SPIN, SPIN, SPIN – round and round we go…
“If you choose not to decideYou still have made a choice”
Neil Peart, Rush “Freewill”
Oh, the days of 2004. When all we heard about was how Kerry was a “flip-flopper” it was on every page of the paper, it lead the comedians’ monologues. Any chance they got the GOP would trot out the: “He’s wishy washy!” “He flops!” “He flips!” “He can’t make up his mind!” “Etc. etc. etc.”
Never mind that the Democrats could find countless times when Bush said one thing and did another. Remember, this was the President that was AGAINST the 9/11 Commission and then was FOR the 9/11 Commission. But… When someone labels you as a “flip-flopper” it’s disingenuous to label them one back. It’s back to 2nd Grade on the playground: “Are to!” “Are not!” “Yes you are!” “No I’m not!” Lots of smoke, little fire.
Have you all guessed what the GOP is plopping out this year? I heard it again just yesterday. Ready for it? It’s a BIG ONE! Here’s the spin this year: “The Democrats have no new ideas!” Or, better yet: “They don’t have a plan to win the war in Iraq!” or “They don’t have a plan to fight terrorism!” It’s the big label the GOP is putting on the Democrats this year. Why the Democrats don’t label the GOP for the lying worthless scum that they are, is beyond me. Do they always have to take the high road and walk away from the 2nd Grade argument?
But, wait, you say: “They don’t have a plan!” How would you know? First, I fully believe that the brain trust of the Democratic party working with our military could come up with a decent plan to get our troops out of Iraq and home and somehow, someway, get this debacle, this burning hellhole of death and despair, this black mark on America where men, women and children are dying EVERY SINGLE DAY to some sort of end. But lets remind ourselves WHO IS IN POWER? The GOP. Yes, the Democrats brought out a number of retired Generals (those willing to speak) to, again, point out the flaws of this administration and talk about what they would do to end this war (“THE PLAN”) but the GOP’s response to whatever is brought up is: “They don’t have a plan.” It’s the equivalent of someone driving up to your house in a car and you saying: “How did you get here without using a car?” And the other person saying: “I just did.” And the person replying: “Don’t you didn’t.” “I JUST DID!” “NO YOU DID NOT!” And where does that get us? Back on the 4-square court in the playground.
So what you get is the repeat of: “They have no new ideas!” “They don’t have a plan!” And, then, when someone comes up with a plan it’s either: “Oh, that’s old.” or “That won’t work.” or “That isn’t a plan that’s feasible.”
Let’s look at this logically. If, IF, the GOP has a plan and it is in place and moving forward daily (though one politician had the utter stupidity to say that Bush HAS a plan to win the war, but it’s a big ol’ secret that he’s not tellin’!) then where is that getting us? This “We’ll stand down when they stand up.” Plan isn’t a plan! It’s a F**KING SLOGAN! Like: “We bring good things to light!” and “I’m loving it!” If the Iraq war was a product, that would be the pitch. What kind of plan is that? HOW are they standing up? WHAT are we doing to facilitate that? WHEN are they going to stand up? But each day, while we’re waiting for them to stand up, more people are killed, more people are tortured, more blood in the streets, more body bags home. Yeah, great plan.
Now, lets put this in similar terms. Let’s say you’re driving somewhere. You have your mapquest (the plan) and you’re on the road and you decide to turn off and stop at a small park or something. You realize as you’re driving farther off your beaten path that you are, well, lost. What do you do? Do you “stay the course?” (as this administration likes to say) What would “staying the course” get you? Well, first, it gets you MORE lost, wastes more gas, wastes more time and takes you completely the OPPOSITE way of where you’re wanting to go. Now, you could get lucky and somehow, SOMEWAY, come across a highway that directs you, sorta, in the way you want to go – but you’ve still gone way out of your way to no where and wasted time, energy, money and patience getting there. Is “staying the course” a plan?
Now, let’s reverse that: “Gosh, looks like I took the wrong turn. Golly! I’ll have to turn around and go back.” (OOOOPS, that’s the “cutting and running” part – GOP doesn’t want you to “cut and run” – they want you to “stay the course”) But you go back, you don’t waste time, you don’t waste energy, you don’t waste money, bodies, resources and you re-evaluate your plan and THEN you get on the right road and you move forward to your goal. I’m still trying to figure out how this is a BAD thing?
Simply put, I look at the Iraq war as a sinking ship. The ship is sinking. You have two choices. Get off the ship and live. Go down with the ship and die. As Bush continues to parade around like some pompous doofus, he’s the Captain of the ship who refuses to acknowledge that, well, the ship is sinking. Now, getting off the ship and living, that might be a good thing. And, guess what, maybe even getting off the ship may relieve enough weight to get the ship back up and floating and allow others to live – but the GOP have a plan and that’s “Stay the Course!” Whatever that is. “Stand down when they stand up.” Whatever that is.
The GOP have made a choice, even if it’s not a choice at all. And people are dying because of it. Some plan.
