Rising Hegemon
Several papers, notably the Washington Post, have picked up the story spreading throughout the blogosphere this morning (including here), that one of the Swift Boat Vets is lying about his own record so as to get back at Kerry for being against the Vietnam War when he came home.
But as Marshall goes on to say that the real problem is that the complete fabrication that is the Swift Boat lie -- an advertisement that Bush specifically refuses to denounce and disown -- gets equated with the MoveOn ad that mentions two items, one of which is known to be true, the other of which there is substantial, unrefuted, evidence of its veracity.
The known truth being that Bush used his connections to get in the National Guard and learn to fly planes. Hell, even Bush has made an embarrassing admission of his reluctance to go to Vietnam with an explanation that is both brutally honest and reflective of the actual nature of his character [i.e. thinking there is nothing wrong with this answer as if he has never been morally held to account for anything]:
"I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes."
The other item, the thing supported by substantial unrefuted evidence and almost certainly true is that Bush was for all intents and purposes AWOL. He was unreported and unseen for months at a time when he was supposed to be serving (on occasion) in Alabama.
There is substantial evidence of that fact here, and here. No contrary evidence has EVER been produced by the Bush Administration. And, of course, it is impossible to round up an "Alabama National Guard Pilots for Truth" to say they saw Bush being AWOL of course. "I saw...actually I did not see Bush...do this, that, or the other thing."
What the Swift Boat Vets are doing, with the tacit support of the Bush Administration and the Right-Wing Noise Machine, bloviating out of 50,000 watt Radio Stations across the land, is spreading what the bloviators themselves know to be false, unsubstantiated, and unfair. Oxycontin addict Limbaugh got a family doctor to say his hairy ass should prevent him from serving for Christsake and HE criticizes Kerry's service.
But, hey, if it keeps a Democrat out of power, so be it.
This is merely the latest slander that the Righties have thrown out there since Clinton gave them one that was actually true, and we all know which one that was. Since it involved sex, the press played that one for all it was worth.
However, the other slanders just get passed off as politics. Let us count them down just since the beginning of the year about Kerry:
-- Kerry had an affair with Alexander Poulier;
-- Kerry in numerous photographs (photoshopped) with Jane Fonda;
-- Kerry made film reenactments of his fights in Vietnam;
-- Kerry and Teresa Heinz-Kerry sleeping in separate Hotel Rooms;
-- Kerry plotted to Assassinate President Nixon;
-- Kerry lied about throwing his medals away;
-- Kerry lied about where he was during a protest in Washington circa 1970;
-- Kerry lied about ever being in Cambodia;
-- Kerry was a coward in the Swiftboats;
-- Nevermind, Kerry was a craven Murderer in the Swiftboats;
-- Kerry lied about his Purple Heart..no make that Hearts.
I know I must be missing some.
And these are just from the 527s and/or Drudge (who himself is probably more than qualified to be called one). All lies, all disproven. But the smoke of the charge ALWAYS gets more coverage than the sobering facts.
And we all know that these slanders are passed out about more than just Kerry and have been passed around for years. No Democrat, not named Zell Miller, can be allowed to be a person of integrity and patriotism. No road is too low, too scurrilous, too disgusting.
They are, in essence using the First Amendment as a tool to end all reasonable discourse; to eliminate actual policy discussions, to bury us in a sewer of false innuendo and disgust. All for the purpose of getting the SCLM to throw up there hands after repeating the charges and say, when there is a response...SEE THEY ALL DO IT!
Well, no they do not ALL do it.
For the Media to treat these things as equal is a disservice to the polity, to the public trust they have as holders of the bandwidth from which they broadcast.
There are two things that have to happen. First, the Media has to report matters as they actually are. Otherwise, the Left really will have no choice but to get in the sewer all the time too -- and it will not be pretty. Second, the right-wingers (those with integrity) themselves have to take charge of this matter and insist that the actual ISSUES get argued, not just have ARGUMENTS! The problem for the right-wing, of course, is that if the ISSUES are debated, THEY LOSE 9 times out of 10.
The fact that Kerry hasn't really been hurt, and in fact, may have been helped by the Swift Boat Liars is simply evidence that on some things the populace is becoming far more intelligent and sophisticated than the Media gives them credit for. One thing that I would think the populace would be overwhelmingly for, is calling a spade a spade and a foul and foul -- don't mix up the bullshit by treating actual criticism as dirty campaigning equivalent to outright lying. A negative ad is one thing, a downright lie and an attempt to slander is another.
No comments:
Post a Comment