Posted on 09/15/2004 6:58:19 PM PDT by LS
As American and British aviators blasted Nazi planes out of the skies over London in 1940, Lord Haw Haw (William Joyce) spewed idiotic and anti-Semitic propaganda designed to deceive and demoralize British citizens. He continued his vile broadcasts from Berlin throughout the war, and until now, we all thought he was executed at Nuremberg.
Or not.
His broadcasts had just enough truth to cause panic among some in the public. More often, people listened to him as a source of humor. You see, Lord Haw Haw's tripe was so absurd---blaming "international Jewish finance" for the world's ills---that Brits and Americans used his broadcasts for comic relief.
He might be reincarnated in Dan Rather. Having gone off the deep end, I fully expect Rather to show up with a secret decoder ring and a space beenie. He's that far detached from reality.
And now, as in 1940, some people think there is truth in his regurgitations of error. And now, as then, the large majority see him as a pathetic, disillusioned, angry, and self-deceived old man.
But here is the most amazing thing about this story. Now, as in the period from 1942 to 1945, the more Haw Haw rambled, the more his Reich collapsed.
All of the "explanations," and "clarifications," and "statements" by CBS---and the inevitable rebuttals, new facts, cross-examination by bloggers that will follow---are ultimately irrelevant. Why?
The public has already rendered its verdict, and I don't think it's going to change, except to get worse for the cause Rather hoped to help, namely the Kerry campaign. Here's the skinny, folks. It's real simple:
The public has concluded that Kerry served in Vietnam. (Did you know that?) He may have been a "hero," he may not have been---the Swifties (in the minds of the public) may not have proven their case, but they didn't have to. They only had to cast doubt, and they did that and then some.
The public also knows Kerry took a very easy way out of Vietnam---three Purple Hearts for band-aid wounds. Most people do not want to say so aloud, but they think this was cheap. At the very least, it totally undercuts the worst that CBS's memos could have done to Bush's Guard service, even had they been true.
On the other hand, the public knows that National Guard service is acceptable, was a path many took during Vietnam, and while it didn't carry the "join-the-Marines" kind of patriotic swagger that "war heroes" display, it's was a common, honorable, and, yes, often desirable way to serve. Thus, the public has also made up its mind about Lt. Bush, and knows that he put in more than enough time in the Guard. Once again, even IF the CBS memos were true, Bush had already served throughout most of the Vietnam era, and was in Alabama at a time that Nixon was recalling troops faster than GM can recall Chevys. Bottom line? My take on the public perception of both men is that "they served and did their duty."
In my view, no matter how you flog the documents or the testimony on either side from here on out, you are not going to change this basic view of the two men.
What will change, and what Lord Haw Haw has done, is to once again raise the Vietnam as a proxy for the War on Terror. The longer Lord Haw Haw talks about this---whether about Bush's TANG service or Kerry's swiftboat---it rebounds positively to Bush in a HUGE way. That is because the public has also made up its mind about something else: we are in a war, and right now only Bush is fighting it. Kerry doesn't seem to know it exists, or, on other occasions, admitted it existed before he voted against it.
In other words, we are left with a sharp, unavoidable equation: Vietnam=Iraq/War on Terror=which leader?
And despite Lord Haw Haw's imaginative protests, the public has rendered its verdict on this too. Bush crushes Kerry in all leadership categores.
Indeed, the more Lord Haw Haw speaks, the further Kerry seems to fall: today, there are polls showing Bush tied in Minnesota and Maine, behind by only four in Illinois---(Illinois, for God's sake!)---ahead in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania narrowly, widening his lead in Ohio and Florida, and utterly blowing Kerry out in supposedly "battleground" states like Missouri and Arizona. Two polls have Bush within six in New Freakin' York.
In my view, this is not an accident. It's a direct, logical progression from the Swiftboats/Vietnam/Memogate to the voting booth.
Like Dan Rather, Lord Haw Haw was defiant to the end, convinced that he had done the world a favor. I don't wish Haw Haw's end on Rather. A much worse fate awaits him on election day, and the coming Bush landslide is in many ways going to be the result of his foolish, hateful broadcasts. He'll have to live with that. One could say, Bush will have the last laugh on the new Lord Haw Haw.
Justice would be forcing Rather to cover and announce the re-election.
Hey, cut Rather some slack. He set out to influence an election and he succeeded.
That is one way to look at it.....LMAO!
LHH brought out the "Bush Was Selected Lady" to distract attention from his problems.
ACKK!! Sorry about outing your joke Doc. I never gave his hands much attention, I was always to busy watching our troops who were not there drive by.
Excellent analysis.
After all, according to Dan Rather logic, the fact that The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion is a forgery does not discredit the contents of the document.
LOL, that's cute! Can't get any worse than two headed liars speaking with 'forked tongues'!!
CBS - WE report, WE decide..
Lord Haw Haw was executed for this.
What should Kerry get for his murderous false testimony before the Senate?
While I like the article, I don't believe American planes were blasting German planes out of the sky in the Battle of Britain in 1940. We didn't enter the war in Europe until Hitler stupidly declared war on us after Pearl Harbor.
Like Dan Rather, Lord Haw Haw was defiant to the end, convinced that he had done the world a favor. I don't wish Haw Haw's end on Rather. A much worse fate awaits him on election day, and the coming Bush landslide is in many ways going to be the result of his foolish, hateful broadcasts. He'll have to live with that. One could say, Bush will have the last laugh on the new Lord Haw Haw.
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