Even after just a few minutes of watching the Republican convention, it's clear that the lies, misconceptions and shadings of the truth are coming thick and fast. They're working across the entire taxonomy of deception, but there's a big one out there that their entire story hinges on: that Iraq and 9-11 are connected.
Practically everything comes back to this. "Bush is decisive"... because he attacked Iraq. "Bush acted to protect us after 9-11"... because he attacked Iraq. "Bush is a strong leader"... because he attacked Iraq.
The tactic they've used to sell this Big Lie is very clever: Bush has hardly ever come out and said directly that 9-11 and Iraq are connected. Instead, every time he or any of the Republicans mention 9-11, Iraq is the next thing they talk about. They don't have to explicitly make the connection - as long as the linguistic proximity and repetitions are there, people are make the connections themselves. The absence of evidence doesn't matter because as far as our brains are concerned, proximity IS evidence.
To paraphrase Tom Tomorrow, you have to be in awe of their evil genius.
The best way to deprogram this is just to watch for it. Practically every time you hear 9-11, you know Iraq is next. They are in the process of exploiting this tragedy for political gain far more fully and completely than any other event in the history of humanity has ever been exploited. They are going to leave no corner of exploitation untrammeled. I thought the Swift Boat Vets for Bush attacks on Senator Kerry were the most digusting thing I'd ever seen, but this leaves the Swift Vets in the dust.
Orrin Hatch tonight said "we will never forget, and we will never forgive." Never forgive? The equally Christian and humanist principle of forgiveness has been completely abandoned by this party. And the President said (literally!) that we can't win the war on terror.
So the lines are drawn. President Bush and the Republicans have abandoned the fundamental principles of morality, and even so they still don't have a plan to win the war on terror. Kerry hasn't abandoned his principles and he has a plan. Out here in reality, Iraq and 9-11 are separate. We will be able to remind enough voters of that reality to win this thing?
