Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Even in the Heartland -- We Can See Clearly
Here, in the heartland, we sometimes perceive things only dimly. The snow-capped mountains to the west drop down out of sight below the curvature of the earth. The waving fields of wheat must stand in for the deep blue sea.
The political life of the nation is also seen as from a great distance.
But we do see -- and we see right through -- things like this:
Yesterday, the extreme right American Spectator, posted an ad produced by the media advisors to that lovely group, the Swift Boat Vets. You remember them, they produced the dishonest ads designed to dishonor the wartime heroism of John Kerry.
Now, these hard right Republican operatives have been employed to savage the American Association of Retired Persons (disclaimer: Red State Rabble dropped his membership in AARP over their support for the Medicaid Perscription Drug Bill, but is now thinking of renewing because AARP has taken a strong stand in defense of Social Security and against the Bush privatization swindle. Yes, I'm that old.)
The ad shows a U.S. soldier stationed in Iraq with a red "X" over him, and a newly married gay couple kissing with a green check mark. The ad suggests that the AARP is somehow against our troops and for gay marriage. The American Spectator quickly pulled the ad as outrage mounted quickly through the day, but you can still see it on the Midwest Grass Roots Community web page. MWGC has been doing a good job of covering this example of right wing excess -- and other outrages here in the flyover zone. Check them out.
Even here, in the heartland, we can see through this sort of low smear.
The political life of the nation is also seen as from a great distance.
But we do see -- and we see right through -- things like this:
Yesterday, the extreme right American Spectator, posted an ad produced by the media advisors to that lovely group, the Swift Boat Vets. You remember them, they produced the dishonest ads designed to dishonor the wartime heroism of John Kerry.
Now, these hard right Republican operatives have been employed to savage the American Association of Retired Persons (disclaimer: Red State Rabble dropped his membership in AARP over their support for the Medicaid Perscription Drug Bill, but is now thinking of renewing because AARP has taken a strong stand in defense of Social Security and against the Bush privatization swindle. Yes, I'm that old.)
The ad shows a U.S. soldier stationed in Iraq with a red "X" over him, and a newly married gay couple kissing with a green check mark. The ad suggests that the AARP is somehow against our troops and for gay marriage. The American Spectator quickly pulled the ad as outrage mounted quickly through the day, but you can still see it on the Midwest Grass Roots Community web page. MWGC has been doing a good job of covering this example of right wing excess -- and other outrages here in the flyover zone. Check them out.
Even here, in the heartland, we can see through this sort of low smear.
