Liar!
By Keith Boykin, in politics
Friday, September 12 2003, 10:49AM
Shocked! I was shocked, I tell you. That was my reaction upon hearing President Bush this week say he wanted to "elevate the discourse" in Washington. Are you kidding me? Bush and the Republicans have done more to poison the atmosphere of politics than anyone else in modern history.
In a speech in Jacksonville, Florida on Tuesday, Bush said "we're working hard to change the tone of Washington, D.C., to end all the needless partisan bickering, to elevate the discourse, to focus on results so the people know that we're doing their business."
It's not the first time President Bush has said he wants to "elevate the discourse." I did a Nexis search and found three other instances. He said the same thing on Monday in Nashville, Tennessee. He said it a a fundraiser in Washington in June 2002. And he said it almost a year ago at a campaign event in Alabama.
Last October, while campaigning for gubernatorial candidate Bob Riley, Bush told Alabama residents "you want you a governor who's going to elevate the discourse, who won't play the same old tired politics of name calling and slashing and burning."
In Alabama, Bush said that Bob Riley would be "honorable and honest and full of integrity," but as soon as the newly elected governor used his honesty and integrity to tell the people of Alabama that they needed to raise taxes to close the $675 million budget deficit, the GOP disowned him. Now the right wants him out of office.
A History Of Lies
George Bush must be taking a page from Bill O'Reilly, the obnoxious right-wing media personality on Fox News. Back in May, O'Reilly also said he was trying to "elevate the discourse" in politics. Give me a break! O'Reilly is the same guy who lied about his political affiliation to get his job and now cuts off speakers who disagree with him on his television show. These two guys have done more to poison the politics in America than anyone else since Lee Atwater in 1988.
Atwater was the abrasive campaign manager for the first George Bush in the 1988 election. Back then, Atwater said of Dukakis, "We're going to strip the bark off that little bastard" and promised to "make Willie Horton his running mate." It worked. George Bush in 1988 ran the dirtiest, sleaziest, nastiest presidential campaign since Richard Nixon. He lied repeatedly and accused Mike Dukakis of not believing in the pledge of allegiance, of polluting Boston Harbor, and of letting out black prisoners like Willie Horton so they could rape white women.
And let's not forget the eight years of partisan attacks the Republicans led against Bill Clinton. In 1992, Bush deputy campaign manager Mary Matalin said Clinton "can't tell the truth, and he lacks the character and judgment to lead the nation." Matalin accused Clinton of being a draft-dodging, womanizing, pot-smoking liar. Matalin now advises President Bush. Is she elevating the political discourse?
In that same campaign, Commerce Secretary Barbara Franklin denounced Clinton as "a smooth-talkin', slick-lookin' dandy with no experience." If the Democrats ever said anything close to that, the Republicans would be apoplectic.
The Republicans have a long and sordid history of lying and cheating to win the presidency. Nixon hired burglars to break into the Democratic Party's headquarters in 1972. Ronald Reagan lied and said he would not negotiate with terrorists and then sold arms to Iran for hostages in 1985. The first Bush said "read my lips: no new taxes" in 1992 and then turned around and raised taxes when he was elected. The new Bush said "I'm a uniter, not a divider" in the 2000 campaign, but then he divided the world against the U.S. and divided Americans against each other with his vicious rhetoric on the Iraq war.
Political Hate Speech
The Republicans have a lot of nerve and incredible gall. Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee, last week criticized the Democratic candidates for a "continuing pattern of political hate speech." Gillespie claimed the Democrats were "taking political discourse to a new low."
Excuse me, but the Republicans invented political hate speech. In March, the GOP went ballistic on Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle when he said, "I'm saddened, saddened that this president failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war." House Speaker Dennis Hastert immediately attacked Daschle: "Those comments may not undermine the President as he leads us into war, and they may not give comfort to our adversaries, but they come mighty close." Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said, "Our men and women literally are in a countdown before fighting is initiated, and any remarks that their lives in some way have been compromised by the president of the United States is irresponsible."
But the Republicans weren't so concerned about protecting troops when Bill Clinton was president. Al Franken documents the hypocrisy is his excellent new book, Lies And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. When Bill Clinton launched a bombing attack against terrorists in 1998, Republican Senator Arlen Specter speculated "as to whether there is any diversionary motivation." Republican Senator John Ashcroft said "there is a cloud over this presidency." Now Ashcroft is attorney general and he warns critics of the Bush Administration's heavy handed war policies that they may be helping the enemy.
In March, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay told Senator Daschle in French to "shut your mouth." DeLay called General Wesley Clark a "blow-dried Napoleon" for his comments about Bush's conduct on the Iraq war. Now in September, he claims he wants to elevate the discourse too.
These guys will say or do anything to get power and hold onto it. They've already tried to co-opt the flag, the pledge, the church, the ten commandments, and the U.S. military for their cynical, right-wing political objectives. For 30 years they've misled Americans to think that Democrats only want to raise taxes, release criminals and weaken the military.
That's the level of discourse they've created. They've convinced Americans that if you don't do it their way, you're fiscally irresponsible, soft on crime and unpatriotic.
Well, they're liars. And it's time to say that loudly and clearly. It's time to take America back from these liars. Don't let them get away with it.
Comments conceal
Paul T. Larocque
September 12 2003, 12:45PM
As a Canadian I must be careful not to pontificate on U.S.matters but I do follow them closely and I always find your analysis supports my reading of the situation. With regard to this item I would like to point out that the U.S. reactionary right has not stopped at the American borders but is actively involved in promoting its homophobic agenda in Canada. In the presence of the Canadian Alliance Party it has a knee-jerk handmaiden which shares ideas, pollsters, tactics, etc. which were, heretorfor, foreign to this country's politics. In the same vein, it is co-opting and directing the fundamentalist religious right.
Reaction, alas, knows no borders.
Paul T. Larocque
NLoco
September 12 2003, 5:06PM
Ok, I love you Keith for that Title...."LIAR!" It is such a shame that a country as diverse and powerful as the United States is being led by a bunch of liars that are in charge at the white house these days. All of them, from Rumsfield, to Powell (who has become a big puppet to the Bush/Rumsfield agenda)came into the white house with very shady backgrounds. The Bush administration not only have done more to "poison the atmosphere of politics" in this country, they have also poisened the international political arena with their imperialist and "we go it alone" attitude.
What the Bush administration did to the United Nations role during the Iraq crisis will take decades to correct. Not only did they isolate this country from the rest of the world (politicaly as well as socialy), but they have also created an unmeasurable distrust towards the US amongst other nations...including ones who we called alies leading right upto the war with iraq (france, russia, etc...)
Keith, I know you were talking about Bush's speech about how him and his Republican buddies are working to elevate the discourse in whashington. Well, as we all know, the president is working hard to keep his job come election time. He is down huge points when it comes to polls regarding how most Americans feel about how he has managed doing his job. I believe I saw on CNN that he has a 52% approval rating compared to 68% last year at this time.
I am sure all his lies have finaly caught up to him. The entire mess his office created in Iraq will affect him and how his office will be remebered in history. Let us not forget it took us almost 20 years before the US government acknowledged its mistakes and losses in the Vietnam War. The war in Iraq, as well as in Afghanistan was conducted in a poor maner.
The Republican's have always used lies to get themselves elected in to offices.....but let us not sit and say the democrates haven't done the same. Politicians are for the most part all liars. They will tell you things you want to hear to get your vote, but how often do they do what they say once they get their jobs. I truly can't remember the last time I have seen a true politician who wants to be in power to uplift and work for the people he/she is representing.
I guess I am a bit furstrated with it all....
peace
Frank Eggers
September 12 2003, 10:27PM
Keith, although I don't disagree with what you have written, I think that a bit of research would show that Democrats often lie too. The problem is not limited to Republicans, or even to the U.S.
Much of the problem is the fault of voters for tolerating such tactics.
Studies have shown that people who sling mud loose votes by doing so, but that their oponents loose even more votes. Thus, although mud slinging and lying can help candidates to win, it also has the effect of making people disgusted with politics and reducing the number of people who vote.
I have always been a registered Republican, but have NEVER voted a straight (in it's literal sense) ticket. In fact, in recent years, I have more frequently voted for Democrats.
Don Jones
September 13 2003, 11:55AM
Keith,
I too agree with most of your commentary.However, like your last guest Frank said, I too have been a registered Republican, but have voted mostly Democratic since Ronald Reagan. Nevertheless, I take exception to your comments on Bill O'Reilly. I watch his show on a regular basis and know that he actively recruits the opposing viewpoint. He does however, refuse to change his point of view and actively cuts off and ends discussions where he is at a disadvantage. His active campaign to get Jesse Jackson and Hilary Clinton to come on his show, are futile and proves he wants to debate the issues they espouse. However you feel about the Republican party, I find both parties share the guilt of lying to get elected.
Don Jones
Pinole, Calif.