Seattle Press on Line - GOP Goes from Ironic to Intimidation

GOP Goes from Ironic to Intimidation

By Jim Hightower

Aug 06, 2003 --

APPARENTLY THE Bushites think that "Irony" is the name of a far off planet, for they never seem able to see it in their own work.

Irony is George W standing adamantly against affirmative action, oblivious to the obvioius fact that he's the privileged poster-child of America's aggressive affirmative action program for the rich.

But one of the latest actions by the Bushites proves that they couldn't find irony if we let them use the Hubble Telescope. It came in the form of a threatening letter sent to Wisconsin TV stations by the Republican Party's top lawyer, Caroline Hunter. It seems that these stations were airing an ad produced by the Democratic Party, that calls for a bipartisan independent investigation of the false information used by Bush and the White House to mislead the American people about the supposed "imminent threat" posed by weapons of mass destruction they claimed were in Iraq.

The lawyer's letter to the TV stations demanded that they not air this ad because -- get this—she blithely says that stations have "no right to willfully spread false information in a deliberate attempt to mislead the American people."

Yoo-hoo, Ms. Hunter, call home once you zoom past Pluto. Oh, the irony! The White House willfully spreads false information to mislead the American people -- but if anyone is bold enough to point out this deception, they get slapped with charges of being false and misleading.

Bush's GOP henchwoman wasn't playing pattycake with the TV stations, either. "As an FCC licensee," she wrote station managers, "you have the responsibility to exercise independent editorial judgment... This letter puts you on notice... you are obligated to refrain from airing this advertisement." That's no small threat, given that the Bushites have politicized the FCC and can make life hell for a local station.

This is Jim Hightower saying... This is more than ironic -- it's crass political intimidation.

Reader Comments

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gk	Aug 07, 2003	nyc
I wish this sort of news was news. Unfournately no one seems to have their ears on. This kind of irony is the kind of venom the adminstration has been doling out all along. Why can't people recoil react respond to this rotten administration and throw them out on their thick heads.


Chris Barker	Aug 19, 2003	Auburn, WA
A little history. While he was in office, former President Clinton said that Iraq had WMD, and that someone should take them away, and the Democratic Congressional leadership agreed. He even fired missiles into Iraq at a supposed WMD lab. While Bush was in office, Congress, including many Democrats, such as Hillary Clinton and Tom Daschle voted in favor of military intervention, in part because of the WMD situation. The U.N., and the U.N. Inspectors, said Iraq had used to have WMD and would not give evidence they had been destroyed or moved, leading the a tentative conclusion that they were still around. Saddam could have avoided the war by telling us how they had been destroyed, but he would not. Further, since Saddam had used WMD on its own people, we had no reason to believe he wouldnít use them on us. Satellites can spot troop movements and missile silos. Ground troops can find stashes of rifles and grenades. Finding a quart jar containing enough anthrax to kill New York City is a different kind of challenge. Kindergarten politics really donít have a place in this war on terrorism. The Republican party has again had to take the adult role in telling the Democrats that telling whopping lies is a naughty thing to do.


rs	Aug 21, 2003	Mpls, MN	sales
I have yet to see or hear anything that substantiates the claims of Bush deliberately misleading people of the US. Lots of speculation and immature name calling, but no "I didn't have sex with that woman" bald-faced lies.


young punk	Aug 21, 2003	MN	sales
I guess everyone's right in their backing of the war in Iraq, regardless of the FACT that nobody has found any significant WMD. Whatever. I'm more interested in the GOP's blatant disrespect of first-amendment rights and threats against anyone who isn't already stinking filthy rich, to keep quiet or they'll cut mandatory state services like the crook running our state is doing for us. The closest thing to a democracy in our modern political environment is the witty banter between members of the GOP about issues like AIDS in Africa and pretending to care about the quality of education for our children, when in fact they know that by underpaying the educators, they control the awareness of their corruption and ensure the continuance of their fascist (and Anti-American) dream state.


Phinneas Phog	Sep 04, 2003	WAshington	pseudo-philosopher
"young punk" managed to cram most of the major Democrat talking points into a very compact essay. He probably decided it would be confusing and generally pointless to try to include arguments or evidence.