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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (502956)	12/3/2003 2:12:55 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Dick Morris Hillary's badwill tour newsandopinion.com \| Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has just returned from a badwill tour of Iraq, seeking to use the façade of saluting the troops and sharing their Thanksgiving to undermine the political support for their mission. Using Iraq as a pulpit, she attacked Bush for having been "obsessed with Saddam Hussein for more than a decade." If only her husband had shared that obsession, Saddam would not have been permitted to rearm with oil revenues that President Clinton let him have and freed from inspectors that the Clinton administration let him kick out. It is fine for a U.S. senator to go to Iraq to see for herself what the conditions are over there. It is even OK to get the taxpayers to foot the bill for the trip on military aircraft. She is, after all, a member of the Armed Services Committee in the Senate. What is not OK is to attack the president while you are there or to use your visit as a platform to criticize the war effort and the Pentagon. There is plenty of opportunity for that after one is home, out of earshot of the troops who must fight this war. The classy thing for Hillary to have done would have been to go to Iraq, say nothing but supportive things to the troops, make a point of avoiding criticism of Bush - and then unloose a salvo on arriving home. Hillary doubtless went to Iraq because she figured Bush would be at home eating turkey and she enjoyed the idea of the contrast. But when the president upstaged her, she shouldn't have ventured out and used the visit to attack the war effort as she was visiting it. The senator told the troops that while "Americans are proud" of them, "many question the administration's policies." Being told that you might die in a war that is under attack by people back home must be a great stimulant to combat morale. How sensitive of her to have shared that particular message with men and women who must face death to execute these policies. She also made sure to plant doubts among the troops about the ability of their commanders, saying that "the obstacles and problems are much greater than the administration usually admits to." With Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for a friend, American soldiers don't need any more enemies. The core of Sen. Clinton's argument, echoed by her pet poodle, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), is a call for more troops for Iraq. "The Pentagon tried to make do with as few troops as possible," Clinton said, "as light a footprint as they could get away with. Now we're playing Catch-up." Sen. Reed, who voted against the war resolution, now wants to send even more troops as well. Democrats are determined to make the political cost of this war more onerous and burdensome on the Republican president. By harping on the need for more manpower, they build the pressure with each combat death. If the Democrats can sell the proposition that more troops are needed, they can force Bush to move toward conscription to fill the ranks. Fortunately, Hillary's visit was drowned out by Bush's voyage to Baghdad. The liberal media tried to couple the two visits. The New York Times' headline was "Hail to the Chief; Hail to the Senator." But the visits are hardly comparable. Bush's was designed to raise morale, Hillary's to raise objections. Bush sought to assure the troops of the united support of the people. Hillary wanted them to know that many people objected to what they are trying to do. Bush's message was that we will persevere in the face of terrorism. Hillary's was that this war was due to one man's "obsession." Sen. Clinton will do anything she can to attract attention and, where possible, divert it from the Democrats who are really running for president. But this trip, at this time, in this manner, in that place was wrong politically and morally. jewishworldreview.com

To: calgal who wrote (502956)	12/3/2003 2:16:44 PM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 769670

Yes, a truly creepy way to strategize.......

To: calgal who wrote (502956)	12/3/2003 2:19:20 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Marianne M. Jennings Bush bashers and Bush tenacity URL:http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/jennings.html newsandopinion.com \| That weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth from Bush haters spring from the president's Thanksgiving Day visit to Iraq. Mr. Bush went to boost the morale of the troops and fling raspberries at the UN and the world's peaceniks. Mr. Bush's message was clear, "We ain't leavin." Steam erupts from the ears of the Bush haters who, these days, resemble Wile E. Coyote, flummoxed by this elusive roadrunner from Texas. Turnabout is fair play. Here on the right, we groaned daily about the Clintons during their agonizing reign. But, true to conservative principles, we found a way to make a buck from it. Clinton bashing was a cottage industry. Clinton vaudeville provided embarrassing riches from low-hanging fruit. Comedic punditry rolled if you just woke up each day from 1993-2001. But Bush Bashers are so consumed with hatred that humor eludes them. Al Franken sent me two e-mails last month. The former Saturday Night Live comic/political analyst/foreign policy/tax expert/Renaissance B comedian is miffed about my criticisms of his not-funny book. I hear also from Will Farrell, also taking umbrage at my humor critiques. For two men who were part of a show that hasn't been funny since 1974, they surely are thin-skinned. Venomous hatred toward your subject matter stifles whimsy because comedic detachment flees. David Letterman has lost comedic flair with his nightly "Mock Bush" features. He has done 110 "Top Ten" lists on Bush since 2000. All three Clintons (Roger, Hillary and Bill) had only 285 in 9 years. A sample from the "Top Ten Surprises in the Bush UN Speech: Admitted taking longer than expected to mismanage the rebuilding of Iraq." "Top Ten Bush Complaints in Britain, Everyone is speaking some crazy foreign language." And the "Top Ten on Jeb Bush being dumb, So dumb he used to cheat off George." Almost nightly Letterman excerpts a Bush speech with the segment, "George W. Bush joke that's not really a joke." The clips show the president offering one of those icebreaker lines speakers use ease the sting of formality. Tsk! Our president's humor isn't Letterman's. Other Letterman segments, repeated often, show Mr. Bush in unflattering moments. One shows Mr. Bush spitting. Another shows Mr. Bush explaining "the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing," as Mr. Bush uses the opposite hand. We got the point two years ago: Mr. Letterman and his writers believe Mr. Bush to be an imbecile. Letterman's obvious political ideology produces mockery, not witty segments. Last week Letterman stage hand Biff Henderson went on the road with Howard Dean. Mr. Henderson asked Mr. Dean what he thought of Mr. Bush. Mr. Dean said the president was "odd." There was no laughter. The irony was delicious. Mr. Dean, a man who us more likely to snap than Playtex at a Weight Watchers meeting, called the president odd? Decorum and respect. aside, the line garnered no laughs because Americans, whether they agree or disagree with Mr. Bush, see a normal man, indeed, the average man. Howard Dean was condescending about Americans who drive pickup trucks. Mr. Bush drives one on his ranch. Being consumed with hatred also takes its toll on logic. Bushwhackers call Mr. Bush, at once, a buffoon and a diabolical liar hell bent on getting oil for Texas buddies and contracts for Halliburton, Mr. Cheney's former employer. The incongruity! Is Mr. Bush stupid or a cunning shill for the rich? Fool? Or power-grabbing genius? Wile E. Coyote or Gilligan? The current Bushwhackers make a mistake we never made with the Clintons. Know thy opponent. We understood from the first Sixty Minutes adultery confession during the primaries that Bill and Hill were like weeds. You may stomp them one day, but they're back the next. Bushwhackers have "misunderestimated" Mr. Bush. He is a simple soul with tenacity. Damn the polls, Mr. Bush, unlike the Clintons, unabashedly pursues terrorists despite dropping numbers. That Mr. Bush is willing to risk his re-election for the sake of finishing the work in Iraq speaks to the hearts of the American people. If this is diabolical, they'll take it. Know thy subject, and, know thy audience. Such are the first rules of speeches and comedy. Letterman, Franken, et al., have not only "misunderestimated" Mr. Bush, they have gauged inaccurately Americans' temperament. Like Mr. Bush, Americans are tenacious. Bush's stealth visit to Iraq was tenacity writ large. We witnessed a visionary president who wants the job done. In language that was no joke, Mr. Bush charmed those troops and warned the "thugs and assassins." His simple soul and unwavering goals touch a nerve, even in the most callous of us. Our president wants human rights and democracy in a country that has known neither for generations. That's tough fodder to shape for comedy and punditry. Yes, yes, Mr. Bush is not much on ex temp speaking. But that theme is old and loaded with mockery. Comedy is truth highlighted; parody is born in detached observation. Punditry combines both. Lose those roots and laughter dies. Tenacity, the Bush antidote for arrogant mockery. Works like a charm.