Daily Archives: April 17, 2005

Kerry the Untouchable

I sure am glad that Lorie Byrd and I share many of the same political views. For a “girly girl” she can dish out quite the nasty smack down. As for Kerry proponents taking the “you weren’t there man” approach, OK, I’ll play that game.

I wasn’t there, but there sure are a lot of vets that were there who don’t think too highly of Kerry. Instead of deferring to Kerry’s experience, try putting yourself in their shoes. Imagine losing a leg, or an arm or suffering some other horrible injury. You come home and go about your life without fanfare because serving was your duty, and because you realize that no matter how much you suffered, someone else suffered more, or never came home at all. Then you turn on your T.V. and see some politician touting his own service as if he alone fought the enemy, flouting his relatively minor injuries as if his were somehow more worthy or deserving of attention.

Yeah, I’ll defer to those who served.

The "Real" Story of Democratization

At what point does biased reporting start to look like cheap propaganda? The Washington Post is delving into the “real” reasons behind the democratic movement in the middle east. Looks can be deceiving you know. Sure the most powerful nation mankind has ever known overthrew a brutal dictatorship and set up a democracy in the region. Sure the leader of this great country has thrown down the gauntlet and demanded freedom for the rest of the region and announced that it will stand with those that want freedom. Sure it looks like these actions may have caused the democratic movement to spread. But the Post has the real story. Here’s just a snippet:

But even in Lebanon, where much of the population generally looks to the West, the U.S. agenda in the region is troubling. Kassir, for example, said he believes “democracy is spreading in the region not because of George Bush but despite him.” He cites the Palestinian uprising as a greater inspiration than the U.S. project in Iraq, saying that “the Palestinians showed us the importance of taking matters into our own hands.”

Ah, the secret agenda. Looks can be deceiving comrade.
(Hat tip Powerline)

Using Terri Schiavo

Recall the media-generated firestorm about the GOP utilizing Schiavo for crass political gain. It was discussed on every talk show, shown on every newscast, printed in all the major papers. Recall that it arose over a memo written by one aide (who later resigned in disgrace), yet the story line was “GOP Talking Points” impliedly created and discussed at the highest Republican levels.

As Ankle Biting Pundits reports, we now actually have the highest authority in a party, talking precisely about utilizing Schiavo for political gain. There are two big differences to the original story, but they’re related, oh are they related:

1) It is the head of the Democrats, Howard Dean, who has come out and said he’s going to use Terri Schiavo and,

2) There is virtual media silence about it.

The story is the same as the original, except the proof is stronger, and it’s directly attributable to the top of the party. But it’s the wrong party, so the story isn’t covered. You see folks, the story isn’t the exploitation of Terri Schiavo, the story is Republican exploitation of Terri Schiavo. Any other exploitation just isn’t newsworthy.

mm-5