Bush's Last Advantage Gone, and a Little Rhetorical Exercise

Interesting crack in the polls: while general approval/disapproval is holding at an average of around 38% for Bush, look at this, the first time a majority disapproves of his performance on his best single issue. Also, the Fox poll "favorable" polls hit a new low for Bush, suggesting a new level of dislike

Front and center Democrats, front and center against terrorism. Hit again and again with the truth - terrorism is usually stopped by effective police work, like, oh I don't know, today, and sufficient resources for effective police work. Below I've worked up a rousing some such bit of shameless rhetoric:

"Instead of funding police and good security, Bush builds up his own power at the expense of democracy. Instead of finding Bin Laden, Bush poured everything into the wrong war. Instead of pushing the bureaucracy hard, he made a clueless and dangerously incompetent new bureaucracy, in his own image, that let Americans on the Gulf Coast die through inattention and inaction.

"We are indeed under attack. We must stop terrorists. But that means we have to find them and arrest them and punish them, and to do that we need more cops and more police resources, and we need the goodwill and cooperation of the world. Republicans thwarted many of these efforts, all in order to shore up a bad war. Republicans would rather indulge their easy fantasies of American military might than do the hard, unglamorous work and compromise it takes to really protect America. That means hiring cops. That means inspecting cargos. That means cooperating with allies rather than dictating to them. That means everyone contributing to this effort rather a bunch of privileged CEOs seeing what they can get out of it. That means winning the hearts and minds of a new generation in the world, not with ill-conceived wars of choice, but with living up to our ideals as a democracy and a great nation, and abiding by our generous, open nature as a people.

Yes, we bring the hunt down on people who would kill for cruel ideology and the diseased pleasure of violence. And we focus on that like a laser. We find Bin laden now, we break Al Qaida, and we use every resource we have, not just our military.

But that's not enough. To be safe, we must help the world feel safe. Our military power can be a critical partner in this struggle, and in the past it has, but military might instills fear in others. Part of the problem has been that we've made a whole region fear us, indiscriminately. The Administration targeted the wrong country, the wrong people. They neglected potential friends, and instead they made brand new enemies. The Administration winked and nodded at the latest war in Lebanon instead of pushing hard and harder for peace from day one. They taught us fear instead of confidence, greed instead of selflessness, division instead of unity, all to elevate themselves above us.

When we fail the interests of peace, when we demean our laws and our Constitution, when people around the world come to think of America as a place that tortures prisoners and locks up thousands without trial, we put ideological ammunition in the hands of terrorists.

America can lead the world to a secure and noble peace. It has done this in the past, and it will do so again when we return to living up to our best instincts as citizens. But under this Administration, our government has been a leader in greed, incompetence and catastrophy. When Americans wanted to help stop terrorism, they told us to shop, and gave Paris Hilton another tax break. And did it again. And again. And people wonder why we don't have enough salaries for good people to man our borders and spot trouble coming.

The difference between effective anti-terrorism and the wrong war is the difference between coming home for dinner with fresh quail, and shooting your lawyer in the face.

It comes to this: Do you feel safer than you did before George W. Bush was put in power? Or do you feel more isolated, less certain, more at the mercy of the government, than one of the people who own the government?

America can be the light of the world again, the shining city on the hill that promises dignity and liberty and freedom, guaranteed rights and unlimited opportunities, the rule of law over the rule of greed and corruption, an unity of pupose of all the people across the world that
want control of their own lives and peace with their neighbors and the brightest future for their children. America can do this. We have done this. But we need citizens in power willing to stand up to the bullying and lying and corruption that erode the respect a great nation is due.

You can say "freedom" all day long without understanding or honoring the principle. Freedom is more than a word. It is a practice. It is free men and women controlling their own lives, and dictating to their freely choosen government, and working together toward the common good that benefits us all. Our enemies quake when we practice our highest ideals, because these, no rocket or bomb or explosion can wound.

Go Seahawks!

ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Aug. 3-6, 2006. N=approx. 500 adults nationwide. Fieldwork by TNS.
						.
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bush is handling the U.S. campaign against terrorism?"
						.
		Approve	Disapprove	Unsure
		%	%	%
	8/3-6/06	47	50	2
	6/22-25/06	51	47	2

T