Posted on 05/19/2002 2:43:31 AM PDT by 2Trievers
ALONE IN his bedroom on a dark and stormy night, the politician was putting the finishing touches on his fund-raising speech when the devil appeared before him. "Worry not," the devil said. "I will make sure that your party raises more money than it ever has before. And I will make sure that they control Congress in November and win the White House in 2004. But in return, you must sell me your soul. You must betray your own most decent instincts. You must pander, trivialize, deceive and even exploit the deaths of your own fellow citizens." "So?" the politician said. "What's the catch?" I was reminded of that old joke (a similar version of which I used to begin a book I wrote a few years ago) when thinking about the huge fuss President Bush caused last week when he allowed congressional Republicans to use as a fund-raising tool a picture of him talking on the telephone with Vice President Cheney on Sept. 11. The National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Campaign Committee are offering that picture and two other non-Sept. 11 pictures for a $150 contribution. What's the big deal? Well, the picture showed Bush talking to Cheney at a moment when, as ABC News bluntly put it, "thousands of people lay trapped in the rubble of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11." Democrats were even less kind. Democratic National Committee Chair Terry McAuliffe said using the photo was "grotesque" and, "We know it's the Republicans' strategy to use the war for political gain, but I would hope that even the most cynical partisan operative would have cowered at the notion of exploiting the Sept. 11 tragedy in this way." Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., who almost certainly will run for President in 2004, said: "It's troubling to think that anyone would try to use the events of Sept. 11 as a partisan fund-raising tool. This is one Republican fund-raising scheme that remains inappropriate under any time or circumstance." House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., who also will probably run for President, said, "It is a disappointment because we cannot break into partisan fighting about the war on terrorism." Even Al Gore, who will run for President if he can find anyone who cares, found time to issue an actual press release, saying: "While most pictures are worth a thousand words, a photo that seeks to capitalize on one of the most tragic moments in our nation's history is worth only one — disgraceful. . . I cannot imagine that the families of those who lost their lives on Sept. 11 condone this, and neither should the president of the United States." Gosh, I haven't heard and seen such screeching and tearing of hair over fund raising since. . . well, since Bill Clinton and Al Gore sold the Lincoln Bedroom, made phone calls from the West Wing shaking businesspeople down for dough and raised illegal funds at a Buddhist Temple in California. I don't say that the Democrats must have clean hands before they can criticize the Republicans (though that would help), but how terrible, how "grotesque," how exploitive is that picture really? It's not like Bush is selling off parts of the flag that flew at the World Trade Center or selling off chunks of dirt from Ground Zero. The picture had already been released to the media and has appeared many times in print. Bad taste? Maybe. A lot of politics is, especially when it comes to raising money. But "grotesque?" C'mon. On the day the story broke, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer held his regular press briefing. To question after question, Fleischer replied that the pictures merely showed "the president doing his job for the American people" and that the President had no problems with the Republicans using them as a fund-raising tool. The questioning went on until Fleischer lost his cool a little. "I think the Democrats are having a very difficult time coming to grips with the fact that this is a very popular President," he said. "And I think that what they do is they take some of the items that lend themselves to the President's popularity, and they try to lash out without any solid basis about it. And that's Washington." President Bush, himself, has not made any statements about the pictures. I suspect he would like to forget the whole matter. But if he is asked about it, I suppose he can always say the devil made him do it. Roger Simon is a political correspondent with U.S. News and World Report.
Dems angry jealous over GOP using 9-11 photo for at fundraiser
I know what you mean AR ... &;-)
After recent Supreme Court decisions, the Dems are free to sell those photos, as long as the doners state in writig that they are over 18, not easily offended, and want them delivered in a plain brown wrapper.
Congressman Billybob
No wonder they dont like Bush ..he sure makes their guy...look
well.....pretty much like he is...
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