Many diaries have already mentioned the upcoming guilty verdict against Saddam Hussein. A recommended diary on the subject is
here. The Nation blog has a post talking about its meaning
here.
I want to make sure everybody understands the importance of this issue and give you some ways to counteract the November Surprise.
To see how important this is, as The Nation blog points out, look at how our news cycle works. When we killed Zarqawi, the Republicans got an uptick. Whenever Osama bin Ladin or Zawahiri releases a tape, the Republicans get an uptick. You might think that a reminder that bin Ladin or Zawahiri is free would count against Bush, but you are wrong. These events produce noticeable gains for Bush and Republicans.
Even if you believe in upticks, you might believe that they don't matter because Bush and the Republicans are so low at this point. Wrong again. While Bush and the Republicans are very low, Democrats will have to win a lot of close seats to take back the Senate. A small uptick would be enought to hand Virginia to Allen, Tennessee to Corker, and many House seats to similar-minded (ie idiot) Republicans. The latest poll I saw in my House district (IL-10) showed Republican incumbent Mark Kirk 46, netroots endorsed Dan Seals 44. If the Democrats control the news cycle, Seals can win. If the Republicans control it, Kirk will win.
Even if you understand my above arguments, you might argue that with lots of early and absentee voting it does not matter. The fact is, however, that most people vote on Election Day. The headlines the day before the election are important.
Finally, you might think that any reminder of Iraq will be good news for Democrats. However, if we let this issue slip, the spin will be controlled by Russert, Mathews, Will, and the Fox Bushbots. (The verdict will be breaking news during the Sunday morning shows.) All of them will be happy to act surprised about the verdict and talk about this next so-called turning point in the Iraq War.
That's where we come in. We need to control this issue, and we need to act now to do it.
Below is a letter I will send to the Chicago Tribune. If you go on television or radio at all, get your points together. Bring up the upcoming Hussein verdict and make it into what it is. If you don't go on television or radio, write your own letter.
We need to get the word out before Rove does. Get thee to a keyboard and spread the news.
On November 5th, Iraq will find Saddam Hussein guilty and sentence him to death. If our leaders in Washington had been honest with us, this would have been a great day for us.
However, we were told that we would fight Hussein because he was developing weapons of mass destruction--we now know that he was not. We were told that Hussein was associated with Al Qaeda and 9/11--we now know that he was not. We were told that we would be greeted as liberators--we now know that we were not. We were told that Hussein supported torture--we now know that our President and Congress support torture as well. We were told that the war would pay for itself--we now know that the war will cost us and our children dearly.
Most importantly, we were told that this war would make us safer--we now know that it has not. Hussein may be doomed, but, thanks to the policies of President Bush and his friends in Congress, Al Qaeda is free and continuing to plot against us.
Fortunately, we Americans now have the power to elect a better Congress that will stand up to Bush and make our nation greater. With better leadership, we can hope that the next leader we sentence to death will be the one who actually attacked us.