Uh Oh! Dad’s Mad!
Tony Snow has been known to say that when Dick Cheney gets involved in anything, it’s usually meant to send the message that “Uh oh. Dad’s mad at us.” Monday’s speech at the American Enterprise Institute was a perfect example of that. Here are few quotes from Bill Sammon’s article in Tuesday’s Washington Times:
Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday accused Democrats of “corrupt and shameless” revisionism on the Iraq war and called their demands for a pullout “self-defeating pessimism. It is a dangerous illusion to suppose that another retreat by the civilized world would satisfy the appetite of the terrorists and get them to leave us alone,” Mr. Cheney said in a blistering speech to the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. “A precipitous withdrawal from Iraq would be a victory for the terrorists, an invitation to further violence against free nations and a terrible blow to the future security of the United States of America,” he said.
The administration was wise in using the Vice President to deliver this speech in its efforts to continue their national security offensive. In this paragraph, the Vice President frames today’s debate by stating (a) that Democrats who want to change their mind for purely political motives are “corrupt and shameless” and (b) Democrats who’ve advocated immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces would only embolden terrorists just like pulling out of Somalia did in the spring of 1993 and (c) an immediate withdrawal would be an open invitation to terrorists to overrun Iraq’s emerging government before they’re ready to assume full responsibility for their security.
In short, this was as hard-hitting and comprehensive of a speech as President Bush’s Veterans’ Day speech. By going on the offensive, the Administration is once again dictating the terms of the debate and winning over public opinion.
The next step in their offensive is in talking past the Agenda Media’s ‘filter’ and giving the American people the facts that we’re actually making progress and that winning is doable if we trust our military and if we don’t lose our patience. It’s important to tell people that terrorists are being killed in large numbers and that they don’t hear that because TV is obsessing in just showing Americans and Iraqis dying in the streets.
I’m totally convinced that the American people will readily support the war if the consequences are properly explained and if they’re seeing progress being made.
“The flaws in the intelligence are plain enough in hindsight, but any suggestion that prewar information was distorted, hyped or fabricated by the leader of the nation is utterly false,” Mr. Cheney said. “This is revisionism of the most corrupt and shameless variety. It has no place anywhere in American politics, much less in the United States Senate.”
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, (D-MA), refused to back down and even repeated his charge that “the administration distorted, misrepresented and manipulated the intelligence.”
It’s time that the administration moved beyond the “revisionist history” line and came up with something new. I’d suggest that they start saying something like “Senate Democrats are attempting to erase their pro-war quotes from the public record while acting like they’re innocent bystanders in authorizing the administration to go to war in Iraq.” It’s important for them to stick with a consistent, hard-hitting message but it’s also important in keeping the lines fresh.
The value of keeping the lines fresh and hard-hitting seem particularly lost on Ted Kennedy, who’s still thinking that his bluster is winning hearts and minds. Either that or he hasn’t learned that he needs some new ‘tricks’ in his arsenal.
The press office of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, (D-NV), sent out a “Fact Check” on Mr. Cheney’s speech, saying he seemed at odds with the White House’s message. “President Bush is trying to tone down the rhetoric. Did the vice president not get the memo?”
Actually, Harry’s the one who doesn’t seem to have gotten something. It’s apparent that he didn’t get the message that his schtick isn’t working and that he’ll need something substantive to say rather than just his daily cheapshot to make an impression with the American people. Then again, which Democrat has figured it out that cheapshots alone don’t work?
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRing
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