GOP memo touts new terror attack as way to reverse party's decline

[Caro]

From Doug Thompson at Capitol Hill Blue:

GOP memo touts new terror attack as way to reverse party's decline

A confidential memo circulating among senior Republican leaders suggests that a new attack by terrorists on U.S. soil could reverse the sagging fortunes of President George W. Bush as well as the GOP and "restore his image as a leader of the American people."…

The memo outlines other scenarios, including:

--Capture of Osama bin Laden (or proof that he is dead);

--A drastic turnaround in the economy;

--A "successful resolution" of the Iraq war.

GOP memos no longer talk of “victory” in Iraq but use the term “successful resolution.”

“A successful resolution would be us getting out intact and civil war not breaking out until after the midterm elections,” says one insider…

The losses in Virginia and New Jersey, coupled with a resounding defeat of ballot initiatives backed by GOP governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in California have set off alarm klaxons throughout the demoralized Republican party. Pollsters privately tell GOP leaders that unless they stop the slide they could easily lose control of the House in the 2006 midterm elections and may lose the Senate as well.

“In 30 years of sampling public opinion, I’ve never seen such a freefall in public support,” admits one GOP pollster…

As Republican political strategists scramble to find a message – any message – that will ring true with voters, GOP leaders in Congress admit privately that control of their party by right-wing extremists makes their recovery all but impossible.

“We’ve made our bed with these people,” admits an aide to House Speaker Denny Hastert. “Now it’s the morning after and the hangover hurts like hell.”

Full article

[Skittles]

1. that sick bastard Hastert knows the score

but, HE thinks it hurts? Not half as badly as it hurts for REAL Americans, asshole.

[fooj]

2. Boo Fucking Hoo.

You've made more than your beds...

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[ClintonTyree]

3. Capital Hill Blue is not a reputable source.........

we've gone over this time and again. It's like quoting the Weekly World News. They may get the occasional story right, but even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. Just saying, I wouldn't put too much credence in whatever I read there.

[julianer]

5. In one sense you are right

but in another it just helps catapult the anti-bush propaganda.

Which is good, even if not strictly accurate, IMO.

[calimary]

6. TRUE! Perception is EVERYTHING!

I frankly don't care much if this is true or not, or where it comes from. Besides, at least on the bush-mental-deterioration/hitting-the-bottle beat, Doug Thompson has had at least a few base hits. Maybe he's not reliable a lot of the time, but it seems to me that he was quite correct on that.

And how off-base is this, anyway? After all, this is the same crowd that enabled the PNAC, whose manifesto dreamed of "a new Pearl Harbor" as a device to use to manipulate public consciousness into supporting their Iraq war/Middle East conquest. I don't see this as all that far-fetched. On the other hand, I'd bet good hard money that there has been exactly this kind of chatter in GOP back rooms - perhaps in the "if only..." or "it'd be like the 'good old 9/11 days'..." Wouldn't surprise me at all if some people weren't at least thinking about it (not that they would, or would be able to, do anything about it. Unless, of course, cheney's thinking about it. I shudder to think whose phone numbers he has in his private rolodex.

I think it's in our best interests to bring this up - in an "innocent" way - an "I'm just saying..." kind of way. It would blunt the impact if something ever DID happen, by planting seeds of suspicion ahead of time. If you just help people connect the dots, and you sow the seeds of suspicion, reasonable doubt, a "little" knowledge, you've headed the bad guys off at the pass. The best defense is a good offense. If they can do it, WE can, too.

[BR_Parkway]

4. No Hastert, it's like Herpes - it sticks with you the rest of your life!

we're going to make sure that no one ever forgets where you people took this country and all who had to suffer so you could get rich, get re-elected and make all your cronies wealthy.

[Catfight]

7. Why would they need a drastic turnaround for a thriving economy?

Bush is sticking to his right wing based, he already claimed his demise.