Molly Ivins: The Pols Who Cried Wolf

[im10ashus]

Man, I LOVE Molly Ivins!

AUSTIN, Texas—We have nothing to fear but fear itself, especially since fear is now being fomented and manipulated for political purposes by a bunch of shameless hacks. Who is trying to make you afraid and why? This Karl Rove tactic is getting quite threadbare, in fact, and so much so that it is getting dangerously close to comedy.

My favorite episode, of course, was the Miami terrorists, a fearsome horde of seven described by the FBI’s deputy director as “more aspirational than operational.” That means wannabes. An FBI informant posing as a member of Al Qaeda offered to supply the plotters with material for the jihad, so they asked for boots and uniforms. Every terrorist needs a uniform.

Of course, even a nincompoop can succeed occasionally—but the list of wannabes keeps growing. Seventeen people were arrested in Canada for intending to behead the prime minister. Has anyone in all of history ever cared that much about a Canadian prime minister? Canada’s national motto is “Now, let’s not get excited.”

Of the hundreds of prisoners, alleged terrorists all, who have been held at Guantanamo on the grounds that they were the worst of the worst, only 10 have ever been charged with anything. In the latest episode, shortly after announcement of a British-based plot to blow up airliners, Britain and the United States were airing their differences over when the perpetrators should have been arrested.

The administration has put itself in the position of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. If, God forbid, a serious terrorist conspiracy is uncovered, there will be a tendency to dismiss it in a backlash to these over-hyped “plots.”

cont'd...

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060814_molly_ivins_shortage_fear/

[kurth]

1. Interesting comment:

Comment #18298 by OCPatriot on 8/14 at 10:32 pm

Truth isn’t important and treating it as something the Republicans “should” be hewing to is again setting the stage for playing the victim. The only truth for them is “spin” used to stay in power, and whatever happens will be used by Republicans to do so. So why—why, indeed?—would anyone expect anything else from them? Why, oh why, do so many Democrats always seem to be surprised by it? There is no sense of reality here, only Republican “spin”. It will continue until the election and, if they prevail, we can expect it to continue unabated. So, please, don’t act surprised; and above all don’t act as if it won’t happen again and again. That is the path to being a “victim.” One more point and that is that the Republicans have mastered one technique and use it very well: It is called “first strike.” They frame the argument and the Democrats have to respond to it. If only some smart Democrat had come forward, immediately, and said, “Expect this to happen, expect this type of campaign from the Republicans,” they might have taken the “first strike” capability away from the Republicans. Too often, Democrats come across as protesters and victims. Maybe Lamont’s win, even though it wasn’t a landslide, will give the Democrats what the Tin Man and the Lion wanted.

[savemefromdumbya]

2. but when martial law comes...........

no one will be able to move

[Spazito]

3. I love Molly, she writes with a very sharp "pen" that skewers the bush

cabal and does it with humour. Being Canadian, I love this part too:

Seventeen people were arrested in Canada for intending to behead the prime minister. Has anyone in all of history ever cared that much about a Canadian prime minister? Canada’s national motto is “Now, let’s not get excited.”

She's right, we don't tend to "get excited" when our faux con government tries the same tired trick as the bush cabal and shouts "terra, terra, terra".

[DallasNE]

4. Kudos To Molly

She catalogues a long list of "cry wolf" but it is by no means complete.

There is the NYC subway scare where the security folks attempted to keep under wraps a "plot" because the source was deemed not reliable. The Bush administration went with it anyway at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars. The source later admitted that his story was all a fabrication. But the political need of a scare to shore up sagging poll numbers was greater than the need to be right so Bush cried wolf.

And then there is the Brooklyn Bridge "scare". The list goes on and on and on.

Our only hope for accountability is for the American people in November 2006 to turn out of office those that either cry wolf or support those that do cry wolf. The deeper the purge the better.

[im10ashus]

5. Terror - the new campaign strategy of the Millennium.

Pretty soon it will all backfire on them. If only people could learn to think for themselves rather than getting their information from Faux News, or any other "MSM" corporation.

[civildisoBDence]

6. Wolves, chickens

Molly says that "The administration has put itself in the position of the Boy Who Cried Wolf" on national security issues.

Funny how the boy who cried wolf calls we who believe in global warming "Chicken Littles" even though the sky really is falling.

If only this weren't such a grimm time to be alive!

Satire as thick as a president's skull

[im10ashus]

9. Hi civildisoBDence!

Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[newyawker99]

11. Hi civildisoBDence!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

7. Molly always gets a K & R from me. Smart, funny and scary.

"Every terrorist needs a uniform." :rofl: MKJ

[Kurovski]

8. Molly gets the same from me. K&R.

:kick:

[Toots]

10. For forty years Amnericans slept safe and Secure because of Democratic

Leadership. It is only under Republican leadership that America has become a terrified quivering mass afraid of it's own shadow. Think about it....

[4_TN_TITANS]

12. Could the wolf-crying be intentional?

To give Repubs the grounds to say 'we told you so - you should have voted for us' to a complacent public? I just don't think we've seen the last of this terra-card.