The Sharp Difference Between Them and Them
by Hunter

I used to think that the Republicans were primarily little more than marvelous opportunists. Their effectiveness at "catapulting the propaganda" over the last two decades have been astonishing, and never more so than in the last six years.

Case in point, obviously: the MoveOn ad. The horrible, mean, cruel MoveOn ad that questioned the integrity of an Army general simply because he had a proven history of making, you know... intentionally misleading statements based on transparently manufactured statistics. It's still the talk of the news cycle, because Republicans are outraged -- yes, outraged! Offended! Disgusted! Repulsed! Exclamation points!! -- that such a thing would happen in politics. Not the manipulation of numbers and of evidence, mind you, that long being the standard currency of unpopular wars: no, the offense was the ad.

The irony has not been lost on anyone, I imagine. For six years, opponents of the war have had their patriotism, their integrity, their very status as Americans questioned by Republican administration officials in their public statements, by Republican senators on the floor of the Senate, by Republican congressmen in the House, from the White House press office, in the pages and websites of every conservative and Republican rag out there, by Republican activist groups, on Republican radio programs, by Republicans holding up signs on street corners, and so on. Along with a generous application of rank dishonesty, it has been the standard and defining element of War On Terror Discourse. It has been as prevalent as now-faded yellow ribbon magnets, and exactly as substantive. The questioning of patriotism, of Americanism, of integrity, and of courage was the id of the war, and the ego and super-ego as well.

You lack patriotism if you question the President. You lack patriotism if you question the competence of the war planners. You lack patriotism if you do not support the correct number of tax cuts (namely, every one proposed.) You lack patriotism if you object to Social Security "reform" packages. You lack patriotism if you point out dishonesty on the part of political leaders. You lack patriotism if you ask where Osama bin Laden is. You lack patriotism if you point out where he is not. You lack patriotism if you disagree with how the "war on terror" is fought, or worse yet if you express that disagreement in such a way as to inconvenience an American elected official. You lack patriotism if you print certain stories in a newspaper, such as any investigative story that questions the effectiveness of Republican leaders, or which shines too bright a light on the policies of our glittering new war.

For six years, anyone on the opposing side of a Republican proposal have had our "integrity" questioned at every turn, and at podiums throughout the capital, by the top members of American government. As a matter not only of course, but of intentional strategy.