Daily Brew....I Think He's Right....And How It Should Be Done

[GR]

http://thedailybrew.com/

The Daily Brew
© September 5, 2004
Throwing Mud


Liberals ranging from the embarrassing Susan Estrich of Fox News to the brilliant Digby of blogger fame have finally reached the conclusion I landed on three years ago. To beat Bush, John Kerry is going to have to go profoundly negative. And while a general consensus has been reached that the time has come to throw down the gauntlet, in my humble opinion, no one (at least no one that I have read) has put their finger on which attack will actually work. So let me repeat another observation I made three years ago.



Bush must be attacked for his chicken-shit response to the attacks of September 11.



To win this election, Kerry has to tear a hole in Bush’s machismo, and stories about Bush going AWOL in the national guard 30 years ago aren’t going to do it. The electorate doesn’t care if Bush was a pussy when he was 22. Karl Rove’s smoke and mirrors have effectively convinced them that Bush is now the Buford Pusser of the post cold war world, walking tall, carrying a big stick. Fortunately, the facts show that Bush hasn’t changed. His courage is still limited to wars where other people’s kids are killed. When his own ass is on the line, Bush is still Barney Fife.



I suggest that Kerry, and those of us who support Kerry’s campaign, aggressively remind the public that Bush is a coward, and his response to September 11 proved it. Let’s have a conversation about that fateful day, when Bush sat for seven minutes in a Florida grade school, like a deer caught in the headlights. Let’s talk about the fact that when he left that classroom, he then spent all day flying around the country, from one safe house to the next. As the whole nation watched the towers burn, then collapse, Bush couldn’t even find the courage to step in front of a television camera. Rove was so embarrassed by Bush’s obvious cowardice that he had to put out a cover story. Maybe Bush should be asked to explain the lies put out by the White House to explain his chicken shit behavior; that they had specific information that Air Force One had been targeted.



Let’s then remind everyone that journalists who pointed out these obvious facts at the time were fired. When our country was attacked, Bush ran in circles, scared of his own shadow, other people ran the country, and anyone who pointed out that the King had no clothes lost their job. Bush will deny it, since Bush has built his whole campaign (not to mention his whole foreign policy) around September 11, let’s argue about how Bush behaved on that fateful day, just three years ago. It sure as hell is going to sound more relevant than which December day John Kerry spent in Cambodia 30 years ago.



Rove attacked Kerry’s heroism as a young man, because he is smart enough to go after his opponent’s strengths. As I said three years ago, let’s steal a page from their book. Let’s attack Bush’s heroism as an old man. Bush’s biggest strength is the mistaken impression that he took charge when America was attacked. But he didn’t. And unlike the “Smear Boat Veterans for Bush,” we don’t have to lie. The facts are plain. Bush’s biggest strength is an illusion. Bush didn’t take charge when America was attacked. He wasn’t any kind of leader. His first instinct was to save his ass. He didn’t give orders on that fateful day. He took them. Rove has made Bush’s leadership on September 11 his central campaign theme. Well I have three words for Rove.

Bring. It. On.

Don't forget to check out the video! simplefears.com

I sent this to Brew...

Bill Maher who addressed this in "New Rules" last Friday calling 9-11 "a fuckup by a man on vacation" and also John McLaughlin who said that the convention was "Kafkaesque" in that Bush was running on a major mistake as the primary element of his election campaign.

I assume you've read "The New Pearl Harbor." I asked Kristin Brietweiser if she'd read it in a C-SPAN call and she said she hadn't. If you haven't, you should. It's written in a very scholarly tone and is very convincing.

I also think that Kerry should use the ideas of Anonymous in Imperial Hubris RE understanding Islamic Terrorism and Bin Laden's appeal.

I think Kerry could simply take the conclusions of the 9/11 Commission and use those as jumping off points. He doesn't have to resort to The New Pearl Harbor, even though I think it's pretty accurate.

I also assume you saw the Zogby Poll that showed half of New Yorkers believe the Administration was complicit in 9-11 either LIHOP or MIHOP.

It's fascinating to me that this poll, has been completely ignored. Given the President's Convention-attempt to bathe in the "success" of his actions on 9/11 and AFTER the attack, it would seem to be a good angle to explore what the victims of the attacks on 9/11 think about his actions in attempting to "prevent" 9/11 during 2001 in the months BEFORE the attack.

http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=855

[Spiffarino]

1. Hear hear!

This is the single most important slam on *'s record in office. He has pretty well hinged his campaign on this one event during his presidency. Everything else, including Iraq and Afghanistan, is secondary.

The first ad could go like this:

Split screen, left pane detailing events as they happened (do NOT show the towers getting hit or burning!!)

* at the school reading "My Pet Goat"

Andrew card whispers in *'s ear

Bush continues to sit there like a chickenshit idiot

Time lapse clock clicks off minute by minute while the left pane scrolls details of events

Finally, use fade in/out text explaining that * then went on to a 20-minute photo op while people were dying by the thousands.

[Catfight]

3. The time needs to be stressed, even my mother STILL didn't know

that Bush went to that school AFTER the first plane already HIT, he learned the SECOND plane hit and still kept reading. THEN stayed another 7 minutes and THEN most damaging, stayed 20 more minutes to take photos. Just a big CLOCK with Bush sitting there, and words saying stating what is happening at that time, with Bush behind the clock sitting blank face. Flash with the AUGUST (1 month BEFORE) PDB stating exactly what to look for by Osma Bin Laden! Then flash to Bush at ground zero and FREEZE it: America wants more than Goerge Bush who talks the talk, but he doesn't walk the walk. Have him fade away and Flash:

FIRE-FIGHTERS ENDORSE JOHN KERRY
POLICE-ENDORSE JOHN KERRY
VETS-ENDORSE JOHN KERRY
UNIONS-ENDORSE JOHN KERRY

But Saudi's endorse GEORGE BUSH and CHENEY

[NMDemDist2]

2. Rove will continue to attack Kerry's strength's -- That's his MO

we (I fear) are forced to do the same

The country is so divided now it sure won't be any worse.

[Cogito ergo doleo]

4. News needs to get factual

If the campaign goes strongly negative pundits need to show up on cable news with stacks of documentation in their hands. It is the only way to reach around the BS of opinion as news.

[Spiffarino]

7. That would be ideal

But it's not going to happen, at least not any time soon. The Fairness Doctrine is gone thanks to Reagan so there is nothing stopping big media from flogging its own agenda.

The only way they will come to their senses is if we make them. That means getting people elected who will stop the mad dash toward media imperialism and put controls in place over the public airwaves.

[henslee]

5. Truthful and blunt will suffice.

[AnnInLa]

6. A Conundrum? How can Kerry still be perceived as positive and

a person of integrity, yet get the negative campaign rolling? Mustn't he have a henchman or three or four to do the dirty work, or the public will yell, "sour grapes" and "unpatriotic" and "smear tactics"??? Could Edwards take on this role, and if not, who? Michael Moore started the ball rolling, but someone must take up the "truth telling" other than Jon Stewart and Bill Maher.