Bullying Into Believing

While I've said that the latest Bin Laden ad campaigns have come from both sides of the political spectrum (and they have), this doesn't just pop up into advertisements for some. I've heard of this bullying tactic ever since the 9/11 attacks and they've mainly come from the right (not as in correct).

The likes of Dick Cheney, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, amongst others, have all claimed at one time or another that the Democrats or a candidate of the Democratic Party would only aid the terrorists if they won in an election. Some have been labeled as "Al-Qaeda candidates." Utah Senator Orrin Hatch just was quoted as saying that terrorists are "waiting for the Democrats here to take control, let things cool off and then strike again." Cheney was quoted as saying, after Ned Lamont's defeat over Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut primary, that Lamont's victory may encourage "the al-Qaida types." When John Kerry ran for president of 2004, some laid the claim that al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden would want him to win.

The Neo-Conservative movement has altered the meaning of the word "liberal" to such a large degree that many refuse to acknowledge themselves as such and it'll only be a matter of time, if things continue down the same path they've been traveling on for about five years now, it'll be extremely commonplace for the terms "liberal" and "terrorist" to appear in the same sentence.

Why do Neo-Conservatives do this? It won them the last election, did it not? I cannot tell you how many people I talked to in regard to the election who claimed they voted for Bush because they felt safer with him as president than with Kerry. People refuse to look at the facts done by studies, even in the U.K., that claim the U.S. is not safer because of what we've done since 9/11, largely attributing this to "The War On Terror," which has expanded terrorist camps and motivations to attack U.S. soil. Many would rather just listen to political ads comparing a Democratic candidate to a member of Al-Qaeda and immediately begin to feel less safe about voting for this Democratic candidate. Even though the media elites of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly (amongst others) are full of you know what, because they yell with such vigor, some are convinced that they must be telling the truth, as opposed to liberal elites such has Al Franken, Keith Olbermann, and Michael Moore, who tend to go about things in a lighter and more humorous manner.

I don't know what angers me more, the fact that Neo-Conservatives consistently attack Democrats in this manner or the fact that some people actually buy what they're selling. There's an old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I hope that after November, Neo-Conservatives will finally have to find another way to go about winning an election. Perhaps then, their fear factor routine will be broken and there will be a definite need for an alternative approach.