Posted on 06/02/2005 8:11:41 PM PDT by kcvl
Hurting Your Country
By: Bill O'Reilly for BillOReilly.com Thursday, Jun 02, 2005
So how did the USA go from being a beacon of freedom to a champion of the gulag? How exactly did that happen? Well, pull up a chair, here's what happened.
After President Bush won re-election last November, there was much consternation among some powerful anti-Bush Americans. They were stunned that John Kerry lost and feared that if Bush succeeds in his second term, the Democrats would lose again in 2008.
Then came the successful election in Iraq, and the fear on the left multiplied. If Iraq turned out to be a success, Mr. Bush would become a hero. So the need to undermine the Bush administration became more intense than ever. But how to do it? Social Security wasn't emotional enough, particularly for young voters. What could be done to hurt Bush?
Then came the revelation--let's torture the President.
The New York Times had already primed the pump, running more than 50 front-page stories on the abuses at Abu Ghraib. Then came reports from the International Red Cross that more abuse was happening at Guantanamo. The American Civil Liberties Union was already challenging detentions there and so a strategy was sealed: the Bush administration was full of torturers and human rights violators. It was ruining America's reputation throughout the world. Bush was a villain.
It was easy to get that thesis out. The left-wing websites fed anti-Bush columnists like Bob Herbert and Richard Cohen information and the drumbeat intensified. There was torture and abuse and murder all sanctioned by the evil Bush administration. Article after article appeared and soon some TV people followed along. It didn't take long before the torture seed was fully sown.
The Newsweek debacle slowed things down a little, but the anti-Bush press quickly banded together and pronounced that Newsweek's mistake would never have happened if Bush wasn't torturing everybody. I'm sure you read those opinion pieces, as they appeared in liberal newspapers all over the country. The theme and wording was so similar that one person could have written all of those articles. And that was no accident.
All the while this was happening, the President and his crew were doing what they usually do when the press pounds them: nothing. They did not engage the abuse propaganda until it was obvious Newsweek had screwed up. But even that effort was derided by many in The White House press corps, who chided the administration for scolding Newsweek.
Now the torture theme has new momentum. A liberal federal judge in New York City has ruled the Defense Department must release more photos and videos of Abu Ghraib to the ACLU. Of course, that will incite even more hatred against the USA and put our soldiers in more danger but, hey, politics comes before protecting the troops. The anti-Bush people want those pictures almost as badly as Al Jazeera wants them. Another nail in the President's coffin is more important than bodies in real coffins.
If you think I am exaggerating, I assure you I am not. This torture campaign is being run brilliantly, and if Mr. Bush doesn't wise up soon, he will be bloodied just as Lyndon Johnson was in the Vietnam debacle.
The truth is that abuse has occurred, but on a relatively small scale. According to General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. has detained about 68,000 people since 9/11 (most have been released), and there have been 325 investigations into alleged abuse. At this writing, about 100 cases of wrongdoing have been substantiated.
That's not a big number, but it doesn't matter to the anti-Bush cabal, which understands that perception is reality in a nation where "reality programming" is the rage of the day. If you can sell the nation that America is now a war criminal, President Hillary Clinton is a real possibility.
So there you have it. For the anti-Bush folks, it is simple: no pain, no gain. Torture is selling and the media is buying. For those of you who are appalled by this analysis, I can only say one thing: sometimes the truth, like torture, hurts.
Dean: YYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
First they run this country down, claiming all sorts of evil for it, then out of the other side of their pie-hole, explain that those slipping in across the borders only want a better life here.
President Bush did call the accusations ABSURD. The press screamed like little kids.
The blame Bush crowd really could use a good beating.
He's right on the money about the war on terror and the borders. I wish he would just drop the Michael Jackson crap. We don't want a daily play by play. Just tell us the verdict when it's over.
---If you think I am exaggerating, I assure you I am not. This torture campaign is being run brilliantly, and if Mr. Bush doesn't wise up soon, he will be bloodied just as Lyndon Johnson was in the Vietnam debacle.---
I don't think so. A very large number of Americans think it's perfectly fine for a few of these Islamists to get knocked around or worse.
I should point out that I'm not in favor of a policy of torture, but O'Reilly, the big blowhard, certainly was.
I understand Morris and OReilly's point - a denial is not the same as going on the attack. as others are saying here, the left must be attacked - this issue must be turned to show that it is part of their effort to undermine the war on terror. same with the newsweek article. this white house has never been good at this kind of stuff, and I don't suspect its going to start now.
Write to O'Reilly and tell him. They read everything they get.
oreilly@foxnews.com
bill@billoreilly.com
we are now routinely tasering americans at traffic stops, mostly in disputes over summonses. far worse in almost all cases then these "torture" incidents.
I actually saw Bill egO'Reilly tell Dickless Morris on his show "egO'Reilly deFactor" call this piece "brilliant".
It was a major ego-boost between the two pretending they were weather vanes of the future.
If it comes down to my family being murdered by terrorists or a bunch of terrorists getting their *ssses kicked, I'll vote for the later. So sue me.
BTW, who was tortured? People getting their heads cut off didn't seem to bother Amnesty International, nor did Jessica Lynch being kidnapped and abused. I spit on Amnesty International and their hate America campaign.
Maybe the FReepers should form our own 527 and sink Her Thighness.
He needs to call it what it is: a partisan attack by leftists, bent on smearing his administration.
Dean is the democrats gift to the Republican party.
You may just have a kernel of a great idea there.
Getting tasered beats the hell out of being beaten with a club or being kicked into submission. A lot of Americans seem to be a little foggy on their relationship to authority, like that Florida woman getting tasered on the other thread.
Do you think you can get over your hatred of the messengers long enough to listen to their arguments? It would help if you stopped being so petty about who is trying to discuss the lefties and their tactics. Dick Morris just happens to be someone who knows what he is talking about when he explains the tactics of the Democrats and most especially Hillary Clinton. He ran their campaigns.
I really don't care what their motives are. They are correct in trying to tell this country that the Democrats are endangering our military and citizens by this campaign of HATE BUSH.
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