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President Sound Bite (Hillary love lady alert)
MSNBC ^ | 05/16/03 | Elanor Clift

Posted on 05/16/2003 11:47:14 AM PDT by AbsoluteJustice

President Sound Bite The White House spin machine has turned Bush into the master of presidential rhetoric

NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE

May 16 — Every day that passes without a terror attack boosts President Bush’s leadership, so it stands to reason that the bombings in a Saudi housing compound inhabited by Westerners would raise questions about whether Bush is doing enough to protect Americans at home and abroad.

IN AN AUDACIOUS ACT of political alchemy, the Bush administration turned the terrorist strike in Saudi Arabia to its advantage. The bombings are evidence that Al Qaeda remains a threat, that the war against terrorism is ongoing, and—by implication—nobody should question a wartime president. “It’s heads I win; tails you lose,” says a Senate Democrat. The Bush alchemists are equally effective on the home front. Dividend-tax relief for high-rollers appeared headed for the dustbin of history until Bush took to the hustings promoting it as a “jobs and growth bill.” Even the bill’s supporters have a hard time justifying its passage as a vehicle to create jobs. The Congressional Budget Office assessed the bill as having only a marginal impact on the economy, either positive or negative, they weren’t sure which. The CBO is not a socialist enterprise; it’s headed by a Republican appointee. I got a call from a producer for the NPR show called, “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me,” a lively spoof of contemporary life and politics. What did I make of Bush’s shift in rhetoric from “a little bitty” to “itty-bitty” in describing the smaller of the tax cut proposals before the Senate? I’d say it’s a sophisticated nuance engineered by Karl Rove, Bush’s resident Machiavelli. It doesn’t take a wordsmith to figure out what Bush is getting at. He’s demeaning the lesser amount while characterizing the larger tax cut he wants as “robust.” Red-blooded Americans like to support what’s robust as opposed to a sissy alternative. What’s next in Bush’s rhetorical repertoire? Teeny-weeny? Itsy-bitsy? The images are not very subtle. Pollster Frank Luntz who’s made a career out of tailoring words for politicians, says he has never come across another politician who used “little bitty” or any variation thereof unless they were reading to grade schoolers. Bush defines presidential rhetoric. Since most people get their news through sound bites, the technique serves him well. Operation Iraqi Freedom endures in the world of cable despite the chaos and continuing insurrection in the country. “Jobs and Growth” rolls off the tongue of television anchors even though the growth is mainly for large fortunes since millionaires are the biggest beneficiaries of Bush’s tax cut. Whatever the label, it becomes the reality. Those who dare oppose Bush’s questionable economic policy run into another convenient sound bite. They’re guilty of “class warfare.” Bush travels the country demanding that Washington exercise fiscal sanity when he’s the biggest inmate on the loose. His tax cut is irresponsible and will jeopardize Social Security, but it is smart politics. It keeps the Republican base activated, and it silences the Democrats by casting them as whiners and naysayers and denying them the government money for programs that serve traditionally Democratic constituencies. “The Democrats in Washington are irrelevant,” says a Senate Republican. “They might as well follow their Texas cohorts and leave town.” At least the Texas lawmakers, in fleeing across the border to Oklahoma, got the media to pay attention to the heavy-handed tactics of the Republican majority. Congressional Democrats are more inclined to make nice with Bush, as Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson did this week when he relented on Bush’s tax cut in exchange for modest assistance to cash-strapped states.

One Democrat unafraid to say the emperor has no clothes is Florida Sen. Bob Graham, ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Graham used the attack in Saudi Arabia to point out the folly of expending so many resources on invading Iraq, which he believes never posed a direct threat to America and was a distraction in the ongoing battle with Al Qaeda and other terrorists. What Graham is saying is right, but because he is running for president, the Bush spin machine dismissed his comments. The White House is also blocking release of the September 11 report recently completed by a joint House and Senate committee. There’s no smoking gun, and most of the information has been made public before, but reissuing it might remind voters that the Bush administration didn’t do all it could before 9-11, or even afterward, in terms of securing the homeland. Bush came to Washington with the primary objective of getting tax cuts. That’s the domestic agenda of this administration. There is nothing else. The tax cut that Bush almost certainly will sign into law this year will be the third largest in history, and he will come back for more next year. Nobody ever loses if they support tax cuts. The whole thing backfires only if the economy collapses, unless of course Bush manages to turn that to his advantage, as well. It was all the fault of those little-bitty lawmakers.


TOPICS: Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: bush; elanoreclift; waronterror
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Anyone care to comment on this rat??
1 posted on 05/16/2003 11:47:14 AM PDT by AbsoluteJustice
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To: AbsoluteJustice
Anyone care to comment on this rat??

Yeah, she's got some talent - I have no idea how she manages to operate a computer with her lips firmly planted on Bill or Hillary's backside...

2 posted on 05/16/2003 11:48:13 AM PDT by dirtboy (someone kidnapped dirtboy and replaced him with an exact replica)
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To: dirtboy
How could I possibly improve on your statement?
3 posted on 05/16/2003 11:52:56 AM PDT by MEG33
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To: AbsoluteJustice
Graham used the attack in Saudi Arabia to point out the folly of expending so many resources on invading Iraq, which he believes never posed a direct threat to America and was a distraction in the ongoing battle with Al Qaeda and other terrorists.

Give them more time Graham. Those WMD are there somewhere.

4 posted on 05/16/2003 11:53:38 AM PDT by Lysander (My army can kill your army)
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To: AbsoluteJustice
Poor Elanor, it appears she is a teeny weeny itsy bitsy upset

BRWAAHAAA HAAHAAHAA HAAHAAHAAA

5 posted on 05/16/2003 11:54:31 AM PDT by MJY1288 (Freedom is Ringing)
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To: AbsoluteJustice
he has never come across another politician who used “little bitty” or any variation thereof unless they were reading to grade schoolers.
Obviously spends no time in "fly over" country. LOL.
6 posted on 05/16/2003 11:56:36 AM PDT by 1066AD
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To: MEG33
My Nickname for Elanor Clift is "Mommy Dearest"
7 posted on 05/16/2003 11:56:52 AM PDT by MJY1288 (Freedom is Ringing)
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To: MJY1288
Required Picture.


8 posted on 05/16/2003 11:58:00 AM PDT by Normal4me
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To: Lysander
Graham's assertion that Iraq diverted our attention from combatting Al Qaeda is akin to saying that the US shouldn't have waged war in Europe because it diverted from our attention in combatting Japan.

Another lame, clueless, partisan snipe by the Democrats.

9 posted on 05/16/2003 11:58:08 AM PDT by My2Cents ("Well....there you go again.")
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To: MEG33; dirtboy
For Hitlery, an ample backside it is. May as well kiss the backside of a super tanker.
10 posted on 05/16/2003 11:59:41 AM PDT by el_texicano
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To: My2Cents
Just as he did in Texas, The "Orkin Man" George W. Bush is killing those RATS by the dozens
11 posted on 05/16/2003 12:01:21 PM PDT by MJY1288 (Freedom is Ringing)
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To: 1066AD
This Texan loved it! Sounded fine to my ears.Eleanor hasn't smiled in years. It shows.
12 posted on 05/16/2003 12:01:25 PM PDT by MEG33
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To: 1066AD
never come across another politician who used “little bitty” or any variation thereof unless they were reading to grade schoolers.

He was talking to members of the press and Democrats.

13 posted on 05/16/2003 12:01:27 PM PDT by N. Theknow
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To: AbsoluteJustice
Eleanor Clift.........shoulda known she'd be the author of this screed.
14 posted on 05/16/2003 12:02:28 PM PDT by Sunshine Sister
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To: N. Theknow
might as well been gradeschoolers they are all on about the same level.
15 posted on 05/16/2003 12:03:27 PM PDT by AbsoluteJustice (Kiss me I'm an INFIDEL!!!!)
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To: AbsoluteJustice
Coming from Elanor "don't interupt me I'm speaking" Clift this is high praise indeed. Twisting facts is standard fare for her but she couldn't hide her unsettling admiration for our guy. It's an itsy-bitsy step in the right direction for her.
16 posted on 05/16/2003 12:04:29 PM PDT by Mister Baredog ((They wanted to kill 50,000 of us on 9/11, we will never forget!))
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To: MEG33
All of the presstitutes are looking more and more like Elanor everyday. (A cheerful bunch)

Bush should lock himself in his private quarters on Airforce One and arrange for an exit door over one of the wings to open (at a time of his choosing) at around 30,000 feet and suck the entire Press Corp out of the plane :-)

17 posted on 05/16/2003 12:07:02 PM PDT by MJY1288 (Freedom is Ringing)
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To: AbsoluteJustice
I can't look at Elanor Clift without thinking of Montgomery Burns.
18 posted on 05/16/2003 12:15:51 PM PDT by Octar
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To: AbsoluteJustice
The people who read NewsWEAK are of the kool aid drinking demonrat type. Of no importance at all.
19 posted on 05/16/2003 12:19:56 PM PDT by OldFriend (without the brave, there would be no land of the free)
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To: AbsoluteJustice
Elanor Cliff and her ilk just can't stand that Bush has been and continues to out think the other side. They have gone from "Bush is stupid" to talking points like: "I’d say it’s a sophisticated nuance engineered by Karl Rove, Bush’s resident Machiavelli." Yep, that's the last thing they can hang their hat on. The "Karl Rove decides everything" silliness.

Elanor Cliff can't give Bush credit for the past but she is willing to make him pay for any future mistakes that "might happen". While at the same time hurting her brain trying to figure out what ball Bush will pitch next.

I've been following George W. Bush for years Elanor. He is way ahead of you. So just report the news and shut up you dried up skank!

20 posted on 05/16/2003 12:22:08 PM PDT by isthisnickcool (All tags for sale. 0% interest.)
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