...I'm okay with being REALITY-based.




Thursday, June 24, 2004
      ( 6:54 PM )
 
A New Low

The Bush/Cheney campaign has reached a new low today (if that's possible). Their new ad ("coaltion of the Wild-Eyed") has to be record breaking in its hypocrisy and bad taste. Not to mention funny ironies (which we'll address later). Check it out.

Basically, it is a series of videos of democratic leaders (Al Gore) and presidential candidates (Howard Dean, Dick Gephardt), with Michael Moore thrown in all making well-known declarations (some here are paraphrased):

Al Gore: his MoveOn.org speech in which he said change must happen;
Howard Dean: "I want my country back!"
Michael Moore: We have a man in office who is ruining this country, etc, etc.
Dick Gephardt: "he is a miserable failure"
John Kerry: Bush is going to screw you.

And interspersed with the vingnettes are pictures of Hitler and audio of crowds yelling "seig heil!" The words at the end say "this isn't a time for pessimism and rage" and then the melodious tunes start and George Bush's lovely face and the words that it's a "time for optimism and steady leadership."

It's detestable that they would air this ad after making such a huge fuss about someone who submitted an ad to the MoveOn contest that compared Bush to Hitler - that ad wasn't even aired, and the only place it played prominently was on the Bush campaign website. But that's not the only irony.

Take a good look at the ad. Every statement made by the democrats in this commercial are the exact cogent arguments that need to be made against Bush, and here he is airing them on his own commercial! Then, right after the picture of Hitler doing his salute, they show a picture of George Bush doing the exact same stiff-armed motion!! It's obviously an inadvertent juxtaposition, but you can't help but notice it.

Finally, the biggest irony is that this commerical wreaks of the 1950's commie bashing of democrats and liberals - and yet, the GOP couldn't even get that right - they use a fascist connection, one that doesn't even make sense.

Once more the GOP shows its infantile mindset, it's lack of critical thinking, it's outreach to the basist elements of its support base, and its consistent use of negative ads. I'm sure that they will go lower still, but this is definitely a watermark moment.

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