Cynthia Tucker: What's scary is more Bush

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 2.15.04 | Cynthia Tucker

[mhking]

By the time NBC's Tim Russert finished interviewing President Bush last Sunday, viewers were either frightened or flabbergasted or both.

Frightened because Bush -- announcing himself a "war president" -- used variations of the words "war," "terror," "kill" and "danger" more than 70 times in an interview that lasted less than an hour. It prompted memories of Cold War school drills and hiding beneath the desk.

Flabbergasted because you may have thought you had been mysteriously transported into an episode of the "Outer Limits." Was it Dec. 8, 1941? Or April 18, 1961, the day after the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion? Perhaps Sept. 12, 2001?

Actually, Bush wants you emotionally stuck in the horrible aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. The weeks following the atrocities saw the president transformed into a forceful commander in chief and brought him sky-high approval ratings. With his ratings now down to about 50 percent, he'd love to flytrap American voters in a 9/11 mind-set until November -- which, he thinks, would ensure his re-election.

But the strategy won't work. The president's fear-mongering merely created a strange discordance, since most Americans don't consider the war on terror the most important issue facing the country. A January poll by the Pew Center showed that only 37 percent view defense and security as the nation's most pressing concern. Thirty-five percent list the economy, while nearly 20 percent list other domestic issues as the most important. (The rest chose other issues or none.)

Barring another attack on U.S. soil, the presidential election won't be won or lost on the war on terror. Bush beats the war drum too late; for the past two years, he has spent precious little time enlisting the average American in the war effort.

Wars, after all, demand broad sacrifice; but the president has been reluctant to call upon an America coddled by "affluenza" to make any sacrifices. Indeed, a few weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, the president suggested patriotic Americans return to their routines -- starting with a trip to the nearest shopping mall.

Instead of raising taxes to pay for soldiers and materiel, Bush pushed through a set of tax cuts that heavily favored the wealthy, meanwhile producing a budget deficit that threatens to make America the next Argentina. Instead of insisting that Americans reduce their dependence on foreign oil, the Bush administration went along with granting a tax exemption to small-business owners who buy the biggest and costliest SUVs. Instead of emphasizing the hardships that would accompany an invasion of Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney et al. made absurd predictions about American soldiers being greeted as liberators and an oil-rich nation that would pay for its own reconstruction.

And didn't they tell us we were safer with the capture of Saddam Hussein?

The simple truth is that the United States should be engaged in a grueling, long-term campaign against Islamist fanatics. But that sort of war would likely have entailed an invasion of Pakistan instead of the distraction of Iraq. Pakistan has done everything that Bush falsely claimed Iraq had done: it sheltered al-Qaida, and its scientists sold secrets and parts for making the mother of all WMD -- the nuclear bomb -- to North Korea, Libya and Iran. But a war against a nuclear power like Pakistan may have involved thousands of U.S. casualties. It would have been a real war.

Instead, Bush told us we'd stroll into Iraq, overthrow Saddam, implant democracy and watch it bloom throughout the region -- ultimately bringing peace between Israel and the Palestinians. In fact, the president still says that. (Yet, he continues to fertilize the soil with American blood.)

If there's a war on, shopping malls and SUV dealerships seem unlikely battle fronts.

[connectthedots]

Does Cynthia not own a mirror?

[jwfiv]

Willful blindness, deafness and stupidity

Yes...Mizz Tucker is a human ostrich, like most of the Lefties....and, moronic in the extreme.

[fuzzycat]

Wrong. She's more than half a bubble off. The only time she gets anything right is when she writes about the black community cleaning up it's act. But she's so freaking liberal I have just about had enough and am contemplating not renewing my sub to the AJC. But she's conservative conpared to Mike Luckovich. Then there's Newsweek. I will not renew my sub.

[uncbob]

since most Americans don't consider the war on terror the most important issue facing the country. A January poll by the Pew Center showed that only 37 percent view defense and security as the nation's most pressing concern. Thirty-five percent list the economy, while nearly 20 percent list other domestic issues as the most important. (The rest chose other issues or none.)

t reinforces my long held opion that the average American is a BOOB only suited for watching Sitcoms and Oprah and Jerry Springer

[Wally_Kalbacken]

c***!

[BenLurkin]

You said it: "New York Police Training for Catastrophic Terrorism" http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/15/nyregion/15THRE.html?ei=5062&en=2834af4d42a5384a&ex=1077426000&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=print&position=

[gatorgriz]

Cynthia Tucker's gets a buzz drinking leading liberals' bathwater; when she can't get that she just quenches her thirst in ordinary liberal urinals.

[gatorgriz]

You haven't cancelled yet? They don't call it the Atlanta Urinal and Constipation for nothing!

[VadeRetro]

Actually, Bush wants you emotionally stuck in the horrible aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

So we're out of that world, that time now? Is the terrorist threat exaggerated? Can we all relax and concentrate on domestic issues like socializing health care?

[blackie]

Yep ~ she's plain and non-plain crazy. :)

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

[tapatio]

Instead of raising taxes to pay for soldiers and materiel

Well, it seems that Cynthia Tucker knows everything except how to use her spell check!

[cubreporter]

Cynthia, cynthia, cynthia....get a life.

[rastus macgill]

Liberals liked WWII 'cause we were on the same side as the Communists.

[John Beresford Tipton]

ma?té?ri?el

Pronunciation: (mu-tEr"E-el'), [key]
?n.
1. the aggregate of things used or needed in any business, undertaking, or operation (distinguished from personnel).
2. Mil.arms, ammunition, and equipment in general. Also,ma?te"ri?el'.

[driftless]

You are correct that most Americans have probably forgotten that we are in a war. That is until the next successful terrorist attack in America. But what a way to get their attention. The Bush admin has been almost too successful so far in avoiding terrorist strikes. It has made many Americans think that 9/11 was a fluke. But it can't last forever. I'm afraid most Americans don't understand the need for vigilance and strong leaders like Bush.

[varon]

BUMP

[driftless]

That was the only thing she got right in her screed. Materiel refers to ordnance etc. the things you need to fight a shooting war with.

[Jorge]

Frightened because Bush -- announcing himself a "war president" -- used variations of the words "war," "terror," "kill" and "danger" more than 70 times in an interview that lasted less than an hour. It prompted memories of Cold War school drills and hiding beneath the desk.

Cynthia is hysterical and out of touch with reality.

She actually thinks we should be more afraid of Bush than the terrorists who used 19 people to 3,000 of us on Sept 11 and have vowed to destroy our nation.

Bush said it, and anyone with any sense knows it, that the war on terrorism will go on for years.

She seems to think it's over already. That's the kind of naivity that gave us 9-11.

[Publius6961]

What' really scary is that people with room-temperature IQ like this one is actually taken seriously by several thousand hard core "progressives" across the country.

[#3Fan]

That's true. :^)