Decency in politics

Posted By: Phaedrus
Posted on: Sep. 24, 2007 at 1:20 PM

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I’ve been waiting to see if anyone else was going to put any thing here about the Arizona Republic’s editorial a few weeks ago calling for a political truce and a return to decency in our national discourse. This preceded the MoveOn.org Ad attacking Bush, and follows 3 decades of the politics of personal destruction that has been the calling card of Lee Atwater, Karl Rove and the Willie Horton Ad style discourse we have come to expect from the Republican Party.

So please join me in remembering and celebrating the Arizona Republican Newspapers’ happy view of the Republikkkan Party, and why these evil GOP bastards who have ruled by fear, and intimidation deserve neither respect, love or admiration. The nasty personal attacks they are getting hit with are merely the chickens coming home to roost.

      Ronnie Reagan kicking off the 1980 Presidential campaign in the same town down south where the KKK murdered 3 Civil Rights’ workers in 1968.

2.       The sliming of George McGovern, a decorated war hero.

3.       The sliming of Jimmy Carter, an ordained minister and a veteran.

4.       The sliming of Mondale, Ferraro, Dukakis, Clinton, Gore (a veteran), Kerry a decorated war hero, and Clinton. See a trend?

5.       Willie Horton Ads.

6.       The Mellon Sciafe newspapers and book publishing, the Moonie Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal Editorial pages, and all the rest of the right wing noise machine who attack and destroy any all Democratic leaders, or anyone who is speaking the truth about any Republotard.

7.       George Dubya Bush rolling into Bob Jones U to speak to segregationists in the year 2000! Segregationists?!?

8.       George Dubya Chuckle Nuts running every department of the government like an arm of the GOP.

9.       The 1984 campaign where the GOP got caught voter caging, and received a stiff fine and an injunction against ever doing it again.

10.   Monica Goodlings’ testimony that she aided in Voter Caging in the 2000 and 2004 elections for the GOP.

Well, there is a start. Anyone else want to look back and remember why Democrats should be trying to forgive and forget?

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indie616

Sep. 24, 2007 at 07:02:54 PM

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The disgraceful thing they did to Max Cleland.

But they will eat their own too. Remember John McCain in 2000? When they push polled and got people in So Car to believe that he had an illegitimate black baby?

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Phaedrus

Sep. 24, 2007 at 08:21:43 PM

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Yep, they screwed McCain in 2000, but that was a Bush crime family guy doing it.

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www.MoronInCharge.com

Sep. 24, 2007 at 10:56:23 PM

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I don't believe name-calling is the best way to get a message across in the long run, although Betray Us is certainly a meme with a life of its own.

However it turns out MoveOn didn't come up with this nickname. It was the military, and a number of officers that not so affectionately referred to Petraeus like Comm. Quinton McHale referred to Capt. "Old Leadbottom" Binghamton. If its outrageous that MoveOn should disrespect a decorated four-star General, then it should be mutiny if it comes from an NCO.

But it turns out that Betray Us has an even earlier origin: Rush Limbaugh. When Petraeus was confirmed as the Commander of the Multi-National Force - Iraq, Rush spoke glowingly about Petraeus, and less warmly about the other Generals like Eaton and Shinseki who spoke out about our flawed occupation of Iraq. He referred to them as Generals Betray Us. Strangely, I don't recall any voices of outrage from the Right for Rush's disrespect of our military.

Well I think we all got the message from MoveOn.org's tasteless disparagement of our fine men in uniform. I sent them more money last week.

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Average American

Sep. 25, 2007 at 07:35:07 AM

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OK,

Only Rep have done this...

What a joke......

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www.MoronInCharge.com

Sep. 25, 2007 at 07:55:47 AM

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I do love the Dean Wormer quote "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining." It applies here. The hypocrite right-wing bloviators made an issue about the disgraceful disrespect of MoveOn.org, and it turns out they engaged in the same crime against the other Generals since January 2007 (as if that were the only disrespectful thing to come out of the neocon talkers' mouths during the last seven years).

p**** Republican weeenies crying foul when their own taunts are turned against them, making a bulls*** issue about a magazine ad. That truly is pathetic. Conservatives need to grow a spine; seems the balls they were swinging were only prostheses.

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June

Sep. 25, 2007 at 08:09:17 AM

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Good article, Phaedrus! We don't have to "look back" too far to discover that the Republic's call for returning to the days of Ozzie and Harriet is just so much nostalgia aimed at boosting Sun City circulation.

The Lee Atwater genie is still outta the bottle - it's granted the GOP's wish for success in all the presidential elections this century!

To wit: The attack website, PhoneyFred.org, was traced to servers in Odem, Utah, thence to the website of Under the Power Lines, the political consulting firm of Warren Tompkins, Mitt Romney's lead consultant in South Carolina.

Yup, the same Warren Tompkins who was Bush's chief South Carolina strategist in 2000, though the Bush campaign has always denied that it was responsible for the "black baby" attacks on McCain.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/09/10/antithompson_site_connects_to.html

Also: http://www.eyeon08.com/2007/09/11/phoneyfredorg-and-other-romney-astroturf/

The Republic notwithstanding, a better source for tracking all this nefarious activity - "The Nieman Watchdog Project [http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/] [which] seeks to encourage reporters and editors to monitor and hold accountable those who exert power in all aspects of public life."

http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/watchdog/index.html

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June

Sep. 25, 2007 at 08:25:38 AM

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Sorry --

Make that Nieman Watchdog link: http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/

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Phaedrus

Sep. 25, 2007 at 09:44:09 AM

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Doc Moron
"But it turns out that Betray Us has an even earlier origin: Rush Limbaugh. When Petraeus was confirmed as the Commander of the Multi-National Force - Iraq, Rush spoke glowingly about Petraeus, and less warmly about the other Generals like Eaton and Shinseki who spoke out about our flawed occupation of Iraq. He referred to them as Generals Betray Us. Strangely, I don't recall any voices of outrage from the Right for Rush's disrespect of our military."

Actually, the original use of Betray Us is cited to his own troops in Iraq in 2004. They felt that he was betraying them, by using BS numbers to show that they were making great progress in pacifying their sector and could therefore stay longer. And then the nearby commanders would only need to follow his glorious example, and their sectors would also experience the amazing "success" of phony numbers.

And AA, no one said that Republotards are the only ones doing it. What the point is is that they have been doing it constantly for 3 decades, and now that it is being used against them they want it to stop. Just like any bully, once they get hit back, they curl up in a ball, and cry for their mommy. That is why when in 2001 at Bush's inauguration, all the protesters, and bloggers, and anger that was getting vomited out at him was such a shock to Republotards. They weren't used to seeing that directed at their glorious leaders, only at Democrats for getting blow jobs.

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prometheus

Sep. 26, 2007 at 02:20:31 PM

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I think both parties should sponsor a bill that requires everyone from here on out thru the end of time . . . to refer to Bush as "the Idiot President". If they talk about him on T.V. or the radio "Today the Idiot President said (DAH DA DA DAH)" Or the people on the street talking can't say Mr. Bush or the President . . . It all must be Mandatory! Passed into law . . .from here on out . . . THE IDIOT PRESIDENT. Call your congressman about this important issue immediately.

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www.MoronInCharge.com

Sep. 26, 2007 at 03:11:35 PM

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Where are your standards Prom? I have endeavored to always maintain a healthy respect for our elected officials, and have never stooped to tossing out cheap shots impuning our President's intelligence. This lowers the discourse for everyone. He is what he is.

Sincerely,

MoronInCharge

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