"From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August."
Andrew H. Card, Jr.
White House Chief of Staff
New York Times - September 7, 2002
President George W Bush had a serious problem. In 2002, he was trying to sell the American people a war against Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein. But despite a wide selection of rationales offered to justify the thing, very few people were buying. When none of his advertising slogans seemed to be working, Bush had no choice but to employ a little old-fashioned puffery.
So the President and his lackeys tweaked the message. They started promoting the idea that Saddam currently possessed significant weapons of mass destruction, poised to strike the United States and Britain. That certainly got people's attention. In fact, it scared the shit out of them. Public opinion quickly swayed in favor of military intervention, and the rest is history.
Since the war, however, millions of Americans have concluded that they are victims of false advertising. None of the fabled WMDs has actually shown up, despite months of intensive searching. Understandably, people feel they were lied to.
Much more of the sales campaign at the link, but the hosting website is really bad:
http://www.rotten.com/library/history/war/wmd/saddam/
The GOP sold the war using WMD with Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein as the bogeymen. They sold the need to continue in Afghanistan and Iraq when Obama was working to get elected in 2008. They continued with the Israeli security issue, sanctioning Egypt and all the countries the Arab Spring were happening in.
They sold the need for bombing Libya after Benghazi, the need to put boots on the ground in Syria to protect us from Al Queda. Their friends in CT-land have sold another version for them, to fight Obama.
They sold the Bergdahl POW story first to get votes and blame Obama. They've sold birther, oath of office disclaimers to this man being in the White House.
Then after all the lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan ostensibly going after Bin Laden, when Obama got him, it didn't matter anymore. But then Bush said the same once the war was in full swing, but he'd been a great marketing tool.
They protested ending the wars in the middle east on one side of their mouth then said he kept it going too long. They denied funding for embassy security, then sold their alternative reality on Benghazi. They've sold the veterans of their wars out time and again in appropriations, with the rest of Americans.
They are nothing but one big disgusting con job. And they've got a lot of people on all sides convinced to buy it. We see it every single day, as they control virtually all venues of media.
What could go wrong for them?
Only people hearing the facts who still have a sense of fair play and decency stand against their lies and con jobs. Only Americans who have not jumped in the cesspool with them and enjoyed it.
Will those who don't buy it go out to vote?
Because their target audience will. This year is crucial to what world we want to live in.
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