Playing the patriotism card
The Associated Press is drawing fire from the blogosphere for an article about Republican plans to make the election about Barak Obama’s patriotism rather than anything substantive.
Holy crap, who saw that coming?!?!
I mean, really, it would’ve been news if conservatives didn’t attack the Illinois Senator’s patriotism. It’s just what many of them do.
Jane Hamsher’s right to make some noise about this issue. We’ve seen this movie too many times before and it never ends well.
Regardless of how much damage has been heaped upon our military by deploying them into combat with substandard equipment for ridiculously long tours, the Republicans still play the patriotism card with gusto, and the Beltway media still is only too happy to follow along
So why is Obama not an American? Here’s a little taste of right-wing magic. AP reporter Nedra Pickler writes:
In October, Obama told Iowa television station KCRG that he decided to stop wearing a U.S. flag lapel pin during the run-up to the Iraq war because it had become “a substitute for, I think, true patriotism.”
“I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest. Instead, I’m going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great and, hopefully, that will be a testimony to my patriotism,” Obama said.
Obama’s comments led conservatives and media commentators to question his patriotism.
“First he kicked his American flag pin to the curb. Now Barack Obama has a new round of patriotism problems. Wait until you hear what the White House hopeful didn’t do during the singing of the national anthem,” said Steve Doocy, co-host of “Fox and Friends” on the Fox News Channel.
“He felt it OK to come out of the closet as the domestic insurgent he is,” former radio host Mark Williams said on Fox.
So Obama says that he wants to show his patriotism with deeds, which takes work and intellect, rather than with a lapel pin, which is easy.
Is it any wonder this bothers right-wing faux journalists and commentators? And can you really blame them? What would happen if more people actually rolled up their sleeves and tried to make the country better, rather than wearing lapel pins or slapping magnetic ribbons on their bumpers? They’d have less time to listen to jackasses like Williams and Doocy, forcing them and others like them to find respectable employment.
One can only shudder at the prospect.
And the ‘domestic insurgent’ term? That term seems, at best, loaded for reasons that ought to be obvious.
Pickler’s piece also brings up that scourge of the 2004 election, the Swift Boat Veterans for T***h. While some may believe the Swifties are, uh, so 2004, Christopher Hayes, Washington editor for The Nation, reports otherwise (with some healthy doses of opinion, natch), they’re alive and well and dishing out dough.
The most notable recipient of Swift Boat largesse is John McCain, erstwhile front-runner and Stand Up Guy. When the Swift Boat ads were first unleashed, McCain was alone among his Republican colleagues to condemn them. A fellow Vietnam veteran, a good friend of Kerry’s and a former target of smears about his own service, McCain called the ads “dishonest and dishonorable,” a “cheap stunt,” and he urged Bush to condemn them. But in pursuit of the GOP nomination, McCain ditched the mantle of maverick for that of hack, and his once-floundering, possibly rejuvenated campaign has been aided along the way by $61,650 from Swift Boat donors and their associates. “There is such a thing as dirty money,” said Senator Kerry in a statement, after The Nation informed him of McCain’s FEC records. “I’m surprised that the John McCain I knew who was smeared in 2000 and thought so-called Swift Boating was wrong in 2004 would feel comfortable taking their money after seeing the way it was used to hurt the veterans I know he loves.” (McCain’s office did not return calls for comment.)
McCain’s Swift Boat bounty is exceeded only by that of Mitt Romney, who has raked in $70,550. Romney’s success with Swift Boat donors is significant because he has surpassed even McCain in his demonstrated willingness to do or say anything in pursuit of the presidency and because he has emerged as the GOP establishment’s favored candidate. Last year, when McCain held that position, the Arizona senator received significant backing from Swift Boat donors. But many have subsequently switched their allegiance. Pickens, who donated to McCain in June 2006, is now an enthusiastic Giuliani donor and fundraiser (Giuliani ranks third in Swift Boat funding, with $47,950). Perry, who also recorded several donations to McCain’s PAC in 2005 and 2006, is now a major donor and fundraiser for Romney. If the list of top Swift Boat donors is expanded to fifty, Romney’s fundraising edge is even more pronounced. (Neither Romney nor Giuliani’s campaign returned calls for comment.)
Also noticeable among the recipients of Swift Boat largesse is one who received only a single donation: Mike Huckabee. Despite meager fundraising and little national name recognition, the former Arkansas governor has experienced a bubble-like expansion of support and media attention, taking the lead in Iowa and approaching a steady lead in national polls. But the lack of Swift Boat contributions lends credence to the claim that Huckabee is viewed warily by the money men who call the shots in the modern GOP.
- Big Head Dave
