The Mean Face of the GOP: Vet-bashing and Phoney Warriors.

[CBHagman]

I think we need to take the gloves off, people, and call the activities of the Republican Party exactly what they are. To wit,

*phoney posturing on the part of men who claim to be "warriors" (see Schwarzenegger and G.W. Bush) but know virtually nothing of war. Schwarzenegger's had experience with the make-up brush and virtually none with actual combat; his warrior experience ends when the director yells, "Cut!"

Bush is in the same mold, a dress-up commander in chief who is happy to use troops for a photo opportunity and WTC corpses for a reelection ad.

*veteran-bashing, and even within their own party. Notice how Bush had no qualms about smear campaigns against John McCain in the 2000 election. Notice how freely the GOP has smeared Air Force veteran Tom Daschle. Notice the disgraceful treatment of Max Cleland in the 2002 Senate race. Now they're doing the same to Kerry, and the media obediently prattles on about his "controversial" service.

Controversial? The Department of the Navy didn't suddenly come out and question his service; it was a GOP-financed smear. As Eleanor Clift points out in a recent column, it's pure Rove action.

We've got to call the media to account, and we've got to call the smear a smear and the phoney warrior a phoney warrior. "Anti-vet GOP" should be our mantra.

[LuminousX]

1. The GOP's weakness

is they are easily painted as being mean, and as the bumper sticker says, Mean People Suck.

that is why they had to do the whole 'compassionate' thing... but it is their Achille's heel and we need to use it to our advantage. Mean-spirited, cold, and cruel.

[apnu]

4. Another weakness...

is that they don't do well on the defensive. They have no idea how to deal with criticism. Which is why they feared Dean so much.

When Bush is reeling in the polls is so easy to keep knocking them. the DLC has to get on that and keep slugging Bush when he's backed in the corner like that.

Its the cost of over-specialization. And the current GOP only knows how to attack and not defend. Look what happens when a GOP representative gets in a tight spot... they almost instantly implode and get really messy from there. Look at helmet hair.

Attack Dems! Keep the pressure on and don't let up!

[readmylips]

2. Just look at cheney's face....

that snear can kill a cow.

[apnu]

3. You know... when I see that sneer, I can't help but...

...laugh my ass off! He looks so damn funny and kinda constipated when he sneers like that.

:freak: :hurts:

[CBHagman]

5. Yeah, it's sort of like Lionel Barrymore in "It's a Wonderful Life"

The only pleasure you can imagine Cheney having is yelling at kids to get off his lawn, or maybe ruining someone's career.

But I am serious about the veteran-bashing and phoney warrior accusations. These guys strut around claiming to be the brave, macho types, but they're as phoney as a toupeed and costumed Marion Morrison as John Wayne. And the press lets them get away with the macho act. Read Tom Shales's column in the Washington Post today. He's so taken in with presentation that he drops his usual cynicism to praise (!) Schwazenegger's speech. :puke:

[apnu]

7. it is utter shite, to be sure

I have never served, hell I've lead an almost totally peaceful life and I'd never dream of playing "dress up" in a military outfit and strut around like a peacock because I have some guardsmen or armies under my control.

Its not only offensive, it is also repellent. But this comes at no surprise to me. This is the party of "up is down" and "black is white"

They hate "elitists" but they comprise the greatest of elites in our society.

They hate taxes and financial ir-responsibility, but they spend like they have no limits and generate crippling debt that can last for generations.

They hate "quotas" and forcing colleges to reserve slots for minorities and women, yet they love entitlement admissions to Ivy League schools.

They say they want to run America like a business, yet they all have shady business backgrounds and often histories of failure. Not to mention, that every company drops the ball and sooner or later will collapse. Do you want our government to be as shady and delicate to maintain as a corporation? I sure as hell don't

So it comes as no surprise to me that they are all draft dodgers and fakers but like to play dress up and strut around in cod-pieces. Because that's all this stuff is, a big penis size contest for them. Which is where the repellent behavior comes from.

[Ganja Ninja]

6. Use the idiotic band-aids against them.

Mopaul had a photo-shopped pic up on another thread showing Bush with a band-aid over his pretzel boo boo. That's OK but I think it would work better with pictures of soldiers fighting in Iraq. Use those images combined with a written list of Bush screw-overs of the military like cuts in veterans programs and spending for military housing and education, stop loss orders and call ups of ready reserves. Between each and every item on the list put a Purple Heart band-aid.