October 23, 2006
When you want to brag about your success it’s smart to start things off on a high note
I’m a little bit worried about the Republican Party. The predictions for them in November aren’t looking great, their President’s war hasn’t gone so well and his domestic agenda’s stalled too. Sure Our Fine President is going to try to buck up his party with talk of the soaring economy, but record corporate profits, stagnant wages and a widening gap between the rich and poor do not make for happy multitudes.
So, what’s a troubled party with few recent accomplishments to brag about to do? Why return to the back slapping and fear mongering that’s worked so well the last few times of course. This time around, the Senate Republican Policy Committee has issued a 108-page policy paper outlining all the successful effort against terrorism in the last five years.
After a stirring opening graph, the paper jumps right into the table of contents on page one. Then, they jump right into the fun with both feet. Page 2 is map of the United States more than a yard square depicting each state in a color to correspond with the number of Sept. 11 deaths by residents of that state. It’s a cheery way to commemorate people’s tragic end and sure to become the next poster to replace Farrah Fawcett in all the dorm rooms.
The sanctimonious paper continues from there to refute the claims that this was a do-nothing Congress with a list of significant laws passed and actions in the war on terror. Of course creating the Department of Homeland Security sits atop the list despite that department’s poor performance when it counted in the homeland emergency caused by Hurricane Katrina.
There are fun charts showing the sharp increase in border patrol interdictions of undocumented migrant workers since 2001. Sure there’s been a sharp increase the last couple of years with money thrown that way, but what about throwing money at securing our ports and power plants instead of keeping hungry farmers from finding low-paying physically-demanding work.
Page 29 is a wonderful chart outlining the immigration process under the US-Visit program in nothing but pictures. Apparently these visitors arrive via plane or ship, stand in line reading a magazine while the customs agent checks the latest on YouTube, show a passport to the agent before having a pulse rate showdown with the customs agent, getting a picture snapped and then entering the country. Who knew so much could be said about our customs procedures without the benefit of literacy.
The report contains the administration’s success stories in the fight on terrorism, but these successful efforts are listed in cryptic language such as, “In 2003 the U.S. and a partner nation disrupted a plot to attack a tourist site outside the United States.” There’s also a list of terrorists captured and killed, headed by deceased Iraqi guerilla leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, but of course missing Osama bin Laden, because Our Fine President doesn’t think about him so much.
After this there’s lots of detail from various law enforcement and prosecutorial departments lauding their great accomplishments and efforts to make us all safer. Then there’s a handy government organization chart complete with names and lines of command. I might be wrong here, but couldn’t information like that be useful to enemies determined to bring down our nation?
The paper includes the details of how the homeland security money has been spent in each state. Of course that just brings to mind all the terrorist targets on that list showing greater threats and thus more resources allocated to rural Indiana instead of more populous targets like New York.
Another highlight is the list of the ways the Republican Congress addressed the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. They go recommendation by recommendation and address them in the simplest of terms. “Removing terrorist sanctuaries” is addressed via “Control of Afghanistan and Iraq,” but somehow the constant explosions in those areas make me doubt that control. Then there’s “Promote clear American message and moral leadership in the world” which is addressed by the statement “America is perceived as a beacon of free democratic society; programs and resources have been committed to expand this message.” Of course spreading that message is easy and living up to it is hard. Too bad we haven’t been doing much of the later.
After being such a stellar page turner for the first hundred pages, the whole paper comes apart at the end with a series of highlight papers on recent bills including the always sexy closer the latest defense appropriations bill.
Now I’ve belittled a lot of what the Republican Party is touting, and this is not being done because I think they’ve botched every bit of protecting this country. I just think they’ve gone about most of it the wrong way. They’re accomplishments as listed seem like old news and off target. When our intelligence services are saying that global terrorism is worse than it was five years ago, it just seems a little flimsy to be bragging about your record in this area.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I spent the last week in Hamburg, Germany and people here still can’t stop asking Americans what is wrong with our current administration. GWB has become an international whipping boy and the rest of the government has barely achieved the status of a running joke.
This paper only seems to accentuate the tragic comedy that continues to plague our country.