You Can't Handle the Truth, Apparently!

Slate has a nice little article about the latest bullcrap doctored ad from the Bush administration.

The RNC's new Web video "Retreat and Defeat" starts with a flat-screen TV playing clips from Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, Sen. Barbara Boxer, and Sen. John Kerry. As they speak, a white flag waves over their faces while ominous music moans. Dean says the war in Iraq can't be won; Boxer says withdrawal should start after the Iraqi election; and Kerry says U.S. soldiers shouldn't be "terrorizing kids and children, you know, women." Then the camera pans back, and we learn that we've been watching these clips over the shoulder of a U.S. soldier dressed in desert camouflage, his service rifle strapped to his back. Candy canes hang on the wall just above the screen, which flashes the message: "Our soldiers are watching and our enemies are too."

The video conveys the impression that somewhere in Iraq, a soldier is having his mission and Christmas tarnished by weak-willed Democrats.

Of course, the soldier is really watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas! but why let a little bit of fact get in the way of a really bitchin' smear ad? The poor soldier's sorrow is probably genuine, however, since watching The Grinch undoubtedly reminds him that thanks to Bush, Dick, and Rummy, he's not going to be getting any schmendonkers, gerlonkers, or body armor this Christmas, either.

Bush has distorted images of U.S. soldiers before. During the 2004 campaign, he got into trouble when one of his ads, titled "Whatever It Takes," doctored the images of soldiers. The ad showed a crowd of soldiers listening to the president. But some of the faces appeared several times in several different places within the same crowd shot, the result of an attempt to increase the number of soldiers appearing to listen to Mr. Bush.

What neither party has done—until now—is inject the idea that the other party is undermining our troops overseas. The RNC is pimping a mute and unnamed soldier not just to defend the Iraq war but to imply that Democrats are white-handkerchief-waving cowards who want the United States to lose.

Yeah, so we all know that stuff. The Republican party whips up a big batch of bullshit, and their base eats it up like it was chocolate pudding. But here's the part that I really wanted to emphasize:

This is not the president's official message, at least in classier settings. "There's an important debate going on in our nation's capital about Iraq," he said last week at the Council on Foreign Relations, "and the fact that we can debate these issues openly in the midst of a dangerous war brings credit to our democracy."

And the fact that your party runs these ads brings nothing but same to our democracy, so I guess it all kinda balances out. Basically, Bush is too much of a pussy to actually call out the people who oppose him, so he has all the little trolls who toil in his Workshop of Evil create these bitch-ass fake ads attacking his opponents, and then he acts all above the fray when he does his little soft-shoe dance and says that debate and dissent are important (I seem to recall some sort of swift boat something something). Quick poll: Raise your hand if you think Bush really thinks that debate and dissent are important. If your hand is currently raised, use the other hand to click this link.