THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume V, Issue # 118, April 22, 2003
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
MAUREEN DOWD & AMERICA'S POLITICAL LEFT:
WARPED ANALYSIS OF THE WAR IN IRAQ
By Paul Walfield
Throwing chum (cut or ground bait) on the water is a way of attracting something you want. You toss all kinds of things you figure are yummy to your target and, if it brings them in, you use it over and over again. Sometimes you have to change the bait, till you find the right stuff. Sometimes the stuff you used successfully in the past stops working and you need to try something new.
The political Left is running out of stuff that works, and the Democrats and Liberal pundits are starting to stink from the leftover chum.
Take a look at Maureen Dowd of the New York Times as an example of a Liberal pun- dit, "journalist," and spokesperson for the political Left. In an April 9th column for the New York Times entitled, "Dances with Wolfowitz," Ms. Dowd wants everyone to see the "neo-cons" (Neoconservatives) as warmongers, yet she explains that the win in Iraq is a "truly historic event." She wants everyone to see Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, who agrees with his boss like a good employee, as not only pulling the strings in the U.S. Defense Department, but as "Wolfowitz of Arabia" enjoying blood and killing. At the same time, she quotes Mr. Wolfowitz as saying just the opposite and not calling for military action. "Mr. Wolfowitz, however, played the diplomat on Sunday, gliding past Tim Russert's probing on whether the neo-cons' dreams of other campaigns in Syria, Iran, and North Korea would come true. Pressed, he said, 'There's got to be change in Syria as well.'"
Where else but in the Liberals' hate-filled minds do the employees make strategy? Where else but in the contemptible machinations of the political Left do underlings control their bosses actions, deeds, determinations, and policy?
For the Liberals, for Maureen, the war in Iraq is not one of liberation. It is not a war to end Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. It is not a war to keep America safe. Rath- er, it is a strengthening of the Republican Party and a source of pride and a surge in na- tional patriotism for Americans. It is the dreaded nightmare of all Liberals, since the war is America not just maintaining its superpower status, but also enhancing or increasing that status.
For the Liberals, it's damage control time, and they will use any chum, any sound bite that attracts.
Maureen's April 14, 2003, contribution to the New York Times, "The Hootie Doctrine," explains that how a president of the United States plays golf is a window into his real character, even more so than his actions as President. According to Maureen, her friend wrote a book about it, so it must be true.
Maureen claims that President George W. Bush is a chauvinist--the same President Bush who is, in fact, causing the current surge in patriotism, nationalism, and pride in being an American, all which are deplorable to multiculturists who want the U.S.A. to be a Balkanized, multinational state, deplorable to adherents of the political Left who believe in the United Nations as the world government and final arbiter to what is best for America. William Howard Taft was the "fattest presidential golfer," and President Bush reveals his true feelings about women by telling his father, George H. W. Bush, "Don't trip on your skirt as you hit the next one, Betsy!" For Maureen and the other Leftists, anything that can be used to demean, to belittle, the Republican they see as enemy number one is fair game. For the political Left, using invective, stereotypes, and worse is ok, since, for the Leftists, you are not to do as they do, just as they say.
The New York Times used scare tactics to sway Americans into believing a war in Iraq would unleash untold horrors on the people of the United States. After the war started, the New York Times declared that the war plan was in shambles, and our military was facing defeat at the hands of the mighty Iraqis. When it became apparent that America had won handily, and without genocidal results, America is portrayed by the Left as "imposing" democracy, an "occupying" force, or, once again, facing a "quagmire." For the Left, no amount of negatives is too many. No reality cannot be overcome by the use of sound bites and slogans. The Left simply has no shame, and is so hell bent on regain- ing political power in the U.S.A. that nothing which can be said, no matter how absurd, is not used.
We were all amused by the Iraqi Minister of Information, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, aka "Baghdad Bob," when he would give his daily briefings. Even with thick black smoke rising behind him, Baghdad Bob would declare "there are no American infidels in Baghdad, never." And then there was his statement, in case anyone noticed American tanks heading toward the center of Baghdad: "They're coming to surrender or be burned in their tanks." There was the priceless assertion: "We have them surrounded in their tanks."
Finally, there was the statement by the Iraqi Minister that summed up the silliness of it all: "Lying is forbidden in Iraq. President Saddam Hussein will tolerate nothing but truthfulness, as he is a man of great honor and integrity. Everyone is encouraged to speak freely of the truths evidenced in their eyes and hearts." And there was the topper by the Iraqi: "We are in control. They are in a state of hysteria. Losers, they think that, by killing civilians and trying to distort the feelings of the people, they will win. I think they will not win, those bastards."
In other words, he wants everyone to not pay any attention to the tanks and A-10s flying over head. He wants everyone to believe the evil American and British imperialists have been defeated. In other words, Maureen Dowd, America's political Left, and the Iraqi Information Minister, "Baghdad Bob," have a lot in common.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, & Other Leftists
The Middle East & the Problem of Iraq
Page Two
Page One
The Problem of Rogue States:
Iraq as a Case History
The Middle East & the Arabs
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Paul Walfield is a freelance writer and member of the State Bar of California, with an undergraduate degree in Psychology
and post-graduate study in behavioral and analytical psychology. He resided for a number of years in the small town of
Houlton, Maine, and is now a California attorney. His articles appear in numerous periodicals and on numerous websites. He
has been the featured guest on KTSA News Talk Radio. CONTACT INFORMATION: Email:
paul.walfield@cox.net
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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