Media Matters
From an interview June 12th with Hannity & Colmes:
COLMES: You always ignore Debra Burlingame, who's been used to promote President Bush. And let me show you something that President Bush, a commercial that President Bush ran during his last campaign for president. Let me show you a little piece of that. We don't have that; I'm sorry. He ran a commercial using a little girl who lost her mother during 9-11 and used that and that helped sell him to the American people. Was that using 9-11?
COULTER: No, you refuse to grasp the distinction --
COLMES: Was that using the tragedy to promote a political agenda?
Continued over the hump...
COULTER: No. He's the commander in chief. Do you think FDR didn't run on World War II when he was running for president? He's the commander in chief. He's the one responsible for the response. You didn't have a little girl denouncing John Kerry and saying he wasn't doing enough to fight the war on terrorism.
COLMES: So it's OK to use someone's tragedy if you're the commander in chief --
COULTER: You never see conservatives doing this.
COLMES: -- and running for office?
COULTER: No, he's not using someone's tragedy. He's talking about the war on terror, which we are in the middle of -- He's the commander in chief.
Not using someone's tragedy? Listen (watch if you can; I couldn't) this clip from Olbermann (courtesy Crooks and Liars) wherein Bush denies ever stating a link between Iraq and 9/11, and later, a clip of him saying just that.
Furthermore, from the Washington Post transcript of Bush's 2005 State of the Union:
"...One of Iraq's leading democracy and human rights advocates is Safia Taleb al-Suhail. She says of her country, 'We were occupied for 35 years by Saddam Hussein. That was the real occupation. Thank you to the American people who paid the cost, but most of all to the soldiers.'
Eleven years ago, Safia's father was assassinated by Saddam's intelligence service. Three days ago in Baghdad, Safia was finally able to vote for the leaders of her country. And we are honored that she is with us tonight..."
There's one person's tragedy. Given during a State of the Union address, where the President speaks to the citizens of America, expresses developments in many areas, plans and goals for the future, and in general, attempts to highlight what should be positive promotions in an attempt to garner support.
Political support.
And unless I just read that wrong, which I don't think I did, Bush just highlighted this woman's tragedy of her husband's assassination as a positive example, the ability to vote, of the toppling of Saddam in the War on Terror. As an example of why we must continue on "the mission."
But is this really about personal tragedy? Grieved women who lost their husbands speaking out for reforms to prevent another type incident, hoping to garner a larger backing and push to get such reforms versus George Bush citing the tragedy of one person in his SOTU in an attempt to garner support for any number of programs or ideas he has?
And this was but one example of Bush using a tragedy for political gain. Spin it any way you want; that Bush was trying to unite the country, that Bush understood the depth and scope of our enemy and wanted to inform us as much as possible so that we too would understand, or that Bush was trying to garner more pro-war, pro-military support when the polls opened to ensure a large turnout to ensure his re-election. Granted, I cited the 2005 SOTU but Bush has given a lot of speeches. And Bush has tied 9/11 and Saddam many times. And Bush is always telling us how he spoke to this or that person and how their personal story changed his view, or his mind, or his outlook.
And it's not just the War on Terror/Iraq/Islam/Freedom-Haters, etc. Highlighting personal hardships to garner support for your plan or your idea of how things can or should be made better happens all the time and can be applied to other topics as well.
President Announces Framework to Modernize and Improve Medicare - 2003
"...The cost of health care is rising at the fastest rate in more than a decade. There are reasons why there are rising costs. Research is costly. New technologies are expensive -- and they're worth the expense. When you save lives with technologies, it's worth the expense. But other rising costs are unnecessary. And the problem doesn't start in the waiting room or the operating room, it starts in the court room. (Applause.) We have a problem in America. There are too many frivolous lawsuits against good doctors, and the patients are paying the price.
...
I was in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and met Debra DeAngelo, a fine lady. She's got a great safety record in her pain management clinic. She loved living in Scranton because that's where she was raised. She wanted to practice her talents with the people with whom she was raised. Her liability insurance became so expensive that she couldn't practice medicine in Scranton, Pennsylvania anymore, and she shut down her clinic, which employed 10 and served 2,000 patients.
...
Many doctors serve their fellow humans in some of the most compassionate ways. I went down to Mississippi, met a man who had moved to Mississippi to provide health care for some of our most -- neediest citizens; health care in the Delta region of Mississippi, part of our country where we need docs -- people need help.
And he told me about what it was like to try to practice medicine in a compassionate way. He had heard a calling and he went to serve his fellow humans. But liability insurance drove this good Samaritan out of the state. He's now, I think, practicing up in North Dakota or Minnesota. There are some people who hurt who are lucky to have this good doctor in their midst.
There's a story about the lady -- and this happens all the time -- in Nevada named Ruth Valentine. She's pregnant. She called more than 50 local doctors, and she couldn't find anybody in Nevada to serve her. So she went to Utah, where she's staying with friends until she has her baby. No family in America should face this kind of stress or worry during one of life's most vulnerable moments.
President Participates in Conversation on Social Security Reform - 2005
"We've got a mom and her daughter with us. I'm so glad you both came. Thanks for being here. Sonya is the daughter. Rhoda is the mom. And I want the Stone women to talk about their lives and how it relates to Social Security. If you don't mind, Sonya, why don't you start? What do you do?
MS. STONE: Sure. I'm a chief financial officer for a firm here in Washington. But I'm really here as a mom. I happen to be a divorced mom, raising three children -- two wonderful boys, Jeff and Eric, that are here with me -- and I have a beautiful daughter, Emily, who is also here with me. She's nine years old. Emily has been severely disabled since birth, both mentally and physically, and she will be dependent on Social Security for her lifetime. And I would like to make sure that Social Security is going to be there for her as its been for my mother.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. A CFO, like, you know something about numbers?
MS. STONE: I know a little bit about numbers, and I --
THE PRESIDENT: I presume you've looked at the numbers.
MS. STONE: I have looked at the numbers. And I would very much like to see the current Social Security system improved with the establishment of personal accounts, so that families could harness the power of the capital markets to allow them to build a nest egg over the course of their lifetimes that could then be passed on to their families. And I know that if my father, who paid in for over 40 years, had had the opportunity to establish an account like that, that would then have grown and survived him, and been available to not only provide for my mom, but ultimately for his grandchildren and his granddaughter, who he never knew, I think that would have made him very happy.
THE PRESIDENT: Sure. I think it's important for people to understand compounding rate of interest. In other words, if you take a dollar, set it aside and it grows at three percent over 30 years or 40 years, and compare that to the same dollar that grows at 7 percent on an average basis over 30 years, there is a huge difference in money.
So it matters how much money -- how much interest, or how much rate of return your money earns. We're kind of throwing around these words as if everybody understands compounding rate of interest and rate of return, but what people need to understand is that the money that's now -- your money in the government is earning much less than it's capable of generating under safe conditions. Safe conditions -- I think that's what you're saying.
MS. STONE: That's what I'm saying. And I would just add that, as a mom, I know what it's like to lay awake at night and worry about the future of your children. And I know one thing about moms, they know how to make tough choices; we make them every day, on everything from health care to education to which bill to pay next. And I think we understand that whenever you're faced with a difficult problem, the sooner you start and the more honest you are about the nature of the problem, the greater chance you have of success. So I'm very hopeful that we would get started.
President Bush Addresses the Nation on Immigration Reform - 2006
"I know many of you listening tonight have a parent or a grandparent who came here from another country with dreams of a better life. You know what freedom meant to them, and you know that America is a more hopeful country because of their hard work and sacrifice. As President, I've had the opportunity to meet people of many backgrounds, and hear what America means to them. On a visit to Bethesda Naval Hospital, Laura and I met a wounded Marine named Guadalupe Denogean. Master Gunnery Sergeant Denogean came to the United States from Mexico when he was a boy. He spent his summers picking crops with his family, and then he volunteered for the United States Marine Corps as soon as he was able. During the liberation of Iraq, Master Gunnery Sergeant Denogean was seriously injured. And when asked if he had any requests, he made two: a promotion for the corporal who helped rescue him, and the chance to become an American citizen. And when this brave Marine raised his right hand, and swore an oath to become a citizen of the country he had defended for more than 26 years, I was honored to stand at his side.
We will always be proud to welcome people like Guadalupe Denogean as fellow Americans. Our new immigrants are just what they've always been -- people willing to risk everything for the dream of freedom. And America remains what she has always been: the great hope on the horizon, an open door to the future, a blessed and promised land. We honor the heritage of all who come here, no matter where they come from, because we trust in our country's genius for making us all Americans -- one nation under God."
So, you see Ann, George Bush uses personal tragedies to make political points just like the 9/11 wives you despise so much.
The only minor problem with this?
These aren't George Bush's personal tragedies.
As a reminder, don't forget that tomorrow on Jay Leno, Ann Coulter and George Carlin are on the guest list. Don't forget to tune in as I'm sure both sides will have plenty to say about the other.