Right-Wing: When In Doubt, Attack People's Patriotism
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Since September 11, 2001 whenever anyone has questioned the Administration or challenged its unilateralist policy, conservatives have resorted to attacking people's patriotism.
| • | ATTORNEY GENERAL JOHN ASHCROFT: When concerned citizens voiced opposition to excessive provisions of the Patriot Act, Attorney General John Ashcroft said on 12/6/01, "your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies, and pause to America's friends." |
| • | VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY: When legitimate questions were asked about revelations that the White House was warned about a hijacking threat prior to 9/11, Vice President Cheney said on 5/16/02 that ”such commentary is thoroughly irresponsible and totally unworthy of national leaders in a time of war.” |
| • | HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER TOM DELAY: When criticism was raised about poor planning in the creation of the Homeland Security Department, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) said on 9/25/02, "These are people that don't want to protect the American people. They will do anything, spend all the time and resources they can, to avoid confronting evil." (This from a man who said “Nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes.”) |
| • | SENATE MAJORITY LEADER BILL FRIST: When a Senator said there needed to be a radical change in the Bush Administration’s unilateralist foreign policy, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) said on 4/3/03, "Partisan insults launched solely for personal political gain are highly inappropriate at a time when American men and women are in harm's way." |
| • | SECRETARY OF DEFENSE DONALD RUMSFELD: Under the headline “Rumsfeld: Critics Give Terrorists Hope,” Newsday reported on 9/9/03 that Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld said “that critics of the Bush Administration's Iraq policy are encouraging terrorists and complicating the ongoing U.S. war on terrorism.” |
| • | PRESIDENT BUSH: When some raised objections to how the Homeland Security Department was being structured, President Bush said the Democratic-led "Senate is not interested in the security of the American people." |
| • | WHITE HOUSE: When people questioned whether the President’s aircraft carrier speech was appropriate with combat still taking place, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said on 5/7/03, “It does a disservice to the men and women of our military to suggest that the president, or the manner in which the president visited the military would be anything other than the exact appropriate thing to do." |
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DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY PAUL WOLFOWITZ: Responding to a questioner who said he did not support previous U.S. alliances with Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said on 10/30/03 "You said you opposed Saddam Hussein especially when the United States supported him. It seems to me that the north star of your comment is that you dislike this country and its policies." Responding to a questioner who said he did not support previous U.S. alliances with Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said on 10/30/03 "You said you opposed Saddam Hussein especially when the United States supported him. It seems to me that the north star of your comment is that you dislike this country and its policies." |
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IRAN-CONTRA CONVICT/FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT OLLIE NORTH: Salon reports on that North's latest column, posted on the Heritage Foundation Web site "re-launches a rather tired conservative argument: By criticizing President Bush's foreign policy, the 'liberal' media is nurturing America's enemies." The story notes that "he argues the steady insurgency against U.S. troops springs from Baathist enemies who are urged on by America's anti-Bush news coverage." |
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RIGHT-WING POLLSTERS: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) was asked by troops in Iraq whether the public was concerned about the Administration's Iraq policy. She answered, "Americans are wholeheartedly proud of what you are doing, but there are many questions at home about the administration's policies" – a candid and factual answer, especially considering recent polls that say the same. Of course, her answer was immediately met with charges from right-wing pollster Scott Reed that she was "un-American." |
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