Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Grrrrr .... UPDATED
The blogosphere is all abuzz about the recent bombastic rhetoric used by Cheney and Rumsfeld (both doing pretty good imitations of Spiro Agnew) about the Islamofacists and the need to stay the course. Matt Yglesias writes:
For his latest trick, in a speech to the American Legion, Don Rumsfeld gives the full wingnut monte. America faces an undifferentiated fascist menace. Bush's critics are appeasers who don't understand the lessons of history who blame America first and hate freedom. The media is treasonous and a free press is a luxury we can ill-afford in this time of crisis. Etc.

This, I think we can assume, is the fall campaign. The idea is to psyche the Democrats out. To make them think they can't win an argument about foreign policy. To make them act like they can't win an argument about foreign policy. And to thereby demonstrate to the American people that even the Democrats themselves lack confidence in their own ability to handle these issues.
Digby takes Yglesias one step further:
This is terribly important for everyone to understand. This is not a real critique. It's a psych-out designed purely to make the Democrats go wobbly and to get the media to portray them that way. It's about optics, heuristics and image. If the Democratic Party falls for it, it will be a crime. There is no substance to what they are saying and there is no reason for Dems to even flinch from such empty intimidation. Indeed, they should snarl right back in their faces.
Exactly.

If Democrats respond with a defensive "no we're not weak on terraists" kind of whiny response, or with a "I can be tougher than you" answer, we're dead. The attack needs to be on these nutbars, their bombastic rhetoric, their incompetence, and their mendacity. Anything short of a frontal attack will demonstrate exactly what Rummy says about them.

UPDATE: Someone get's it. Harry Reid:
"Secretary Rumsfeld’s reckless comments show why America is not as safe as it can or should be five years after 9/11. The Bush White House is more interested in lashing out at its political enemies and distracting from its failures than it is in winning the War on Terror and in bringing an end to the war in Iraq. If there's one person who has failed to learn the lessons of history it's Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld ignored military experts when he rushed to war without enough troops, without sufficient body armor, and without a plan to succeed. Under this Administration's watch, terror attacks have increased, Iraq has fallen into civil war, and our military has been stretched thin. We have a choice to make today. Do we trust Secretary Rumsfeld to make the right decisions to keep us safe after he has been so consistently wrong since the start of the Iraq War? Or, do we change course in Iraq and put in place new leadership that will put the safety of the American people ahead of partisan games? For the sake of the safety of this country, it is time to make a change."
Very nice Harry.