Apr 30 2006
Republicans Talk Big Game About Alternative Fuels for Photo-ops, But Fail to Walk the Blocks Back to Capital Hill
This picture and it’s caption from the AP are the quintessential illustration of the fact that Republicans care more about looking good for photo ops than they do about any real issues:
“House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Ill., center, gets out of a Hydrogen Alternative Fueled automobile, left, as he prepares to board his SUV, which uses gasoline, after holding a news conference at a local gas station in Washington, Thursday, April 27, 2006 to discuss the recent rise in gas prices. Hastert and other members of Congress drove off in the Hydrogen-Fueled cars only to switch to their official cars to drive the few blocks back to the U.S. Capitol.” link.
I know I’ve said it a thousand times, but seriously, is there anything at all that Republicans can be honest about these days?
This is pretty blatant, and these guys should have known better. But it’s a little bit absurd to imagine that only Republicans could be capable of exhibiting hypocrisy like this.
Well there’s ‘capable’ of exhibiting this kind of hypocrisy, and then there’s ‘culpable’.
I agree, there is a distinction. If Democrats haven’t been caught doing anything like this it well could be because they’re actually less likely to do so than Republicans. Let’s hope it’s not luck of the draw, because you have to figure Republicans running for reelection this year will be trying to pull up all the dirt they can get on their opponents. I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be pretty ugly this year.
The Dems are culpable - Harry Reid sent out a memo a few weeks ago telling Dems to get photo ops at any local VFW, factory, etc. From the article, “[The memo] calls on lawmakers to stage press events with active duty military personnel, veterans and emergency responders to bash President Bush” (emphasis mine) So, don’t preach how Dems are better than Repubs when it comes to photo ops.
Weird - politicians playing politics. hmmm - imagine that!?
I thought we already covered, several weeks ago, that the word “stage” was a comment inserted by the reporter who did the article. The only mention made in the memo was to have a “stage” present. As in a platform elevated to speak on. The memo by Reid suggested asking veterans, among others, to attend rallies and speak their mind.
This is of course far different than the typical GOP method where veterans and soldiers are ORDERED to be present and given a script to read. The fact that the orders themselves are illegal (military personnel are forbidden from attending political rallies while on duty) matters little to the GOP controllers who smile to their faces while stabbing them in the back (i.e. pay-cuts, involuntary extensions, equipment transfers, cutting retirement benefits, cutting critical areas of the force while outsourcing the same jobs for big $$$, etc.)
This is almost as bad of a staging as the one the pres forced on the people of Gulfport last week. Visiting a volunteer shelter where hundreds of people are still living in cots and in camping tents, the pres requested that the site be cleaned up to present a good appearance of recovery (only accomplished by forcing all of the residents to move their meager possessions into an upstair storage/sleep area, and to temporarily move people and their stuff out of their tents, and moving those too). The worst part of this staging? He also requested to not see anything depressing. I’m not kidding.
So you wanna talk about how bad a staged event can be, then look no further at the party leader (the governor was there, too) and the example he sets. You talk about how bad a memo about how to do a press conference is, but it’s nothing in comparison to forcing people out of their tents (FEMA never showed up in that town, by the way) so that one man doesn’t have to feel bad about things.
Scott, if the GOP wants to bring the issue of ethics or dirty politics, I think that’s a debate the Democrats would be happy to have right now.
Jon, thanks for clarifying on the ’staging’ again.
Do you guys truly believe what you post here?
The better question is that when presented with factual information, why are you the one calling into question what we believe?
I guess I mean …
Do you truly believe that Republicans are evil and Democrats are virtuous?