Sunday, August 22, 2004
Swift boat smear: "We'll just have to win, then."
Wow, since Karen Hughes went full-time again for Bush, the tone of the campaign certainly has gotten more civil, hasn't it? Not!
Let's watch a Big Lie get planted:
For those who didn't get the memo, Ratfucking as a tool of statecraft[1], let's start with an exchange at one of those "Ask President [sic] Bush" sessions. Remember, these events are (1) only open to Bush supporters (back), (2) scripted (back), that (3) you can lose your job if you don't stick with the script (back), and (4) they allow violence against Kerry supporters (back).
So, here's the transcript from one of these "Ask Bush" sessions. It takes place just before the torchlight parade. (Hey, just kidding!):
Lovely, eh? "I appreciate that." I bet. Nice to see Bush speaking the truth, though.
Let's look at the little exchange:
1. It's a classic example of Bush letting others do his dirty work for him. The questioner (an operative?) plants the Big Lie—"self inflicted"—and Bush just smiles and thanks him. (The classic "nod and wink" technique.)
2. Every member of this audience now has the "self-inflicted" meme firmly planted in their minds ("applause"), and since Bush's silence means consent, they're going to repeat it, to their neighbors and above all to the undecided.
3. Asking Kerry to "Prove that your wounds weren't self-inflicted" is a lot like "Prove you have stopped beating your wife." Once the picture gets planted in the mind, it's going to be hard to root out.
4. My feeling is that this is the dangerous stuff—not what we see on TV. This is the poison being spread in the heartland, in the swing states, by word of mouth, and with Bush's authority hehind it.
Crucially, the "self-inflicted" Big Lie is wrapped around a partial, metaphorical truth:
Example: Dukakis didn't fight Atwater's ratfucking. A self-inflicted wound.
Example: Clinton's lack of sexual self-discipline handed his enemies, and the enemies of the Union, the mother of all ratfucking weapons to use against him. A self-inflicted wound.
Example: The Daschle Democrats in election 2000 tried to finesse the National Security issue and didn't call the Republicans on their tactics when they ratfucked Cleland. Voters rejected the Daschle Democrats, and the voters were right! If the Daschle Democrats were afraid of Bush, how on earth could they be trusted to defend the country? Another self-inflicted wound.
So I think voters have the right to look to Kerry to be strong on this, play tough, and call Republican tactics for what they are. (That's how to deal with bullies, yes?) Because if Kerry botches this, it's another self-inflicted wound. "More in sorrow than in anger" will be fine (I think Edwards would be just fine at that), a second Checkers speech would be fine, whatever: We can't let this go.
Kerry is a war hero, and if Kerry can't defend the facts of his own biography against the Republicans, why should voters trust him to defend the country against external enemies? Josh Marshall is right: (here) Don't whine; just win.
But we have to win this one, and we won't win it by changing the subject. We didn't start this one, but we will have to finish it. I'd love to talk about public policy and the issues—all the things that Bush won't talk about because he can't run on them—but, alas, the first real encounter battle of the campaign isn't being fought on that ground.
If Kerry wins, and lives, and is allowed to take office, the smears will continue, to make Democratic policies impossible to implement. (Oh, you thought the Republicans would meekly accept the election results? Silly.) The Republicans will try to do to Kerry exactly what they did to Clinton, using their by now very well-worn playbook. It's time to say "It stops here."
NOTES
[1] For that good old Nixonian term, "ratfucking," see here. Readers—do you have any citations that are more definitive?
Let's watch a Big Lie get planted:
For those who didn't get the memo, Ratfucking as a tool of statecraft[1], let's start with an exchange at one of those "Ask President [sic] Bush" sessions. Remember, these events are (1) only open to Bush supporters (back), (2) scripted (back), that (3) you can lose your job if you don't stick with the script (back), and (4) they allow violence against Kerry supporters (back).
So, here's the transcript from one of these "Ask Bush" sessions. It takes place just before the torchlight parade. (Hey, just kidding!):
Q On behalf of Vietnam veterans -- and I served six tours over there -- we do support the President. I only have one concern, and that's on the Purple Heart, and that is, is that there are over 200,000 Vietnam vets that died from Agent Orange and were never -- no Purple Heart has ever been awarded to a Vietnam veteran because of Agent Orange because it's never been changed in the regulations. Yet, we've got a candidate for President out here with two self-inflicted scratches, and I take that as an insult. (Applause.)
[BUSH]: Well, I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you for your service. Six tours? Whew. That's a lot of tours.
(via White House "Ask the President" transcript)
Lovely, eh? "I appreciate that." I bet. Nice to see Bush speaking the truth, though.
Let's look at the little exchange:
1. It's a classic example of Bush letting others do his dirty work for him. The questioner (an operative?) plants the Big Lie—"self inflicted"—and Bush just smiles and thanks him. (The classic "nod and wink" technique.)
2. Every member of this audience now has the "self-inflicted" meme firmly planted in their minds ("applause"), and since Bush's silence means consent, they're going to repeat it, to their neighbors and above all to the undecided.
3. Asking Kerry to "Prove that your wounds weren't self-inflicted" is a lot like "Prove you have stopped beating your wife." Once the picture gets planted in the mind, it's going to be hard to root out.
4. My feeling is that this is the dangerous stuff—not what we see on TV. This is the poison being spread in the heartland, in the swing states, by word of mouth, and with Bush's authority hehind it.
Crucially, the "self-inflicted" Big Lie is wrapped around a partial, metaphorical truth:
Many Democratic wounds are self-inflicted. (It's called "shooting yourself in the foot.")
Example: Dukakis didn't fight Atwater's ratfucking. A self-inflicted wound.
Example: Clinton's lack of sexual self-discipline handed his enemies, and the enemies of the Union, the mother of all ratfucking weapons to use against him. A self-inflicted wound.
Example: The Daschle Democrats in election 2000 tried to finesse the National Security issue and didn't call the Republicans on their tactics when they ratfucked Cleland. Voters rejected the Daschle Democrats, and the voters were right! If the Daschle Democrats were afraid of Bush, how on earth could they be trusted to defend the country? Another self-inflicted wound.
So I think voters have the right to look to Kerry to be strong on this, play tough, and call Republican tactics for what they are. (That's how to deal with bullies, yes?) Because if Kerry botches this, it's another self-inflicted wound. "More in sorrow than in anger" will be fine (I think Edwards would be just fine at that), a second Checkers speech would be fine, whatever: We can't let this go.
Kerry is a war hero, and if Kerry can't defend the facts of his own biography against the Republicans, why should voters trust him to defend the country against external enemies? Josh Marshall is right: (here) Don't whine; just win.
But we have to win this one, and we won't win it by changing the subject. We didn't start this one, but we will have to finish it. I'd love to talk about public policy and the issues—all the things that Bush won't talk about because he can't run on them—but, alas, the first real encounter battle of the campaign isn't being fought on that ground.
If Kerry wins, and lives, and is allowed to take office, the smears will continue, to make Democratic policies impossible to implement. (Oh, you thought the Republicans would meekly accept the election results? Silly.) The Republicans will try to do to Kerry exactly what they did to Clinton, using their by now very well-worn playbook. It's time to say "It stops here."
NOTES
[1] For that good old Nixonian term, "ratfucking," see here. Readers—do you have any citations that are more definitive?
