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OCT 16 - 31, 2004 |
VOL. 2 ISSUE 20 |
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OCTOBER 31, 2004 – Trying to make sure no American forgets how amoral and delusional he is before election day, George W. Bush fell back to his two most standard election ploys this weekend, using the US troops as campaign pawns and making absurd statements about the War On Terror that only a Bush/Limbaughian could love. Take a look at this one sentence from our story last week End Game: The Final Week Of The Campaign, laying out what Bush's final week strategy would be:
And then check the news today. A new poll from Bush buddy Newsweek, trumpeted all over the press, that, though all it really shows are a continuation of the inaccurately Bush-inflated numbers Newsweek has been running all along - which are entirely out of line with the other polls - has the media chiming about how Bush now has the upper hand and momentum in the race. (see: MSNBC story or CBS story) The name calling, "liberal, liberal, liberal," is obvious, and all week we have heard reports - and will see more about "chaos" that will ensue on election day. This is all meant to discourage first-time voters, which are more heavily Kerry, and Democrats in general, who are the ones who end up having to deal with "chaos" when it occurs, as they vote in crowded cities rather than a neighbors house. (see this report from the Democratic stronghold of Cleveland in the battleground state of Ohio ) So those two are pretty obvious, but what is being drowned out a bit by the Bin Laden tape was the favorite - and most amoral - of Bush's election eve games. In 2002, he used the supposed urgent need to invade Iraq to suck all of the media attention away from everyone but himself and the GOP. This dominated the entire lead up to the election, culminating with - if you recall - Bush insisting a final vote by the UN on whether or not to invade Iraq occur on election week. It was so urgent it had to happen then, he told us - which we now know, and really knew then, was all a fiction. It was merely part of his game to use the troops, who volunteered to defend the nation, as if they had volunteered merely to help his campaign. For those of you who don't recall this, here is coverage of his press conference held election week 2002 and coverage of his speech given to the UN just three days after the election. As you see, he made everything come to a head right during the final push of the election to dominate the media conversation. So now take at look at the headline on MSNBC's website a couple of days before this election: "Final Phase" in Fallujah." For days now we have been getting fed what was supposed to be the story that would dominate the media in the same way, the coming of what the non-M/I media has been referring to as the biggest assault since the invasion of Baghdad. 40,000 US troops have been assembled and are sitting just outside the the city's walls (if it had walls.) Commanders are saying - the non-M/I press reports - it is all ready to go, Bush just needs to give the word. And now, the Sunday before election day, the story is about the impending, supposed-to-be-impressive and reassuring of Bush's leadership "Final Phase." This was to be the "story planted" in the media to dominate, or at least sway, coverage away from the election and Bush's challenger to Bush supposedly acting strongly and boldly, all the while the US troops being moved around like campaign volunteers working yes for the "Final Phase," but truly for the final phase of the campaign rather than in Fallujah. Unfortunately this story has been spoiled by the death of 8 of his unwitting campaign volunteers - eight of our national heroes joining the mass of others who are continuing to suffer for the election ploy Bush began in 2002 and continues through to today. (see: CNN Article: Eight Marines Die In Iraq As Fallujah Assault Looms) Yes, it looms of course, as there is an election and the incumbent candidate continues to act entirely without conscience, using our military for GOP PR at his whim. The story was also spoiled, in terms of how it was going to dominate the media in the final days, by the release of the Bin Laden tape. Now look at this quote and see if you can guess who said it: "The terrorists who killed thousands of innocent people are still dangerous and they are determined..." Yes, it may sound like Kerry talking about how President Bush has failed in the War On Terror, but it is actually a delusional President Bush ( see: CBS article ) continuing to act as if his biggest failures - allowing 9/11 to occur on his watch and failing to stay focused on those who really perpetrated 9/11 - were his strong points. And just in case Americans didn't get the fact that his horrible foreign policy has been the biggest disaster for the nation in our history, the President felt obliged to add: "Americans go to the polls at a time of war and ongoing threats unlike any we have faced before." Yes, George, we know, that after four years with you in office the terrorists who attacked us are still out there, determined, and dangerous, and we face "ongoing" threats that you have not been able to deal with usefully, leaving us in a state of national insecurity "unlike any we have faced before." So let's look one last time at what we laid out would occur this final week: "We are going to have name calling, fake polls, discouraging media reports for Dems on election day, encouraging reports for Bushies, and stories planted in the press to sway the electorate." And then look at the non-M/I media acting as Bush pawn right in line with his plan. The Newsweek and other fake polls are out there, getting front page even if they are entirely out of line with all other polling; the discouraging to Democrats reports of "election day chaos" are all over the place; the encouraging reports, based on these fictional polls, for Bushies are there right as planned; and the Fallujah story, timed to suck the media air away from the lesser known challenger and make Bush appear strong are talking about the "Final Phase" just days before election day. No conscience, no respect for democracy. President Bush and the non-M/I media are making their final push to try and scare and prod the American people for voting for the man with the horrible record, who drools incoherently during any unscripted exchange, such as a debate, and whose combined record of skyrocketing oil prices, endless disaster in middle east policy, failure to prevent terrorist attacks on his watch, economically disastrous, deficit-ballooning fiscal policies make the Carter administration seem like peaceful and prosperous times. It is the final days of Chump Check 2004, and, thankfully, the final days for Mr. Bush. Americans notice the eight dead Marines and, somehow, don't find that all that impressive - and they see that the timing of the impending Fallujah strike stinks to high Hell. They are onto the fact that the polls are bunk, and the Kerry campaign is making clear repeatedly that every polls incorrectly had Bush beating Gore last time - and by an even bigger margin than the lying polls have Bush ahead this time. (see: Yahoo News Coverage of Kerry campaign pollster interview) And the American public is not buying the President's delusional claim that Osama Bin Laden appearing on tape is proof he should be reelected. As the above Yahoo News story reports, a poll has been taken:
Ah, to be on fly on the wall when, after getting clobbered on election day, the Bush campaign asks, "How come Osama Bin Laden still being out there and eight Marines dying in Iraq didn't convince America they still needed us in charge?" Two days until this saddest of presidencies for America is over and the next wave of the battle to take back our country begins: the fight to end the right-wing dominance of the non-M/I media and the campaign to make our national elections uniform and fair. |
