Truth vs. Reality in Republican-LandNow that I'm an ex-Republican, it is obvious to me that our national leaders and their Republican flunkies lie and put a spin on the evidence. It is obvious to me that, when frustrated, they lash out in anger and desperation, like a sidewinder rattlesnake, at those who persists in asking embarrassing questions. It is obvious to me that Group Think and Party Line now rule, that no one at the top is really responsible. And it is obvious to me that blatant lies relentlessly repeated have now become ?truth? in Republican-Land.
"Mission Accomplished:" Osama, Iraq, Abu Ghraib and Gitmo
When you?re a good little Republican, you refuse to see that the Iraq invasion was nothing more than a con game. Remember all the hoopla about WMD?s and Saddam cooperating with Osama bin Laden? When the evidence of this fakery became overwhelming it was at first dismissed, then flatly denied, with doubters pilloried as unpatriotic or as unprincipled politicians. And finally, the whole war was blamed on ?intelligence failure,? yet the chief intelligence officer, George Tenet, was rewarded with a presidential decoration instead of cashiered in disgrace. Not even an ?Oops,? let alone a "sorry."
Same thing with Abu Ghraib: the President?s request to his lawyer for a way around the Geneva Convention was concealed; the truth about torture there (and at Guantanamo, Baghram, and other prisons) was denied and belittled; and finally, only a few poor low-level troopers were actually punished. When Amnesty International referred to the American detention centers scattered around the world as a ?modern day gulags? (ie. ?Islands?) they were attacked and derided in an effort to divert attention from the real issues at hand. Nobody at the top apparently suffered a moment?s embarrassment or received a bad efficiency report, although the fact is none of this would have occurred without ?Command Emphasis? from the very top down.
Over and over again, the few who were paying attention noticed a persistent disconnect between a) the reality on the ground, not just in Iraq but anywhere this Administration has left its mark, and b) the relentless Pollyanna spin from the Republicans and their media lap dogs like Fox and the echo chamber chat shows. From ?Mission Accomplished? to ?the insurgency is on its last legs? we have learned, to our bitter discontent, that we cannot believe anything this Administration says.
That's Conservative?
Good traditional Republicans, and ex-Meek Republicans like myself, find themselves a bit bewildered by this un-Republican president, whose ballooning budget deficits DO matter, even though the Powers That Now Be say they don?t. They/we scratch our heads at a "conservative" federal government that increasingly crushes states? rights, not to mention the Constitutional separation of powers and checks and balances. That's conservative?
Good traditional Republicans treat the Bush Administration's lies and bad decisions sort of the way folks used to treat the crazy Aunt hidden away upstairs in the attic. Everyone knew she was there, including the neighbors, but no one mentioned her, even when she occasionally broke out and did something looney. You just ignored the situation and stuffed her back into her hidey hole, if possible diverting attention from her gaffe. Everyone cooperated in this embarrassing cover-up for the good of the community.
Smoke and Mirrors
The great smoke and mirrors build-up for the Iraq war was revealed by the Downing Street Memo, along with other evidence, to be a knowing public relations lie campaign. What was the initial reaction of the Oval Office to these disclosures? It was to deny and dismiss the Memo as ?discredited.? That is the usual Bush response, but we know better nowadays, after having learned that the Iraq intelligence was deliberately fixed to conform to the pre-determined policy of invasion.
"Fixing" Things
One wonders: was the intelligence ?fixed? the way you fix your dog, or was it more like ?the fix is in? at the race track? How many other times have the facts been "fixed" to accommodate Mr. Bush?s plans? The anti-science bias against stem cell research and global warming, for example?
Discouraging as all this is to the alert, concerned citizen, forewarned is forearmed. Will we, like Pavlov?s dog, cringe and jump at the next election-linked flurry of Security Alerts at a national level, or the next attack innuendos at the State level in our campaigns for state office? Will we believe the ramped up warnings about taxes and public safety, or gay marriage and other so-called ?social issues?? Or will we grin knowingly, look beyond the emotional public relations campaign being waged, and try to find the substance and leadership ability of the Kilgores, Bollings, and Bushes of the world?
Kilgore and the Carpetbaggers
Jerry Kilgore, of course, is now our fine Republican gubernatorial nominee, the darling of the non-Republican Republicans, nominated by a whopping 3% of the eligible voters of Virginia. As we all know, Kilgore's campaign is being prominently run by what I call the "carpetbaggers" from the National Republican Party. People like Scott "Max Cleland is a Traitor" Howell.
Sadly, the predictable nastiness has already begun, with hysterical attacks on Tim Kaine as a "flip flopping liberal extremist." All I ask is, with people like Scott Howell running the Republican show, that God grant us Virginians the strength to handle what?s obviously coming down the road.