Right Wing Political Convenience

I've been watching the Bush-Coulter Republican's fire storm over the MoveOn.org ad questioning Petraeus' presentation of cherry picked facts and find it an absurd distortion at best and another in a long list of hypocrisies.

From Democratic Talking Points:

It wasn't so long ago that Republicans -- at their national convention -- were mocking the three Purple Hearts of a decorated war hero by wearing band-aids -- band-aids! -- to ridicule John Kerry, the military, and every recipient of a Purple Heart. The Purple Heart is the oldest military honor in the American military, and is an honored medal first awarded by George Washington. It even has Washington's face and coat of arms on it. And yet Republicans saw fit to mock this award and everyone who has ever received it in order to score cheap political points. They didn't apologize for the Swift Boat ads, they reveled and wallowed in them -- together, as a party.

If that's not enough for you, consider the smearing of Max Cleland, another veteran who lost three limbs serving his country. Republicans ran ads against him with Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Where were all these indignant Republicans then? How many of them condemned such tactics as being despicable and disgusting? I don't remember many Republicans denouncing that ad, then or since.

Republicans have no "moral high ground" on the issue of smearing the military, and yet they've chosen to try to make cheap political points off an independent group's newspaper ad. I guess they only respect military service when it serves their political needs. I find this repulsive."

I'm tired of these Bush-Coulter Republicans and those who buy into their smear tactics without question. I have never witness such a pack of disingenuous, spiteful, deceitful hypocrites. It seems the only thing they have going for them is the collective chronic American case of ADD or voter Alzheimer's disease. They can't win on issues so they distract from the issues as part of their play book. The sad thing is that they fool too many American voters too many times. If you want to explore why we have the set of seemingly insurmountable problems, both domestic and global ... look to the actions of the Coulter Republicans and their tactics of distortions and outright lies. Look to their smear campaigns.

They are even capable of turning on their own. Loyalty is a one way street in their "take-no-prisoners", "law-of-the-jungle" approach to American politics.

The following is from an article titled "The Anatomy of a Smear Campaign" published on the Boston Globe's Boston.com website on March 21, 2004. It outlines how the Bush-Coulter Republicans smeared John McCain - another Republican - using lies and distortions, innuendo and deliberate deceit to sabotage a then-respected war hero. Sad to say, in my opinion at least, John has never been quite the same as a result of his experience with the true heart and soul of Republican politics.

The premise of any smear campaign rests on a central truth of politics: Most of us will vote for a candidate we like and respect, even if we don't agree with him on every issue. But if you can cripple a voter's basic trust in a candidate, you can probably turn his vote. The idea is to find some piece of personal information that is tawdry enough to raise doubts, repelling a candidate's natural supporters.

All campaigns do extensive research into their opponent's voting record and personal life. This so-called "oppo research" involves searching databases, combing through press clips, and asking questions of people who know (and preferably dislike) your opponent. It's not hard to turn up something a candidate would rather not see on the front page of The Boston Globe.

It's not necessary, however, for a smear to be true to be effective. The most effective smears are based on a kernel of truth and applied in a way that exploits a candidate's political weakness.

If the Bush-Coulter Republicans are capable of such hypocrisy and deceit, if they can turn on their own with such venom for personal and political gain ... how can you trust them not to sell the American people down the river? How can you trust them not to turn on you?