My, oh my, I’m just aghast. Aghast, I say! Well so is Michael
Kinsley.
Goodness gracious. oh, my paws and whiskers. Some of the meanest, most ornery
hombres around are suddenly feeling faint. Notorious tough guys are swooning
with the vapors. The biggest beasts in the barnyard are all aflutter over
something they read in the New York Times. It’s that ad from MoveOn.org —
the one that calls General David Petraeus, the head of U.S. forces in Iraq,
general betray us. All across the radio spectrum, right-wing shock jocks are
themselves shocked. How could anybody say such a thing? It’s horrifying. It’s
outrageous. It’s disgraceful. It’s just beyond the pale … It’s … oh, my
heavens … say, is it a bit stuffy in here? … I think I’m going to …
Could I have a glass of … oh, dear [thud]. … ..… .. It’s all phony, of course. The war’s backers are obviously delighted
to have this ad from which they can make an issue. They wouldn’t trade it
for a week in Anbar province (a formerly troubled area of Iraq that is now,
thanks to us, an Eden of peace and tranquillity where barely a car bomb disturbs
the perfumed silence — or so they say). These days, mock outrage is
used by every side of every dispute. It’s fair enough to criticize something
your opponent said while secretly thanking your lucky stars that he said it.
The fuss over this MoveOn.org ad is something else: it is the result of a
desperate scavenging for umbrage material. When so many people are clamoring
for a chance to swoon that they each have to take a number and when the landscape
is so littered with folks lying prostrate and pretending to be dead that it
starts to look like the end of a Civil War battle re-enactment, this isn’t
spontaneous mass outrage. This is choreography.(snip)
The Republican front runner, Rudy Giuliani, is another tough guy who has
seized the opportunity to reveal his easily bruised soft side. He is running
TV commercials saying Hillary Clinton “stood by silently” while
MoveOn.org ran its despicable ad. Another way of saying this would be that
she had nothing to do with the ad. But Rudy accuses her of “joining with”
MoveOn.org and “attacking” General Petraeus, although the only evidence
he can muster for this accusation is a clip from Clinton telling the general
at a hearing that his reports of progress in the war “really require
the willing suspension of disbelief.” For this, Giuliani demands an “apology,”
not just to the general but to all American troops in Iraq. He accuses her
of “turning her back” on America’s brave soldiers “just when
our troops need all our support to finish the job.”When we try to untangle this web of accusation and innuendo, Giuliani appears
to be suggesting that it is unacceptable for a Senator to express skepticism
about anything said by a general in uniform. If he believes that, he does
not understand democracy. I am shocked by this. In fact, if Giuliani doesn’t
apologize, and if the other Republican candidates don’t condemn this commercial,
I think I’m going to faint.
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