Folks,

As the GOP performs its dog and pony show for the nation this week, one must wonder how much of America is actually going to fall for their charade.

“As the Republican convention bears down upon us we are reminded of the age old adage – never judge a book by its cover. A four day festival of moderation is about to launch in New York City, the most “red state” destination in America, and the conservative base that President Bush has pandered to has been asked to exit stage right – off the radar screen, but not out of control. We will not see the real decision makers on television. Like the Great and Powerful Oz, GOP convention planners are hoping that the American people will be so fixated by the image presented on stage that they will never think to look at the right-wing forces behind the curtain, pulling the levers of power.”

- Ann Lewis

Former White House Communications Director and current Director of the Democratic National Committee Women’s Vote Center.

So true. I watched a short summary of the Monday convention proceedings on Fox News. It showed me a GOP I have never, ever seen before. Shot after shot of blacks, hispanics, Log Cabin gays, and women. This is the GOP!?

Where were the hard-right evangelicals? As Truthout’s managing editor Scott Galindez observed:

Despite being ushered to the sidelines during the GOP Convention, evangelicals believe that they, not the moderates on-stage in New York, stand to benefit the most from a second Bush term. According to the Christian Coalition president Roberta Combs, as evangelicals, she says, “We still own the president.”

And…
“We will not see any speakers from ENRON or El Paso Energy who crafted the Bush-Cheney Energy Policy. We will not see any speakers from Halliburton or the Carlyle Group who have become the beneficiaries of the administration’s ‘War on Terror.’”

Where were the racists who run the halls of Congress? They allowed one, Zell Miller, flip flopper nonpareil, to take the stage, but now he’s all dressed up as a Bushy. Today’s Progress Report scooped it:

“Republicans sold us out with a generation of trickle-down economics that blew the deficit sky-high, drove poverty through the roof, and squeezed the middle class like a lemon at a county fair. They gave themselves the goldmine, and they gave the rest of us the shaft.”

- Zell Miller, 2/25/96

VERSUS

“I want to be doing everything I can to help President Bush be re-elected, and Dick Cheney. I think they’re doing a superb job.”

- Zell Miller, 5/15/04

AND

Speaking of Kerry: “one of this nation’s authentic heroes” who “has worked to strengthen our military”

–Zell Miller, 2001

“This is a man that voted against the weapons system that we’re using to fight the war on terror. This is a man who voted against increases in intelligence funding.”

–Zell Miller, Aug. 1, 2004

Again there’s the truth, and the lie. The Republicans think they’ve really pulled one over on you to present Zell Miller as a Democrat. Not so:

“Zell gets divorced, a loyal Democrat no more. The Democratic Party of Chatham County, Georgia, does hereby divorce former Democratic Governor Zell Miller. Statements and actions of the formerly-Democratic U.S. senator have irretrievably broken the bonds that formerly existed between us and we view any previous ties to Miller as null and void.”

Where were those who support Bush’s call for a Constitutional amendment against gay marriage? Why didn’t Cheney mention that he believes it’s an issue for the states to decide? (And am I the only one who hears the chants “Four more years!” and swears that some of them are actually yelling “No more queers!”?)

I wonder how many of those delegates have actually read the Republican Party Platform? If you’re planning to vote for Bush, have you? Are you aware that the platform will:

• Take away a woman’s right to choose.
• Eliminate environmental protections.
• Write discrimination into the Constitution.
• End affirmative action.
• Remove fundamental Constitutional protections.

Cheney’s speech at the convention brays in the background as I type. I hear the crowd chanting “Flip flop! Flip flop! Flip flop!” and am reminded of nothing so much as the sheep in Orwell’s Animal Farm bleating “Four legs good! Two legs baaaaad!”

And here’s another BIG flip flop: After years of denying the reality of global warming, injecting doubt at every turn, and denying and censoring basic science, Bush last week finally acknowledged that it’s real, and that human activities are to blame. See: The Global Warming Flip-Flop

Dubya did another flip-flop so big last week, I’m surprised he didn’t break his back. When asked if the war on terror can be won, he said: “I don’t think you can win it, but I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world.”

–George W. Bush, August 28, 2004

VERSUS

“I have a clear vision and a strategy to win the war on terror.”

–George W. Bush, July 14, 2004

“One of the interesting things people ask me, now that we are asking questions, is, ‘Can you ever win the war on terror?’ Of course you can.”

–George W. Bush, April 13, 2004

It’s hard not to hear these things and feel like your intelligence has been insulted. Do they really believe that they can say whatever is convenient at the moment, regardless of its truth, and get away with it? On second thought, I guess they do–it sure worked with the roulette wheel of justifications for going to war against Iraq. Boy, don’t you feel stupid now?

Oh yes, and let’s not forget the ugly smear campaign of the Swift Boat Veterans. Dubya’s team has claimed that there is no direct connection between him and the Texas-based group of good ol’ boys. Isn’t that a bit like saying there’s no direct connection between the left hand and the right? (The direct connections have since been revealed, in detail. See Not So Swift Boat Veterans.)

Here are a few articles that may help to set you straight about the real Republican party and its platform. The best one is a little polemic by Garrison Keillor. I’d call it a must-read.

We’re Not in Lake Wobegon Anymore

by Garrison Keillor

What You Won’t See at the Republican Convention

by Scott Galindez

Nausea in New York

by William Rivers Pitt

Zig Zag Zell

The Progress Report 9/1/04

President Bush: Flip-Flopper-In-Chief

Progress Report Backgrounder

Don’t be fooled. Underneath the clothing of those sheep bleating “Flip flop!” are wolves. And you, Little Red Riding Voter, are lunch.

–C