A Chance to Step Forward

Andrew Sullivan takes a first step toward sanity

© Bryan Zepp Jamieson
11/3/06
http://www.zeppscommentaries.com/Politics/sullivan.htm

When I heard on the NPR morning news that Putsch had vowed to keep Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney until the end of his term and that they “are doing fantastic jobs and I strongly support them” I laughed and shook my head. You’re doing a heckuva job, Donnie. You’re doing a heckuva job, Mr. Cheney. Mind you, he was praising them for the jobs they had done in conducting the Iraq occupation. I’ll pause typing at this point so those of you who hadn’t heard about this can get your breaths back.

I might have forgotten about it in quick order. We’ve reached the point where we EXPECT to hear things out of this president that are dishonest, asinine, incoherent and crazed, and this was just one of a series of such that the frantic little monkey had been uttering all week as he raced around the country, trying to convince the electorate that everything was peachy keen except for the Democrats, who wanted to sell everyone’s daughters into slavery in Osama bin Laden’s harem.

In fact, a list showed up on Usenet today that compiled some of the more stupid and insane things that man has uttered in just the past ten months. It’s a rather long list.

The man is an idiot, and we expect him to sound like an idiot. It’s pretty hard to think of a more succinct way of summing up his time as President.

But I don’t think I even bothered passing the “fantastic jobs” quote along in my newsfeed. What would the point be? We all know he’s stonewalling on his entire record while attacking Democrats in ever more lunatic terms. That same day, he claimed that a Democratic win would be a win for the terrorists. There are guys living in shopping carts on 6th Avenue in LA who could do a more cogent job of running the country.

Indeed, the media buried the story, preferring to focus on the GOP spin on the Kerry remark about getting an education and not getting stuck in Iraq. Simultaneously, they buried Bohnner’s remark about how it wasn’t Rummy who blew it in Iraq but the generals in the field. I noticed that none of the pseudo-patriots on the right who were screaming that Kerry apologize for an insult to the troops he never made had anything at all to say about that.

Keep that in mind the next time someone asks you why you think the mainstream media are just a pack of right wing whores.

But then something unusual happened. One of the faithful decided he just couldn’t take the lunacy any more, and broke ranks.

Andrew Sullivan has been one of the most consistent water-carriers for the administration all along. In his role of pretend journalist, he dutifully presented every item off the GOP fax machines as being fact, and spent the rest of his time – which is to say most of his waking hours – attacking Democrats and anyone else who dared question the supremacy of the GOP.

He heard the remarks about Rumsfeld and Cheney, and he just snapped. Accusing Putsch of being deep in denial, he said, “It's unhinged. It suggests this man has lost his mind. No one objectively could look at the way this war has been conducted, whether you were for it, as I was, or against it, and say that it has been done well. It's a disaster...For him to say it's a fantastic job suggests the president has lost it, I'm sorry, there's no other way to say it.... These people must be held accountable...This is not an election anymore, it's an intervention.”

Well, well, well.

Andrew, you’re a bit late, and should America survive all this, you definitely need to make amends for all those years of disservice to the people whose interests you were supposed to address, but better late than never. Welcome to the crowd.

Andrew, I want you to meet the rest of the world. Rest of the World, Andrew. They ran a poll in the United Kingdom this week, asking who the world leader was who was the most dangerous to world peace. The good news is that Putsch didn’t come in first. Osama bin Laden is still considered the greatest threat to world peace. This may be a case of brand recognition more than anything else, since bin Laden hasn’t really done much of anything in the five plus years since 9/11 except made the occasional video tape in order to assure his followers that he was still alive. Putsch was a close second, and came in well ahead of Kim Jong-Il, Ahmadinejad, and the head of Hizbollah. Similar results were found in Canada and Mexico, with only Israel thinking he wasn’t a great threat to world security. Even there, one in four did see him as a grave threat.

Putsch might be in denial – OK, Andrew, IS in denial – but Karl Rove isn’t, and that’s why he’s had Putsch stumping in districts that are considered safe for Republicans. In a close race – and Republicans stand to lose 90% of the 55 or so races now considered “close” – Putsch’s face could tip the balance against the GOP. Since even the servile media would notice if ‘Rove just kept Putsch locked up in the White House for the last two weeks of the campaign, he sent the toy president out on a brief tour of areas where the GOP is expected to win handily. Or is there anyone out there who thinks Kansas and Indiana aren’t predominately GOP states?

Andrew, I mentioned making amends up a few paragraphs. Obviously I’m not your priest or your moral coach, and you have to figure out your own redemption. But I do have a suggestion for you.

Karl Rove has been acting abnormally cocky. It used to be that you expected that from a party operative, but with Rove, you immediately think of something more sinister, involving doctored vote counts, people deterred or prevented from voting, and slimy operatives in white shirts and ties shouting threats at vote counters.

Furthermore, Faux News announced today that they will conduct their own separate exit polls, apart from the “rest of the media”. I know, it amazes me that anyone would consider Faux to actually be a part of the media, but technically, they are, just like the Washington Times and Worldnetnews.com. Exit polls have been a source of embarrassment to Republicans, because they keep showing where the oddities are, and that all the oddities seem to work in favor of the GOP.

Now, we both know there is no way the GOP could steal enough votes to keep the House and do so in a credible manner. But they might steal enough to keep it close, and of course to keep the Senate. Then their vast right wing echo chamber, the one you used to be a part of, will start braying about how this is a “mandate” for Bush and a “vindication” of his suddenly resurrected policy of “stay the course.”

You KNOW that’s how it would shake out if Karl Rove has any say in the matter. Or Faux News, for that matter.

So there’s your opportunity. Give this election the most honest, probing coverage you can. If you find evidence of cheating, report it. If you don’t, report that, too. But just don’t slide into the old VRWC pattern of reporting only the things detrimental to Democrats and beneficial to Republicans. You’ve been doing that for years, and in your own small way, you made that idiot monster in the White House possible.

It’s time to stop doing that and start being a journalist. It looks like you’re off to a good start. Don’t backslide.

Remember. This isn’t just an election. This is America fighting for her life.

It’s time to fight for your country, rather than your party.