Analysis: Republicans Worry Firings Flap Is Distracting From Their Message, Hurting Bush

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

Analysis: Republicans Worry Firings Flap Is Distracting From Their Message, Hurting Bush

03-28-2007 4:09 PM
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (Associated Press) -- Republicans say the flap over firing U.S. attorneys is muddling their message and damaging President Bush.

Instead of trumpeting their criticisms that Democrats are meddling in Iraq strategy and raising taxes, GOP lawmakers find themselves fielding questions about embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. They put a hefty share of the blame on the White House for flubbing its response to the firings.

"It's a distraction _ there's no question about that. It steps on our message for sure," said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.


U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, center, listens to Ernie Allen, left, president and CEO, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, as he takes part in a roundtable discussion regarding Project Safe Childhood Wednesday, March 28, 2007 in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

"If they had gotten out and started leaning forward on it right away it might have been helpful, because it would have stopped some of the momentum," Thune said of Bush's team.

Read more: http://omaha.cox.net/cci/newsnational/national?_mode=view&_state=maximized&view=article&id=D8O5DJMG0&_action=validatearticle

[Sapere aude]

1. I guess the didn't tell the right lie in the first place. Maybe a bigger whopper would have stoppe

the investigations. How about, "the devil made me do it."

[L. Coyote]

13. FELONS like Abramoff linked in e-mails does not help. Much more here

Email-Gate FACTS: Felons, georgewbush.com, gwb43.com , et. al.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x523978

[19jet54]

44. What lie?

... they should not have done the illegal stuff in the first place. They are just 7 year old kids now trying to lie their way out of trouble, while their hand is in the 'cookie jar' - like monkeys, they just won't let go of the cookie :shrug: Curious George only wants to fight with everybody, everywhere - Bad Monkey!!!!!

[calimary]

54. Welcome to DU!

Yeah. Maybe they shouldn't have tried to pull this shit to begin with, 'eh? But, but, but, we just HAD to have those cookies... They were meant strictly for us, anyway, weren't they?

[DURHAM D]

2. Even if they could get their message out - no one cares anymore. n/t

[displacedtexan]

3. There's only one thing left to do...

[iconoclastic cat]

4. impeach? nt

[displacedtexan]

6. Just appropriate accompaniment while Repubs whine.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[PegDAC]

31. The violin

needs to be much smaller!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

38. ...and not a cello

;-)

[Lance_Boyle]

51. ain't no cello,

it's one of them there floor fiddles! :P

[GoddessOfGuinness]

57. One of the ones with the

boil lancers on the end... :rofl:

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Republicans have a MESSAGE ?? Like what ??

"Fuck you if you aren't us"? Do they really live by any other principle?

[ixion]

10. my thoughts exactly

[athena]

32. That was my reaction as well. (n/t)

[melody]

43. Exactly what I was going to say

Their "message" seems to be getting through loud and clear -- their real message anyway.

[brooklynite]

7. Uh, what exactly IS their message?

It didn't seem to work too well back in November...

[DRoseDARs]

24. Uh, "Hey, look at us! We're total fuckups; everything we touch turns to shit! Vote for us please!"

Who bloody knows what The Great Republican Message is?

[Frank Cannon]

45. My question exactly. WTF is their message?

:shrug:

[wordpix]

62. message is One World Order under BushCo & multinationals to create more wealth for super

wealthy and their honcho underlings, by controlling ownership of all oil sources and other natural resources.

It's plain to see. :eyes:

[Webster Green]

8. Awww...

[Lone_Star_Dem]

9. Translation: Turn out the lights, the parties over.

Republicans worry the the truth coming out over the firing of U.S. attorneys is exposing their message as false and could impair future cover ups planned by President Bush.

[DCKit]

11. How do you know a Repuke is lying?

Bwahahahahahaha

[BootinUp]

12. The look on Gonzales face...

"why the f am I here...this guy's an a--hole"

[wordpix]

63. "I'll keep on lying because my BushCo buddies will pardon me, no matter what"

:puke: :grr:

[Demeter]

14. The Message Is Coming Out Loud and Clear: CORRUPTION IS ALL

The coverup, however, is going very badly....(heeeheeeheee)

[Bjorn Against]

15. Shouldn't they want to distract people from their message?

After all the more people learn about their message the less they like it.

[Megahurtz]

16. Their "Message"???

They're sending out a pretty shitty message if you ask me.

[Xipe Totec]

33. The message is: the Elephant is about to crash and burn

[truthisfreedom]

17. You poor, poor guys. And to think that you've only just descended the first few steps into hell.

Just wait till this stuff really revs up, thugs. You're going to wish you NEVER got into politics. Scumbags.

[gratuitous]

18. The message I'm getting loudly and clearly

Is the same message you've been blaring at me for years: Republicans are a corrupt bunch of outlaw motherfuckers who make the Mafia look like pikers by comparison.

Can't see how the "flap" over the subversion of the Department of Justice does anything to "muddle" that message. It's still as plain as plain can be. Were you trying for a new message? Here's my suggestion, free of charge: Call out the corrupt and the crooks from your own party; join the Democrats in trying to bring back some semblance of fairness to government (that whole "of the people, by the people, for the people" thing), and quit being such mean little petty tyrants.

[Straight Shooter]

19. So, the problem isn't the crime; the problem is their incompetent cover-up?

Is that all they have to say for themselves, that they didn't mount a sufficiently belligerent defense?

They still refuse to accept responsibility for their actions. Unreal.

[wordpix]

64. absolutely---that's been Scooter's message & Sampson's

[yellowcanine]

20. "Steps on their message"??? Err, what message? "The Democrats are being mean to us"?

I'm sorry Senator. That's not a message. That's whining.

[richabk]

21. Hurting Bush?

Isn't that like vandalizing a junk yard?

:shrug:

[SlowDownFast]

22. Good.

Now let's kick 'em in the teeth a bunch while they're down, using every Truth as our steel-toed boot.

Let's make this the end of the Republican Party as we know it.

Funny thing is, they did it to themselves.

This is a metaphysical karmic law - the truth will make itself known, and liars and thieves and bullys will eventually get what punishment they deserve.

Most times, justice doesn't happen on the timescale we hope for, but it happens nonetheless.

;-)

[MODemocrat]

23. The repubs have a message?

You'd never know it. How would this Gonzales flap keep them from getting their message out,even if they did have one? Flapping their gums is what they do the best.
:silly: :silly: :silly:

[rocktivity]

25. Candidate for this month's "You Call This NEWS?" award

As for the Rethugs' "message," rest assured that it's coming through loud and clear:

"WE ARE STILL RETHUGS!!!"

:rofl:
rocknation

[rodeodance]

26. what a bunch of whinners!

[NewJeffCT]

27. So, the Obstruction of Justice scandal is distracting them from raping & pillaging?

Or, maybe how Surge Mark V is just a smashing success?

[wordpix]

65. don't forget stealing elections in your synopsis

[Cha]

28. Fetch me that tiny

violin! :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

The toxichimp and the albatross! Who could have predicted that?! When gonza was busy defending their WIRETAPS?

[jamesinca]

29. Very telling comments by Sen. Thune

I hope the Democratic congress understands what happens when you play defense all of the time. "Instead of trumpeting their criticisms that Democrats are meddling in Iraq strategy and raising taxes, GOP lawmakers find themselves fielding questions about embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales."

[PegDAC]

30. Awwwww...

Poor.Freakin'.Baby.


:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[knight_of_the_star]

34. Somebody call the waaaaambulance

It sounds like the Pugs need an emergency operation stat!

[sutz12]

35. Actually...

I think it is highlighting and framing their message quite accurately and clearly.

:evilgrin:

[KansDem]

36. When all else fails, guys...

Get bigger American flag lapel pins.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

37. It is pathetic if you have to rely on Thune to get your spin out...

... I wonder if Jeff Gannon/James Guckert is still working for John.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

39. I am so very tired of politicians who are more concerned with how things look

than how things are. :(

[daleo]

40. What's their message?

War, death, terror, incompetence, deficits...

[w4rma]

41. Republicans are still only worried about the PR, not the crimes. (nt)

[wordpix]

66. that's hitting it on the head---the PR's not going well but our policies are great---not

:sarcasm:

[TankLV]

42. AGAIN - their first thoughtsis to what damage it will do the PARTY - NO concern for Our COUNTRY!

Fucking nazi's!

[wordpix]

67. my partner & I are creating a skit based on this very idea

[rodeodance]

46. Their "messages" are citicisms of dems--lookie here:

Instead of trumpeting their criticisms that Democrats are meddling in Iraq strategy and raising taxes, GOP lawmakers find themselves fielding questions about embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. They put a hefty share of the blame on the White House for flubbing its response to the firings.

[wordpix]

68. "blame on WH for flubbing its response to the firings"---how about for DOING the firings?

It looks like all of BushCo, not just Sampson and Gonzo, are about to deny they were responsible for the firings so I guess the AG's must've just fired themselves in the middle of corruption cases, etc. :crazy:

[Peace Patriot]

47. The Republicon "message" has been an artificial thing all along--

concocted by fascist "think tanks" and the war profiteering corporate news monopolies as a plausible narrative for stolen elections. They have never wanted to convince us of anything. They have only wanted to FOOL us into believing that we are not the majority, long enough to steal us blind.

It has been a massive con game.

The great progressive American majority is still here. It has never been not here. It is us--the believers in democracy and social justice and a peaceful world. And if you pay attention to opinion and issue polls, from a broad range of sources, on a broad range of issues, over several years time--as well as other indicators--you find overwhelming evidence that this is true. My two favorite stats are these: 56% of the American people opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, Feb. '03, before the invasion, and before Colin Powell's 100% pack of lies to the UN was fully exposed. They didn't trust Bush, and didn't see the need for a war, way back then. And, 63% of the American people oppose torture "under any circumstances" (May '04).

You will find many stats like this--in fact, an overwhelming case for the progressive values and common sense of the great majority of Americans.

The Republicon "message" of fear (gimme your money), militarism (gimme your money), "family values" (gimme you money), "God and country" (gimme your money). intolerance (gimme your money), hatred (gimme your money), kill for corporate oil (gimme your money and your life), deteriorates, like the "wicked witch of the west," with just a splash of water, and melts into nothing. All it means is GIMME YOUR MONEY. There is nothing else there. It is an artificial concoction of the least democratic and the least beneficial ideas ever promulgated by the strangest people among us, and the rich fascist powermongers among us: pro-war, anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-gay, Jesus used as an ikon for killing and torturing Arabs, the president as bully and emperor, and on and on.

My favorite of all of them is one touted by the rightwing 'christian' Chalcedon foundation: the death penalty for homosexuals. Now you may consider this to be truly strange, obsessive and anti-democratic. And it is. But get this: The same rightwing billionaire who gave a million dollars to the Chalcedon foundation was ALSO the initial funder for the electronic voting corporation ES&S, brethren to Diebold. These two corporations "counted" 80% of the votes in 2004, using electronic voting machines and central tabulators that had been fast-tracked across the country by a $3.9 billion e-voting boondoggle appropriated by the Anthrax Congress, and engineered by Tom Delay and Bob Ney (abetted by corporatist/war Democrats like Christopher Dodd). Voting machines and central tabulators run on 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY programming code, owned and controlled by these Bushcon corporations, with virtually no audit/recount controls.

That's how this weirdness has been infused into our political system, and made to look "mainstream." But it never was the mainstream of the American people, and never will be. The mainstream of the American people is tolerance, fairness and justice. Ask almost anybody--except this weird minority of monarchists and haters, who have been with us since the 5th century (when the real Christian movement--which was communal and egalitarian--went way wrong). They are always angling for power over the rest of us, and when they get allies like the current Global Corporate Predators who have seized the White House, with its military and police powers, they can be extremely dangerous. These are the people who burn witches at the stake, who rule by torture and repression, and who send tens of thousands off to rape and pillage the length of Europe in the name of Christ, to "liberate" Jerusalem. They are a minority. And they will never be anything else. They cannot gain power in a free society except by corruption, deception and collusion.

And they are not "conservative." They are extreme fascist radicals. The death penalty for homosexuals. I kid you not. That's the sort of people who have been "counting" our votes under a veil of corporate secrecy.

The Republicon "message" is merely a feasible-sounding narrative--which draws upon these horrid tendencies of a tiny minority--to cover up massive theft of money and power. It may USE the psychotic energy of the few "true believers"--to spice up the narrative, and scare the piss out of the rest of us--but it is, essentially, an empty sack. George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales and their "pod people" in Congress, and their pals at Exxon-Mobile and Halliburton, and the five rightwing billionaire CEOs who now control all our public airwaves and newspapers, have only one belief--their belief in money, and their "right" to have it all. Scratch the surface, and that is their entire "message." Shine just a bit of light on them, and it becomes very apparent why it is so hard to "sell."

[The Wizard]

48. Their underlying message since

Nixon's Souther Strategy has been keeping the coloreds in their right place masked as "Law and Order." Slavery masked as "Traditional Values." The "War on Terror" is a cover for treasury looting.
Liberal is code for Jew. Elitist is code for critical thinkers. Their code is simple. If you're a bigot, vote republican.
By appealing to the worst fears and lowest instincts, they look like the right choice to the primitive mind.
Apparently they didn't get the message last November. It was "thanks, we've heard enough, now go away."
And if the corporate media didn't get our message yet they can eat shit and bark at the moon.

[Vidar]

49. They should be grateful for distraction. Bush's only message is death & despair.

[Orsino]

50. Automobiles are hurting buggy sales, too. n/t

[BigDDem]

52. Uh, lets see, what message is that?

The party of small government
WE SUPPORT THE TROOPS
GOP - We're moral 'n stuff

So many messages, so many lies.

[The_Casual_Observer]

53. If this distracts them from starting another war or giving away more

money to billionaires or destroying social programs then keep distracting!

[ElboRuum]

55. Which message is that?

The one where we get Universal Hand Gesture of Complete Contempt(TM)?

[librechik]

56. to paraphrase Leahy: "Worried? They should be terrified!"

the American People have awoken to the carpetbagger shenannigans the Loyal Bushies have put over on us for years. They will not be fooled easily again.

[Corgigal]

58. Hurting Bush ?

They claim to care about hurting Bush? Interesting, because he doesn't give a damn if he destroys the Republican party to include your careers. Wake up kiddies.

[alarimer]

59. An unconstitutional power grab is not a "flap"

It should hurt the president; it is an impeachable offense.

[samsingh]

60. what a laugh - bush is too damaged and corrupt to be repaired

[chervilant]

61. Subtle Languaging?!

Is anyone else out there keeping tabs on how the AP and other media moguls quite skillfully language their articles so as to appear neutral while conveying the most biased information possible? Most salient to me here is the Thune quote--blithely trivializing the US Attorney controversy yet again. No matter HOW the administration had tried to spin this one, nothing would have stopped it getting out. This morass is deeper and more foul than most of us knew until Sampson began to sing. What an intriguing song that little canary is singing...

[bearfan454]

69. no shit nt