How to Spot a Republican Talking Point

It's easy to spot a Republican talking point. They roll through our TV sets with the changing tides. Yesterday on CNN Lynne Cheney got all earnest and asked her interviewer, "Do you want America to win in Iraq?" Last night on David Letterman, Bill O'Reilly asked, "Do you want America to win in Iraq?" This is the new version of when the right wing used to say, "Losing is not an option in Iraq." These things evolve in time like the song of the whales. "Stay the course" flows into the TV with the rhythmic pulse of waves washing over the American psyche, then that recedes and a new wave comes in. I believe the talking point now is that we are constantly refining out strategy in Iraq. We'll know the new slogan soon. Let's see...how about "Tinkering with Victory!" or "Staying the course is not an option in Iraq." No, that one makes too much sense.

We've all had problems that have required our maximum efforts. There are talking points for those too, in the form of commonly heard sayings: "This means the world to me." or "This means everything to me." You "throw everything at a problem" because "your life depends on it". The rhetoric of the "War on Terror" is sort of like that. It is the "calling of our times. The calling of our generation. It is a war that will not end in our lifetimes." Saddam has been compared to Hitler, George Bush has been compared to Churchill, and the Invasion of Iraq has been compared to the Invasion of Normandy.

Of course, it's all total crap. The first wave comes crashing in looking good but it has a giant whale turd on top of it. BS just doesn't cover the Bush administration - they deal in whale crap. As with most Republican talking points the goal is to deflect from the truth and spin the American Public into a pre-approved way of thinking. And then the next waves full of whale crap start coming through the TV sets. George says the new slogan over and over in the same speech. Condi repeats it, Cheney chimes in. Rumsfeld is often one slogan behind - he's still wading through "stay the course" right now - but eventually the next wave will wash over his barnacle-encrusted brain and he will repeat the new slogan. These aren't leaders here - they're telemarketers. That's what they're good at, so it's easy - like selling cereal: Snap, Crackle, Shock, and Awe.

The Bush administration never really gave a damn about Iraq. They wanted a war, they wanted to win, and it didn't work out. Does it mean everything to them? Does it mean the world to them? No, or else they would have sent more troops. Wait, I thought Iraq was part of the War on Terror. You remember that talking point: The frontlines of the War on Terror, right?

Doesn't that make Iraq the calling of a generation? We didn't even send enough troops to drive in safely from the airport. Why didn't we change the course earlier if this was so important? Because it's not. The "calling of a generation" thing was some talking point somebody made up to help sell this. Hey, "calling" even sounds religious! Perfect! The only calling George ever heard was "Last call".

Besides, correcting a disastrous plan would have been an admission of a mistake, and this group hates admitting mistakes. They would rather leave our troops twisting in the wind, than damage their image. Tell me that's not true. Go ahead.

The Bush team has never acted all that concerned about the thousands of Americans who have been ground up over there - they're main goal is that they keep the power here through this next election. And that's the only reason they're so concerned about Iraq right now.

The American People are so mad about Iraq that the Congress could go Democratic. This is what is driving the hand-wringing in the Bush administration - not the terrible carnage their stupid plan has wrought. When they ask, "Do you want America to win in Iraq?" it is a deflection from their level of commitment there. Winning in Iraq doesn't mean the world to the American People and guess what? It doesn't mean the world to the Bush administration either. Otherwise we would have all been acting differently. Democracy in Iraq? They don't even want democracy here.

Our way of life isn't being threatened by Iraq - it's being threatened by the Bush administration. Nothing from the mouths of these people can be trusted or believed. You have to flip the content of their slogans to tell what they are really saying. So what does matter to them above all else? What is their true calling? That one is simple: Power.

When you hear a Republican talking point insert the phrase "keep the power" and you'll hear their inner most thoughts. It's like the old phrase "Keep the faith", and ironically they're using faith to keep the power. Suddenly the talking points make a lot of sense. Keeping the power is the calling of a lifetime. They're not asking us if we want to win in Iraq. They're asking if we want Republicans to win the Elections. Are you going to take some of their power away? That's the level of concern here.

Stay the course was never about staying the course. It was about marketing a decisive image. Winning the War on Terror was never about winning the War on Terror. Where would the fear come from if the War on Terror was won? Things are getting worse so for the Republicans things are getting better.

How about national security? Just look at the ports and our border situation and tell me they're truly serious about national security. Think of your own home security. Are the Bush people even close to being as concerned about our national security, as you are about your house? The first thing you do is control who comes in. The Bushies outsourced port security to a company from the part of the world that is supposed to hate us for our freedom. Think about that. You probably remember the talking point: "They hate us for our freedom"? None of it's real.

If the terrorists hate us for our freedom, then why does the Bush administration want to curtail our freedoms? They call us terrorist appeasers for not going along, but if they're damaging what the terrorists are supposed to hate, that makes them terrorist appeasers.

Everything is the opposite of what it's supposed to be. Winning in Iraq has never been about winning in Iraq. There has only been one real change in the endless waves of right wing talking points: "Get the Power" became "Expand the Power" and that's now been replaced with "Keep the Power". Like the song of the whales the talking points evolve and the waves continue to bring the whale turds to your TV set.