Taking the Low Road

I never thought I'd link to the Moonie-owned Washington Times, but Bad Attitudes found the story, and it's worth passing along:

The word to Republican speakers at the national convention is that bashing Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry is fine.

Unlike Democrats, who put out word that they were editing speeches to tamp down on harsh criticism of President Bush at their convention in Boston in July, the Republicans are not shying away from full-throttle engagement.

Unfortunately, this kind of stuff, well, works. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Lesser-of-two-evils elections make going negative an effective option, and this administration is full of so much shit that it's coming out of their ears. But the Democrats are letting some prime ammunition sit on the shelf--that is, when they're not taking it to the bomb range and blowing it up:

The insufferable Jamie Rubin, top State Department flack in the Clinton years, told the Washington Post that 'knowing then what he knows today' about the lack of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in Iraq, Kerry still would have voted to authorize the war and, 'in all probability', would have launched a military attack to oust Hussein by now if he were president. (Previously, Kerry had only said, with typical forthrightness, that he 'might' have still gone to war.)

In August, with US forces engaged in heavy fighting in Najaf, and American casualties edging inexorably towards 1,000, Rubin apologized to the Washington Post for his 'in all probability' phrase. In more philosophical mode, he now explained that it was 'unknowable whether Kerry would have waged the war. "Bush went to war the wrong way," Rubin said. "What we don't know is what would have happened if a president had gone about it the right way".'

How stupid do you have to be to throw away the Non-Existent WMDs as a stick to beat Bush with?

In the post below, I link to Jeff St. Clair, who concludes one of his bio pieces with a summary of the gang of incompentent crooks running the show these days--he notes, "Even Hunter S. Thompson blazing away on blotter acid couldn't dream this stuff up."

No shit.

I'll grant the Rethuglicans one thing: they're experienced--and good--at hurling slime (I'm envisioning a gaggle of chimpanzees flinging feces). Yes, there is the issue of true slime peddling being beneath the dignity of almost any self-respecting individual. But this isn't some high school election we're talking about, it's for the highest elective office in the land--an office where decisions are made which profoundly affect the lives and well-being of literally billions of people around the world. Now's not the time for squeamishness at the potential for drawing a bit of political blood.

There's not a person in the GOOP leadership who is immune to attack--not even Colin Powell, of whom I'm convinced the Bush team has compromising photos--what else could explain his very public exercises in humiliation, ranging from an all too convincing Village People rendition in Qatar earlier this year to the appalling speech at the United Nations. As for the rest of the gang that can't administrate straight, I say take them all down--Bush is incompetent, Cheney's a crook, Hastert's an idiot, DeLay is another crook (and a chickenhawk), Condi Rice is simply bizarre with her "my husband--I mean my president" flap, etc. etc., and so on. No, it's not pretty to engage in personal attacks, nor is it especially dignified. But it works, and we might as well use the tactic--the other side does.

And, if they complain, then we should tell them what's been their own mantra all this time--"It's just politics--nothing personal." Cat-killer Bill Frist had the gall to tell that to Paul Wellstone's son. To which I say: studies have shown that people who kill small animals when they're young have a tendency to engage in even more devient behavior when they get older. A good example of this is serial killer Ted Bundy, who was known to kill small animals like kittens and puppies when he was a young boy. Hmmm. One of St. Clair's articles notes that a young George W. Bush likewise enjoyed killing small animals. And Frist admits to his feline liquidations.

Any comment, Senator Frist?