In Sadr City, yesterday, behind enemy lines with the
Sh'ite terrorists. The graffiti pleads and begs in Arabic 'No more Bush'.
Posted on 08/08/2004 6:17:06 AM PDT by John Thornton
It's been called the ABB syndrome.
Not to be confused with ADD, ABB is the lemming-like disorder that has infected too many adults, including many at the convention of minority journalists in Washington last week.
I first saw ABB - Anybody But Bush - when a friend made it quite clear she had no intention of sitting through the stump speeches made by the presidential candidates.
"I'd vote for Triumph the Comic Dog before I'd vote for Bush," she said.
She didn't say she's for John Kerry.
She's just against Bush.
It seems easier, particularly for journalists who are obligated to be objective (columnists like me excepted), to be suspicious rather than be impressed.
It's simpler to list Bush's failures than to scrutinize Kerry's plans.
That said, the Bush administration provides more than enough fodder to give the skeptics pause.
The 9/11 intelligence lapses. Dishonest reasons for a disastrous war. Under funded education mandates.
But that doesn't excuse those of us who try to be fair and balanced from being as skeptical of Kerry as we are of Bush.
That's why I was disappoint ed when the questions the journalists asked Kerry were like a T-ball game for the blind, while those who questioned Bush threw them low and fast, trying to lure him into a confrontation.
Kerry talked about his plans to reform intelligence systems, creating more economic opportunities for all, and in a thinly veiled reference to the Florida election debacle that disfranchised nearly 1 million black voters, insisted that if he is elected president, every vote will count and be counted.
He was asked about Bill Cosby's stinging criticism of low-income blacks and what he would have done if caught in a Florida classroom just after the Sept. 11 attacks. (In a jab at Bush, he replied he wouldn't have spent seven minutes reading "My Pet Goat.")
Softball questions if ever there were any.
Bush bragged of his administration, pointing to the rise in minority home ownership numbers, a push for school accountability through standardized testing, and the creation of a Medicare prescription drug coverage program for the elderly.
He was grilled on his disdain for racial quotas and his reluctance to shun (until Friday's speech) college admissions for legacies.
When Kerry misspoke, no one blinked.
When Bush garbled his words, we laughed.
The White House press corps is virtually all white, so few, if any, of the 7,000 minority journalists at the Unity: Journalists of Color convention have the opportunity to shape coverage of the presidential race.
Still, it was unsettling when Kerry was applauded nearly 50 times during Thursday's speech, and the next day, Bush was applauded less than half as often.
The public is allowed to be feverish with ABB syndrome. We in the media should be immune.
Contact Wendi C. Thomas at (901) 529-5896 or E-mail e-mail.
In Sadr City, yesterday, behind enemy lines with the
Sh'ite terrorists. The graffiti pleads and begs in Arabic 'No more Bush'.
Who is this wendi thomas? She normally writes left wing hit pieces.
It's simpler to list Bush's failures than to scrutinize Kerry's plans.
That said, the Bush administration provides more than enough fodder to give the skeptics pause.
The 9/11 intelligence lapses. Dishonest reasons for a disastrous war. Under funded education mandates.
Reminiscent of the Witch Hunt Hysteria in Salem.
As I walked into our neighborhood deli yesterday the lone female customer there was talking loudly to the 3 young men who worked there. She was saying that Bush needs to be beaten. She went on for some time about Bush, pausing only to insert a few kind words for Clinton. (Something about a recipe book he wrote).Two of the kids agreed with her about Bush. One said he liked Bush.
I had never heard a vehement (on the customer's part) political discussion like that in that deli...and I've lived here several decades.
The Left is going bonkers.
I have a theory that middle-aged single women who have had abortions are especially prone to hating Bush. Their former boyfriends, who pressured them to have abortions, are probably angry at Bush, too.
Bush won't say what they want to hear, "Go ahead and abort as many fetuses as you like."
"The 9/11 intelligence lapses. Dishonest reasons for a disastrous war. Under funded education mandates."
This is a hit piece... She is just trying to tell journalists that if they show their ABB publicly people will be less inclined to listen to them.
This IS!! a left-wing hit piece. She's mad at Kerry because he's not promising freebies to selected "minorities" fast enough. She hates Bush because he has the audacity to support merit for jobs and educational opportunities. I mean what's a good leftist (Thomas) supposed to do? (/sarcasm)
The big lie again. I'm still waiting for someone to produce just one person who can credibly say that they were illegally deprived of there chance to vote. They don't even have to produce the whole million. Just one.
She's definitely a lefty. Besides, statistically speaking, the fact that she's black and in Memphis makes it a 97 percent plus chance she votes Democrat.
The biggest disenfranchised group of voters by far is the US military.
Thanks for posting this. The ABB hysteria is really something. I was at a festival yesterday passing out Bush stickers for people to wear. They were a huge hit. The Kerry folks were there, too. In an area which typically goes about 2-1 Republican, the stickers were easily 10-1 Bush. That tells me somthing: most of those who eventually will eventually vote for Kerry are not wild about him.
"Who is this wendi thomas? She normally writes left wing hit pieces"
Not as bad as usual, but she still got in the liberal lie of"nearly a million" black voters disenfranchised in Fla in 2000. Last I heard, not one has ever been found to exist.
Can someone dig up the Miami Herald piece that breaks down the final findings from the civil rights commission?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.