US and the World

Simple, direct, and wrong

The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > News Analysis: The Cheney View of the World, With a Focus on Danger and Boldness

Well, here we go witht he big lie - this news analysis of Cheney's speech sums up the tactic well:

But as Mr. Bush's and Mr. Cheney's advisers have repeatedly said in recent weeks, campaigns and the subtleties of national security policy do not easily mix. So they have settled on a strategy designed to sow doubts about their opponent's character, while hoping that some bold declarations about taking the fight to the enemy would overwhelm memories of the missteps of the past year.

This is certainly applying the KISS principle well. Soon we'll see if America is buying it. The basic idea here is that voters are stupid, They can't deal with nuance, they don't want to think, they just know they need a strong leader who will react from his gut - you know - like one whose guts told him to avoid military service in Vietnam as the otugh-talking HCeney did not once, but with five deferments in a row. And as Bush did by using his families prominence to get him into the National Guard, a sure way in those days to avoid combat.

The chicken hawks know how to talk brave while throwing away the lives of US soldiers and innocent Iraqi civilians. Not to mention how to spend money that ends up lining their pocklets as in no-bid contracts to the vice-president's once and future pals at Haiburton.

Bottom line - this is really sick and cynical and if America buys it the way these delegates do, we're in big trouble,.