Current mood:	angry
Current music:	Bill Laswell and Pete Namlook - DSPill

Pseudoleader and Zell Miller goes nuts
Two items by William Saletan:

Being There: What does 9/11 tell us about Bush? Nothing.
Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2004, at 11:19 AM PT

Imperial President: Opposing Bush becomes unpatriotic
Thursday, Sept. 2, 2004, at 1:16 AM PT

Read, and read.

The first Saletan piece points out an absurdity and asks the question:

Now the Republican National Convention is showcasing Bush's own heroic moment. As John McCain put it last night: "I knew my confidence was well placed when I watched him stand on the rubble of the World Trade Center with his arm around a hero of September 11 and, in our moment of mourning and anger, strengthen our unity and our resolve by promising to right this terrible wrong and to stand up and fight for the values we hold dear."

Pardon me for asking, but where exactly is the heroism in this story? Where, indeed, is the heroism in anything Bush has done before 9/11 or since?

People need to stop deluding themselves about what makes somebody a "hero" or "heroic." You can start by watching the seven-minute long video of George W. Bush reading My Pet Goat after being told about the attacks on the WTC. This version is only 5 minutes long, but the full one is 7. And there are refutations of most of the Bush apologist excuses for this wonderous display of heroism on that page if you scroll down towards the bottom.

This Daily Show video called George W. Bush: Words Speak Louder Than Actions totally goes hand-in-hand with the first Saletan piece above. The montage effectively and humorously shows that all he does is say stuff and that somehow makes it true.

Cue Saletan piece #2: By the way, if you didn't know already, the shit Zell Miller was spewing during his speech was classic bully talk reeking of facism. Here's a bit of his genius:

While young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander in chief.

Except for the fact that everything has been made weaker, including the U.S. because of the illegal and immoral action of taking the U.S. to "war" against Iraq, you ass. If you hadn't approved of this military action, a thousand Americans and 11,000+ Iraqis would still be alive. Then, after that part of Miller's speech that I just quoted, the outright lying began. What a disgrace.

And speaking of Miller, he sure had a gracious follow-up with Chris Matthews on hardball. Uhm, Damn. That is great theatre.

Yesterday, the Daily Howler asked this question after thumbing through Miller's book: "Is there a bigger fake in American life than the man who speaks at the Garden tonight?"

Saletan chimes in:

In a democracy, the commander in chief works for you. You hire him when you elect him. You watch him do the job. If he makes good decisions and serves your interests, you rehire him. If he doesn't, you fire him by voting for his opponent in the next election.

Not every country works this way. In some countries, the commander in chief builds a propaganda apparatus that equates him with the military and the nation. If you object that he's making bad decisions and disserving the national interest, you're accused of weakening the nation, undermining its security, sabotaging the commander in chief, and serving a foreign power—the very charges Miller leveled tonight against Bush's critics.

Are you prepared to become one of those countries?

Shit no.