minutes in a Florida grade school, like a deer caught in the headlights. Let’s talk about the fact that when he left that classroom, he then spent all day flying around the country, from one safe house to the next. As the whole nation watched the towers burn, then collapse, Bush couldn’t even find the courage to step in front of a television camera. Rove was so embarrassed by Bush’s obvious cowardice that he had to put out a cover story. Maybe Bush should be asked to explain the lies put out by the White House to explain his chicken shit behavior; that they had specific information that Air Force One had been targeted.
Let’s then remind everyone that journalists who pointed out these obvious facts at the time were fired. When our country was attacked, Bush ran in circles, scared of his own shadow, other people ran the country, and anyone who pointed out that the King had no clothes lost their job. Bush will deny it, since Bush has built his whole campaign (not to mention his whole foreign policy) around September 11, let’s argue about how Bush behaved on that fateful day, just three years ago. It sure as hell is going to sound more relevant than which December day John Kerry spent in Cambodia 30 years ago.
Rove attacked Kerry’s heroism as a young man, because he is smart enough to go after his opponent’s strengths. As I said three years ago, let’s steal a page from their book. Let’s attack Bush’s heroism as an old man. Bush’s biggest strength is the mistaken impression that he took charge when America was attacked. But he didn’t. And unlike the “Smear Boat Veterans for Bush,” we don’t have to lie. The facts are plain. Bush’s biggest strength is an illusion. Bush didn’t take charge when America was attacked. He wasn’t any kind of leader. His first instinct was to save his ass. He didn’t give orders on that fateful day. He took them. Rove has made Bush’s leadership on September 11 his central campaign theme. Well I have three words for Rove.
Bring. It. On.
Don't forget to check out the video! simplefears.com
I sent this to Brew...
Bill Maher who addressed this in "New Rules" last Friday calling 9-11 "a fuckup by a man on vacation" and also John McLaughlin who said that the convention was "Kafkaesque" in that Bush was running on a major mistake as the primary element of his election campaign.
I assume you've read "The New Pearl Harbor." I asked Kristin Brietweiser if she'd read it in a C-SPAN call and she said she hadn't. If you haven't, you should. It's written in a very scholarly tone and is very convincing.
I also think that Kerry should use the ideas of Anonymous in Imperial Hubris RE understanding Islamic Terrorism and Bin Laden's appeal.
I think Kerry could simply take the conclusions of the 9/11 Commission and use those as jumping off points. He doesn't have to resort to The New Pearl Harbor, even though I think it's pretty accurate.
I also assume you saw the Zogby Poll that showed half of New Yorkers believe the Administration was complicit in 9-11 either LIHOP or MIHOP.
It's fascinating to me that this poll,
has been completely ignored. Given the President's Convention-attempt to bathe in the "success" of his actions on 9/11 and AFTER the attack, it would seem to be a good angle to explore what the victims of the attacks on 9/11 think about his actions in attempting to "prevent" 9/11 during 2001 in the months BEFORE the attack.
http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=855