Karl Rove marched out into No Man's Land on his own when he
said liberals were all traitors. The GOP's first attempts to back him up
were clumsy and uncoordinated, and today they're
still trying to explain what he meant.
This means we're already winning.
So, today, the RNC comes out with their talking points and whaddaya know? All they can do is attack Moore, Moveon.org, and Soros, while humping the occasional corpse from 9/11. Mehlman's down in Puerto Rico right now, so I guess he had to pull some stranger's dick out of his mouth before he put this together.
And it shows.

Bring that weak shit, Closet-case!
Contact: Tracey Schmitt of the Republican National Committee, 202-863-8614
Contact? Yes. Please do!
Now here's Mehlman's statement:
WASHINGTON, June 23 U.S. Newswire -- "It's outrageous that the same Democrats who stood by Dick Durbin's libeling of our military are now expressing faux outrage over Karl Rove's statement of historical fact. George Soros, Michael Moore, MoveOn and the hard left were wrong after 9/11, just as it was wrong for Democrat leaders to stand by and remain silent after Dick Durbin made his deplorable comments." (RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman)
Liberal Third Party Groups Urged Restraint, Blamed America:
So, first he has to invoke Durbin's "libel," which I guess is kinda like a "blood libel," before he goes on to his main course of more Moore, more Moveon.org, and more George ("the secret Jew") Soros.
This tells me how scared Mehlman is right now. These bogeymen are the hallmarks of the right's AM Radio base. If Mehlman's addressing his base, then he's worred about his base. This isn't dog-whistle politics, this is damage control.
Rove was running scared about Congressional Republicans breaking ranks over Iraq, and the mess he made has panicked the party chairman about everything else. In the process, he only shows how divorced Republicans are from reality.
It's like shootin' fish in a barrel!
SNARK ON!!!
Immediately After 9/11, MoveOn.Org Petition Urged "Moderation And Restraint" And Use Of "International Judicial Institutions."
Wow! A petition from Moveon.org? That's his first point? That's it? You always open with your strongest, which is what tells me Mehlman's got nothing.
-- "We Implore The Powers That Be To Use, Wherever Possible, International Judicial Institutions And International Human Rights Law To Bring To Justice Those Responsible For The Attacks, Rather Than The Instruments Of War, Violence Or Destruction." (MoveOn.Org Website, "MoveOn Peace,"
Wherever possible? That means you don't always have to abide by these standards to protect America. Sounds pretty un-radical to me.
Where's the beef, Mehlman? No, not THAT beef.
Oh, nevermind...
-- "(W)e Demand That There Be No Recourse To Nuclear, Chemical Or Biological Weapons, Or Any Weapons Of Indiscriminate Destruction, And Feel That It Is Our Inalienable Human Right To Live In A World Free Of Such Arms." (MoveOn.Org Website, "MoveOn Peace,"
Well, that would be nice, wouldn't it? But that naiivete aside, not using WMD seems like a no-brainer. What purpose would it serve? Special Forces invaded Afghanistan on horseback, and they seemed to do OK until Bush sent them off to Iraq with the job half-done.
-- Just After 9/11, Moore Blamed America's "Taxpayer-Funded Terrorism" And Bush Administration For Terrorist Attacks. "We abhor terrorism - unless we're the ones doing the terrorizing. We paid and trained and armed a group of terrorists in Nicaragua in the 1980s who killed over 30,000 civilians. That was OUR work. You and me....Let's mourn, let's grieve, and when it's appropriate let's examine our contribution to the unsafe world we live in." (Michael Moore Website Archive, "Death, Downtown," Posted 9/12/01, http://www.michaelmoore.com, Accessed 7/27/04)
So, Karl Rove calling liberals traitors is a "statement of historical fact," whereas the above historical fact is off limits? Why can't Republicans handle the real world?
-- Michael Moore Said U.S. Should Not Have Removed Taliban After 9/11. Moore: "Likewise, to bomb Afghanistan - I mean, I've never understood this, Tim." (CNBC's "Tim Russert," 10/19/02)
I don't agree with Michael (can I call you "Michael"?) here, but then again, we're both Americans, so that's OK.
I don't know what the fuck Mehlman and Rove are. Do they even know what country they're in?
Liberal Donor George Soros Claimed America Should Have Treated 9/11 Attacks As Crime, Responded With Police Work. "War is a false and misleading metaphor in the context of combating terrorism. Treating the attacks of September 11 as crimes against humanity would have been more appropriate. Crimes require police work, not military action. To protect against terrorism, you need precautionary measures, awareness, and intelligence gathering - all of which ultimately depend on the support of the populations among which terrorists operate. Imagine for a moment that September 11 had been treated as a crime. We would have pursued Bin Laden in Afghanistan, but we would not have invaded Iraq. Nor would we have our military struggling to perform police work in full combat gear and getting killed in the process." (George Soros, The Bubble Of American Supremacy, 2004, p. 18)
And Soros is right. Treating this as a war has only helped the enemy. Treating it as crime is how our allies in the War on Terror have been defeating THEIR terrorist enemies all along.
Success.
Failure.
You do the math.
-- Soros Said The Execution Of 9/11 Attacks "Could Not Have Been More Spectacular." "Admittedly, the terrorist attack was a historic event in its own right. Hijacking fully loaded airplanes and using them as suicide bombs was an audacious idea, and the execution could not have been more spectacular." (George Soros, The Bubble Of American Supremacy, 2004, p. 2)
And what was the point of quoting this? Spectacular? Hell yes. Why do you think we're so pissed? If 9/11 hadn't been spectacular, we wouldn't still be wondering when Bush is going to do something to the guy who arranged 9/11.
This is just plain weird.
-- Soros Said War On Terror Had Claimed More Innocent Victims Than 9/11 Attack Itself. "This is a very tough thing to say, but the fact is, that the war on terror as conducted by this administration, has claimed more innocent victims that the original attack itself." (George Soros, Remarks At Take Back America Conference, Washington, DC, 6/3/04)
He's right again. Apparently, Soros can, you know, like, count, 'n stuff.
Liberal Democrats Urged Restraint, Blamed America:
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH): "'The Time For Peace Is Now,' (Kucinich) Declared Optimistically July 11, Two Months To The Day Before Terrorists Hit The Pentagon And The World Trade Center. ... Sitting In His Capitol Hill Office Last Week, Near A Window Where He Could See The Smoke Rising From The Pentagon On Sept. 11, Kucinich Insisted He Is More Optimistic Than Ever That People Worldwide Are Ready To Embrace The Cause Of Nonviolence." (Elizabeth Auster, "Offer The Hand Of Peace," (Cleveland, OH) Plain Dealer, 9/30/01)
Yep. That was an opportunity. Remember the support we had worldwide? Then Bush pissed it away by bringing up his old plan for Iraq.
-- Kucinich: "Afghanistan May Be An Incubator Of Terrorism But It Doesn't Follow That We Bomb Afghanistan ..." (Elizabeth Auster, "Offer The Hand Of Peace," (Cleveland, OH) Plain Dealer, 9/30/01)
Because if Afghanistan = Taliban = al Qaeda to you, this one's gonna go right over your head.
It went right over Mehlman's...
Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI): "Only Now Are We Trying To Figure Out What Is Islam. Maybe If There Was A Department Of Peace, They Would Be Able To Say, 'Uh-Oh, We've Got Some Problems With These People,' ... I Truly Believe That If We Had A Department Of Peace, We Would Have Seen (9/11) Coming." (Ethan Wallison, "War A Challenge For Peace Caucus," Roll Call, 10/1/01)
OK, now all the above = Islam, too. It's simpler that way.
Then again, we're talking about Republicans, here, so I guess it has to be...
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA): "I Am Convinced That Military Action Will Not Prevent Further Acts Of International Terrorism Against The United States." (Eddy Ramirez, "Calif. Congresswoman Alone In Vote Against War Powers Resolution," (University Of California- Berkeley) Daily Californian, 9/17/01)
Looks like she was a fucking prophetess. It didn't.
Al Sharpton (D-NY) Said That The Attacks On The World Trade Center Are Evidence That "America Is Beginning To Reap What It Has Sown." (Adam Nagourney, "Say It Loud," The New York Times, 12/1/02)
From the Mujehaddin we used against the USSR? Uh, yeah. That should be obvious.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) Claimed Osama Bin Laden Could Be Compared To "Revolutionaries That Helped To Cast Off The British Crown." "'One could say that Osama bin Laden and these non- nation-state fighters with religious purpose are very similar to those kind of atypical revolutionaries that helped to cast off the British crown,' Kaptur told an Ohio newspaper, The (Toledo) Blade." (Malie Rulon, "Lawmaker Compares Osama, U.S. Patriots," The Associated Press, 3/6/03)
If you're talking about the non-stop terror campaigns by native peoples which rolled back the British Empire during the 20th century, you'd be exactly correct.
Something tells me Mehlman thought she was talking about George Washington.
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) Said The United States Would "Pay Every Single Hour, Ever Single Day" That Bombs Were Dropped In Afghanistan. "'How much longer does the bombing campaign continue?' Biden asked during an Oct. 22 speech at the Council on Foreign Relations. 'We're going to pay every single hour, every single day it continues.'" (Miles A. Pomper, "Building Anti- Terrorism Coalition Vaults Ahead Of Other Priorities," Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 10/26/01)
Yep. We have. Just look at Afghanistan now.
-- "The Bombing Campaign, (Biden) Said, Reinforced Existing Stereotypes Of The United States As A 'High-Tech Bully ...'" (Miles A. Pomper, "Building Anti-Terrorism Coalition Vaults Ahead Of Other Priorities," Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 10/26/01)
First Mehlman whines about the effect, and then he cites the citing of the cause as an outrage.
He keeps using these quotes. I do not thing they mean what he thinks they mean.
Gov. Howard Dean (D-VT) Said Osama Bin Laden Not Guilty. Dean: "I Still Have This Old-Fashioned Notion That Even With People Like Osama, Who Is Very Likely To Be Found Guilty, We Should Do Our Best Not To, In Positions Of Executive Power, Not To Prejudge Jury Trials." ("Dean Not Ready To Pronounce Osama Bin Laden Guilty," The Associated Press, 12/26/03)
Dean thought there was going to be a trial? How silly! Bush would just fuck that up, too, and bin Laden would walk!
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) To High School Students: "How Would (Muslims) Look At Us Today If We Had Been There Helping Them With Some Of That Rather Than Just Being The People Who Are Going To Bomb In Iraq And Go To Afghanistan? ... War Is Expensive Too ... Your Generation Ought To Be Thinking About Whether We Should Be Better Neighbors Out In Other Countries So That They Have A Different Vision Of Us." (Gregg Herrington, "Senator Asks Students To Ponder," The (Vancouver, WA) Columbian, 12/19/02)
Sounds like what the Bush administration was saying about the "Arab Street" back in 2001 - 02. Remember?
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA): "(W)ar On Terror Is Far Less Of A Military Operation And Far More Of An Intelligence-Gathering, Law-Enforcement Operation." (The Iowa Brown & Black Coalition Presidential Forum, Des Moines, IA, 1/11/04)
Well, since Kerry was investigating Saudi supporters of terror back when Bush was still doing business with them, I think the senator might just know a thing or two about it.
-- Kerry: "(W)hat We've Learned Is That The War On Terror Is Much More Of An Intelligence Operation And A Law Enforcement Operation." (NPR's "All Things Considered," 3/19/03)
Yeah, and Bush abused the intelligence and can't keep order. We should have done this the right way from day one. Bush didn't, now we all pay.
That's what Mehlman is defending: Bush's right to continue failing, and your right to pay for it.