Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Nothing Says Summer Like Flip-Flops
The Republican spin machine that appeals to and manipulates the fears of every undereducated American is nearly in full-swing with more than four month until the general election.
Never the party for originality, the spinsters on the right seem to be driving the same bus that undid John Kerry in 2004 – the unforgivable flip-flop. Karl Rove and the Bush campaign nearly made John Kerry’s infamous, “I actually voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it” comment every third southern baby’s first words. Kerry was charged and prosecuted in the courts of uninformed voters everywhere as a flip-flopper. Overnight, changing one’s mind had become the single most disloyal and untrustworthy thing a public servant could do. To dissect Kerry’s words and put them in even the slightest context was too much to ask and way in the rear view mirror of public opinion.
No one seemed to ask the obvious question, “what if President Bush had decided against waging war with Iraq after he decided to do so?!” If only the Bush administration had decided to tell the world the truth instead of lying continually. Clearly Dick Cheney decided to award no-bid contracts to Halliburton after he had originally decided that it might be a conflict of interest.
Instead of fighting back or attacking back, Kerry took cover in the assumption that most Americans would recognize the absurdity in such claims by an administration steeped in corruption and half-truths. The flip-flopper charge along with thugs like the ‘Swift Boat Veterans for Truth’ chipped away at positions and accomplishments that seemed safe in their original integrity.
The McCain campaign is now starting to lob the same charges at Barrack Obama over his stance on ending the war in Iraq. They claim that his comments last Thursday where he said that “events on the ground” would dictate how his policy is refined. Obama’s position is exactly the same position that he outlined clearly in September in a New Hampshire debate. He even refused to commit to bringing all troops home by 2013.
Of course the charge of a flip-flop doesn’t have to be legitimate to stick. The McCain campaign is essentially charging that Obama qualifying his position to bring the troops home at all is in direct contrast to his basic pledge to bring American troops home at all. Such an assertion would suggest that McCain would hold to his pledge to keep troops in Iraq no matter what the events on the ground would reveal simply to avoid changing his position. Would troops stay if the terrorists in Iraq converted to Christianity and turned their car bombs in for Bibles and potluck socials?
To demonize flip-flopping is simply saying that responsible, trustworthy Americans never change their minds no matter what happens. Suggesting such a thing is ground on which the McCain campaign should tread very carefully. John McCain has changed positions on nearly every relevant issue since his campaign started. His position on off-shore drilling alone has changed no fewer than three times alone. It’s actually safe to assume that the John McCain who lost to George W. Bush in the 2000 Republican primary would never have voted for the 2008 John McCain.
Never the party for originality, the spinsters on the right seem to be driving the same bus that undid John Kerry in 2004 – the unforgivable flip-flop. Karl Rove and the Bush campaign nearly made John Kerry’s infamous, “I actually voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it” comment every third southern baby’s first words. Kerry was charged and prosecuted in the courts of uninformed voters everywhere as a flip-flopper. Overnight, changing one’s mind had become the single most disloyal and untrustworthy thing a public servant could do. To dissect Kerry’s words and put them in even the slightest context was too much to ask and way in the rear view mirror of public opinion.
No one seemed to ask the obvious question, “what if President Bush had decided against waging war with Iraq after he decided to do so?!” If only the Bush administration had decided to tell the world the truth instead of lying continually. Clearly Dick Cheney decided to award no-bid contracts to Halliburton after he had originally decided that it might be a conflict of interest.
Instead of fighting back or attacking back, Kerry took cover in the assumption that most Americans would recognize the absurdity in such claims by an administration steeped in corruption and half-truths. The flip-flopper charge along with thugs like the ‘Swift Boat Veterans for Truth’ chipped away at positions and accomplishments that seemed safe in their original integrity.
The McCain campaign is now starting to lob the same charges at Barrack Obama over his stance on ending the war in Iraq. They claim that his comments last Thursday where he said that “events on the ground” would dictate how his policy is refined. Obama’s position is exactly the same position that he outlined clearly in September in a New Hampshire debate. He even refused to commit to bringing all troops home by 2013.
Of course the charge of a flip-flop doesn’t have to be legitimate to stick. The McCain campaign is essentially charging that Obama qualifying his position to bring the troops home at all is in direct contrast to his basic pledge to bring American troops home at all. Such an assertion would suggest that McCain would hold to his pledge to keep troops in Iraq no matter what the events on the ground would reveal simply to avoid changing his position. Would troops stay if the terrorists in Iraq converted to Christianity and turned their car bombs in for Bibles and potluck socials?
To demonize flip-flopping is simply saying that responsible, trustworthy Americans never change their minds no matter what happens. Suggesting such a thing is ground on which the McCain campaign should tread very carefully. John McCain has changed positions on nearly every relevant issue since his campaign started. His position on off-shore drilling alone has changed no fewer than three times alone. It’s actually safe to assume that the John McCain who lost to George W. Bush in the 2000 Republican primary would never have voted for the 2008 John McCain.
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