What Republicans Call 'Spin' the Rest of The World Calls 'Lies'
My young son and I were talking last week about the definition of a lie. As a nine-year-old, he's expanding his boundaries and testing the waters on how little he can get away with telling my wife and me without crossing the line into being a liar. This seems to me like a perfectly normal part of childhood development so, as we talked, I used an example from last winter, when we had a misunderstanding about whether or not his school had been closed in advance of a monster snowstorm.
He told me the night before that he heard from one of the teachers that, because of the magnitude of the expected storm, classes had been called off in advance for the next day. We found out later that night that this information was incorrect, that a preemptive snow-day had not been called and my little boy promptly apologized for "lying."
I asked at the time if he knew that a snow-day had really not been called and, when he replied that he really did believe his information was correct, I explained that he had simply been mistaken and that he had not lied. If he had found out at 6:00 PM that his information was wrong, I said to him, telling me at 7:00 PM that school had already been canceled would indeed have been a lie.
My little boy understands and acknowledges that obvious distinction -- Republicans do not.
As if we need more evidence of this, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman sent out an e-mail blast yesterday lashing John Kerry for allegedly insulting America's military personnel.
"Listen closely this election season and you'll hear the truth about what Democrats represent," wrote Mehlman. "Monday, failed Presidential candidate John Kerry brazenly insulted the brave American men and women serving in our military. In Kerry's cocoon of privilege, those who serve in our military are failures who never did their homework or 'made an effort to be smart.'"
"Our troops deserve to be honored, not insulted by the likes of John Kerry."
Mehlman ended his deceptive pitch by getting down to brass tacks and saying "We need you now to keep the John Kerry Democrats out of power."
By any sensible person's definition -- and what an average grade-school child would understand -- is that this was a lie. Ken Mehlman knew when he released this e-mail that John Kerry had not "brazenly insulted the brave American men and women serving in our military." He knew from a comparison of the prepared text and how Kerry bungled the joke he intended to tell that it was meant for Mehlman's master, George W. Bush, and not the troops in Iraq and that there was certainly nothing brazen about it.
He knew all of that as a matter of fact, in addition to knowing that, unlike the vast majority of the Republican leadership, John Kerry is a highly-decorated Veteran, who has always fought for America's Vets and active-duty military and would never lob such disrespect their way.
But Mehlman said it anyway. He knew at 1:00 PM that what he was writing was a lie. But he sent the e-mail at 2:00 PM anyway.
George W. Bush did the same thing in a speech after Kerry made his remarks but well after the truth of the Massachusetts Senator's intent was known -- he bashed Kerry, knowing it would be all over the world on nightly newscasts and also knowing that it was a total lie.
But, of course, it's not just confined to John Kerry or this one, isolated non-story.
Enter White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, who just yesterday, went to the Brady Briefing Room and told the nation's Press Corps a lie that all national Republicans continue to offer, despite substantial evidence to the contrary.
"You have heard me talk in recent days about how important it is to get people to focus on substantive issues," said Snow to the White House press. "And again, it's striking that in the war on terror -- winning the war on terror, Democrats have decided they're not going to tell you what their plan is. It's the most important issue; why not tell you what the plan is?"
White House reporters, perhaps tiring of being played for chumps and fed the Democrats-don't-have-a-plan line over and over again, immediately called Snow on it.
"You say that you want to see Democrats offer -- engage in a more substantive way on Iraq," pressed one reporter. "And yet when Democrats do that, their ideas are either rejected out of hand, as was the case with Biden's idea of partitioning Iraq, or in the case of Murtha, he had Republican members of Congress effectively accuse him of being a coward and say that the idea doesn't reflect reality. So when you have substantive proposals, redeploying troops is a substantive proposal, partitioning the country is substantive."
In addition to Democrat Jack Murtha learning that bringing an Iraq plan to the Republicans gets you called a coward -- even if you are a decorated combat Veteran who spent 37 years in the U.S. Marines -- the biggest element of Snow's lie is how he willfully ignores that Democrats put forth a major, comprehensive security initiative in the Senate less than two months ago and had it shot down by the GOP leadership.
On September 13, 2006, the Real Security Act of 2006, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), was killed by an almost straight party-line vote in the Senate. The legislation, all 528 pages of it, offered, as its amendment purpose stated, "to provide real national security, restore United States leadership, and implement tough and smart policies to win the war on terror."
That's 528 pages of detailed description of the Democratic plan to secure our domestic infrastructure, end the war in Iraq and bring our military men and women home to their families.
But, just yesterday, in saying that Democrats have never told anyone what their plan is, Tony Snow lied yet again. This is not subject to partisan interpretation -- it is a lie. See for yourself: You can go here to see the legislation, S.AMDT. 4936.
And perhaps the most despicable of the lies surrounding the GOP's manufactured news story about John Kerry, is the fact that Republican John McCain, a fellow decorated Veteran and someone Kerry once called a friend, kept the lie going for his party in spite of what he knew was the truth. Even after the context of Kerry's remarks became clear to anyone interested in reality, McCain went on the attack, demanding that Kerry apologize for sentiments that McCain knew full well were a twisted invention of his own party.
Mighty disgusting stuff to be sure.
Politics can often be much more gray than black and white. Certainly, I've learned in covering the United States Senate that things are sometimes not what they seem and that the process of governing can at times be complex and filled with nuance.
But there are some things that are absolute. And one of those is that the Republican party of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Ken Mehlman, Tony Snow and John McCain is filled throughout with a craven pack of liars whose only interest is to remain in power, while railroading those who oppose them and scaring the hell out of each and every American along the way to achieve their goals.
Election day is Tuesday. It is time to begin throwing the liars out.
You can read more from Bob at BobGeiger.com.
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Well said!
Well said! and so very true.
ABRAMOFF, BURNS, BUSH, AND DELAY
Vote Republican: the party of deception, corruption, devastation, torture and oppression.
Why is bush so afraid of dems? Besides having committed at least 20 impeachable offenses?
Right now he is stumping for burns of Montana.
MARIANA ISLANDS — ABRAMOFF OVERCHARGED NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS: The Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association and the Northern Mariana Islands hired Abramoff in 2001 “to stop legislation aimed at cracking down on sweatshops and sex shops in the American territory, which is known as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.”
In 2001, the association paid Abramoff $460,000 and the Islands paid him $1.1 million.
He used these fees “to cultivate ties to members of Congress, flying dozens of lawmakers and their aides for luxurious vacations.
Abramoff is being investigated for bilking the islands out of money. … [C]harges included ‘$2,000 for a June 1996 golf tournament.’” [ABC, 4/6/05; Billings Gazette, 12/3/05; Fox News, 4/29/05]
GABON — ABRAMOFF ARRANGED MEETING WITH BUSH FOR A FEE: Abramoff “asked for $9 million in 2003 from the president of a West African nation to arrange a meeting with President Bush....
The agreement promised a ‘public relations effort related to promoting Gabon and securing a visit for President Bongo with the president of the United States.’” On May 26, 2004, Bongo met with Bush. [New York Times, 11/10/05]
Congress
CONTRIBUTIONS — BURNS RECEIVED $150,000 FROM ABRAMOFF AND HIS CLIENTS:
“In all, Burns collected nearly $150,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004.”
MARIANA ISLANDS — BURNS CHANGED HIS MIND ON BILL AFTER $5,000 DONATION: The Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association and the Northern Mariana Islands hired Abramoff in 2001 “to stop legislation aimed at cracking down on sweatshops and sex shops in the American territory, which is known as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.”
In February, Abramoff donated $5,000 to Friends of the Big Sky, Burns’s political action committee and his firm, Greenberg Traurig, in March donated another $2,000. On April 20, 2001, an employee of a a major Saipan garment manufacturer, “donated $5,000 to Friends of the Big Sky.”
In 1999, Burns voted for a bill that “would have broadened federal oversight of immigration and labor rules on the islands.”
On May 23, 2001, one month and three days after the $5,000 donation, Burns voted against the exact same bill and took the unusual step of calling for a roll call vote, so that his vote was recorded.
Burns “and his staff met Jack Abramoff’s lobbying team on at least eight occasions” around the deal. [ABC, 4/6/05; AP, 12/6/05; Billings Gazette, 12/3/05; Congress Daily AM, 12/7/05; AP, 12/6/05]
Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX)
CONTRIBUTIONS — DELAY RECEIVED $65,000 FROM
MARIANA ISLANDS — DELAY ACCEPTED ABRAMOFF TRIP TO SAIPAN: Abramoff “arranged a lavish overseas trip to the island of Saipan for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, over the New Year’s holiday in 1997.
DeLay, his wife and daughter, and several aides, stayed for free at a beachfront resort.” The trip “was part of an effort by former aide Jack Abramoff to stop legislation aimed at cracking down on sweatshops and sex shops in the American territory, which is known as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.” Abramoff was paid $1.36 million by Saipan officials. On that trip, DeLay promised a prominent factory owner that he would use his position to stop the reform laws: “[I]f they elect me majority whip, I make the schedule of the Congress, and I’m not going to put it on the schedule.” [ABC, 4/6/05]
MARIANA ISLANDS — BUSH SUPPORTED ABRAMOFF CLIENT INTERESTS, RECEIVED DONATIONS: Abramoff was hired by the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association and the Northern Mariana Islands to “stop legislation aimed at cracking down on sweatshops and sex shops in the American territory.” In 1997, “Abramoff charged the Marianas for getting then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush to write a letter expressing support for the Pacific territory’s school choice proposal, his billing records show. … Abramoff and his wife each gave $5,000 to Bush’s 2000 recount fund and the maximum $1,000 to his 2000 campaign. By mid-2003, Abramoff had raised at least $100,000 for Bush’s re-election campaign, becoming one of Bush’s famed ‘pioneers.’ … Money also flowed from the Marianas to Bush’s re-election campaign: It took in at least $36,000 from island donors, much of it from members of the Tan family, whose clothing factories were a routine stop for lawmakers and their aides visiting the islands on Abramoff-organized trips.” [ABC, 4/6/05; AP, 5/7/05]
GUAM — BUSH REMOVES FEDERAL PROSECUTOR INVESTIGATING ABRAMOFF: In 2002, Abramoff was the target of a grand jury investigation in Guam. On November 18, 2002, U.S. Atty. Frederick A. Black issued a grand jury subpoena issued seeking records involving a highly unusual contract between Abramoff and the Superior Court in Guam. Apparently, Superior Court officials in Guam paid Abramoff over $324,000 — funneled through a Laguna Beach attorney Howard Hills — to lobby against a bill in Congress that gave the Guam Supreme Court authority over the Superior Court. The Los Angeles Times reported this August that the day after Black issued the subpeona, “President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor [Black] and the inquiry ended soon after.” Black had “served as acting U.S. attorney for Guam and the Northern Mariana islands since 1991.” He was replaced by Leonardo Rapadas, the man that the Guam Republican Party recommended to Karl Rove be given the job. [Los Angeles Times, 8/7/05]
GEORGE BUSH: RECIEVED AT LEAST $136,000 FROM ABRAMOFF.
Abramoff and his wife each gave $5,000 to Bush’s 2000 recount fund and the maximum $1,000 to his 2000 campaign. By mid-2003, Abramoff had raised at least $100,000 for Bush’s re-election campaign, becoming one of Bush’s famed ‘pioneers.’ …
GABON — ABRAMOFF ARRANGED MEETING WITH BUSH FOR A FEE: Abramoff “asked for $9 million in 2003 from the president of a West African nation to arrange a meeting with President Bush and directed his fees to a Maryland company now under federal scrutiny, according to newly disclosed documents.” On July 28, 2003, Abramoff wrote to Gabon’s president, Omar Bongo, “Without advance resources, I have been cautiously working to obtain a visit for the president to Washington to see President Bush.” “In a draft agreement with Gabon dated Aug. 7, 2003, Mr. Abramoff and his associates asked that $9 million in lobbying fees be paid through wire transfers - three of them, each for $3 million - to GrassRoots [small Maryland consulting firm run by Abramoff] instead of the Washington offices of Greenberg Traurig. … The agreement promised a ‘public relations effort related to promoting Gabon and securing a visit for President Bongo with the president of the United States.’” On May 26, 2004, Bongo met with Bush. [New York Times, 11/10/05]
ANOTHER REPUBLICAN WITH A WHORE PROBLEM
Would someone please knock the shit out of the next Republican who states that they have any claim on religion.
Don Sherwood, a married Republican in Pennsylvania, has three children and was sued last year by his mistress(whore) for 5.5 million because he physically abused her.
Naturally George W. Bush was recently seen stumping for Sherwood because it doesn't matter if a Republican has broken secular laws or the Ten Commandments, all Republicans have given their oath to support their own kind.
The district that Sherwood represents is mainly Republican but maybe everybody in that district accepts adultery, infidelity and physical abuse as the status quo.
If the truth were known you would probably see half the Republican bastards in prison for all of their lying, stealing, whoring, extortion, murder, and any number of unnamed offenses and they point their PIOUS,holier than thou, fingers at Democrats accusing us of all manner of crimes.
I'm mad as hell and I refuse to take it anymore. I have severed all my connections to people who have revealed their support for the Republican party and if the Democrats do not win both houses of congress this election I refuse to contribute anything to this economy by buying anything unless it is absolutely neccesary to sustain life. Let the businesses who supported the Republican party depend on the Republicans to support them and they will find that the Republicans are the cheapest skin-flints that ever lived and small business in America will realize that they supported the wrong candidates.
If one doesn't have enough conviction to carry ones aspirations and hopes to an acceptable end then what one has to contend with is justified.