"The bigger the lie, the more it will be believed." -- Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Propaganda Chief
Over the past four years, Bush and Cheney have learned that the best way to cover up their record of failure is to lie. They don't just tell white lies or small lies. They tell big lies. They tell lies that matter. They try to mislead the American people.
When they deverted resources from the hunt for bin Laden to start a war in Iraq, they told us that Saddam Hussein was working together with al-Queda. When they cut taxes for the rich, they said they were cutting taxes for the middle class. When they sold out to the HMOs and drug companies, they said they were helping to improve Medicare. When they led us to war in Iraq, they told us that the Iraqi people would welcome us as liberators. As the situation in Iraq gets worse and worse, they tell us that it's getting better and better.
They lied to us. The American people deserve to have a President and Vice President who will tell them the truth.
Dick Cheney lied to us last night. He told us that he had never met John Edwards before. Cheney said that he never met Edwards even though he presides over the Senate and meets with Senators every Tuesday. That was a lie. He has met Edwards at least three times, and Edwards has presided over the Senate almost as often as Dick Cheney has. As for those weekly meetings? They're with the Repubican caucus, not with the entire Senate.
He lied to us.
But that wasn't his biggest lie. He lied throughout the debate. He lied when he said that he had never suggested that there was a link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11. He lied when he said that the Bush Administration had created jobs. He lied when he said that America isn't bearing almost all of the burden in Iraq. He lied when he said that John Kerry voted to raise taxes 92 times. He lied when he said that small businesses are hurt unless we cut taxes on the millionaires and billionaries. He lied when he said that the current Iraq War coalition is as strong as the coalition we had in 1991. He lied when he said that we're on track to have elections in Iraq in January.
He lied to us. The American people deserve to have a President and Vice President who will tell them the truth, and we need to hold them accountable when they try to mislead us.
The media isn't going to hold them accountable for us. They might report "inaccuracies," but don't bet on it. And even if they do, they won't say what we all know--that Bush and Cheney have deliberately hid the truth from us and have repeatedly tried to mislead the American people.
Four years ago, the Republicans tarred Al Gore because he made minor misstatements in the debate. He was slammed for saying that he had traveled to Texas with FEMA director James Lee Witt and that he was serving in Congress when the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was established. "Liar! Liar!" proclaimed the New York Post's front-page headline the day after Bush and Gore debated for the first time.
But Al Gore didn't really lie--he made, at most, a minor mistatement or two. Last night, Cheney didn't just misspeak. He didn't just blunder or forget the facts. He deliberately and repeatedly lied. It's time to hold him accountable. The Republicans had their Swift Boat ads--we have a new mantra, a new slogan. HE LIED TO US. The American people deserve to have a President and Vice President who will tell them the truth.
I just reserved the domain name HELIEDTOUS.COM and I think if we work together, we can get the message out that Cheney lied last night and that Bush and Cheney have repeatedly lied to the American people. I don't think I can do this alone. But I know that if we work together, we can really make a difference. This community has proven time and time again that it is capable of amazing things. I think it's time to move past fundraising into getting out a message that the mainstream media is ignoring.
For this to work, here's what we need:
- Web Hosting (preferably someone with a lot of bandwidth, in case we start getting a lot of traffic)
- Web Design (does anyone have time to do this today or tomorrow? We need to get this site up soon.)
- Research/Writing (I'll help with this, but if we work together I bet we can find hundreds of Bush/Cheney lies. I'd like to give each one a number--for instance, Bush/Cheney Lie #397, etc.)
- Spreading the Word (We need to get blogs and other websites to link to the site once it launches, and we need to email and call the news media and let them know about this site once it's complete)
- Making Video (Video is more effective than text, and if we had a video--even just a web video--associated with the site that would get the word out faster and better than text ever could.)
Let's work together to get this message out. Does anyone have time to help? I think that if this community works together, we can get this message out and take the fight to the Republicans. If you're interested in helping, let's talk about what to do next in the comments.
