Falling Back into Old Habits

The Bush Administration has had a rough row of it the past couple of years. Fueled by the (mis)handling of the Iraq war, post-Katrina recovery (not to mention the near-constant promotion or adulation of those who make serious mistakes), etc., it has not been a happy-go-lucky time for the Bushies. What do you do when your political back is against the wall? Take it to the next level (guys in backwards hats who have subscriptions to Maxim will use the term "go big or go home" to describe this typ of situation).

But how do you do this? If you are a member of the Bush administration, you accuse your opponents of being: (a) cowards; (b) morons; (c) unpatriotic; or (d) all of the above. It worked for the 2004 election, so they've gone back to the tried-and-true.

Examples:

• "[T]here is a difference between healthy debate and self-defeating pessimism." VP Cheney, 8/29/06, in a fairly subdued comment for him (as opposed to this)
• "[I]t is apparent that many have still not learned history's lessons." Sec. of Defense Rumsfeld, 8/29/06, trying to make the "Hussein as Hitler" analogy. He is evidently unaware of the rule that once you invoke Hilter in an argument, you automatically lose.
• "It seems that in some quarters there's more of a focus on dividing our country than acting with unity against the gathering threats." Rummy, 8/29/06, apparently operating under the presumption that dissent equates with willful ignorance.

Oh, and don't forget to mention September 11 as much as possible:

• Although we've been in the struggle against terrorism for nearly five years now, the terrorists were actually at war with this country long before 2001. And they were the ones on the offensive. Over time, they came to believe that they could strike America without paying a price -- because they did so many times in the 1980s and '90s. Eventually, of course, they hit us here at home on September 11th, 2001. VP Cheney, 8/29/06, once again shamelessly attempting to blur lines between the Iraq war and the Al Qaida 9/11 plot.

However, VP Cheney does not pay attention to his boss's statements, who made clear the week prior that Iraq had nothing to with 9/11 (thankfully, there is even video), not to mention his statements of 3 years ago. Then again, consistency and accuracy did not win the White House, so who am I to nitpick?