On Helen Thomas and Karl Rove

Helen Thomas asks

Are the Democrats going to be such easy prey again, neutralized by phony wedge issues and neglectful of the real issue, which is the administration's flagrant use of falsehoods to justify a war of choice?

Ed Walker responds

Rove and Helen share more of a perspective than I thought they would. He understands her points completely. Today, the roll-up of what appears to be a hapless group who could not afford shoes, camera memory cards or a plane ticket to Chicago. Tomorrow? We will certainly see there is more to come until elections. The in-our-face lie is elegantly simple. Cheney in Chicago is so obvious it will most likely work again. It does not matter, I fear, that it all appears so obviously staged. The gut reaction of "we got them this time before they could hurt you and your loved ones" will be what is recalled by most. I assume that the Fox crowd is premptively attacking the spineless fools who will, again, not grasp the mortal danger we constantly face from all possible sources of threat. As Satan's Prince says, "it is not the quality of our analysis but our response to any possible threat." They are good at this.

Their unrestrained brashness recalls a scene in a Dallas episode where J.R. Ewing was dining with someone whose reputation, career, marriage and finacial security he had destroyed in order to remove him as a potential obstacle to a business venture's success. When the victim asked in choked voice, "How could you do this to someone who posed no real threat to you or your family...how can you live with yourself?" JR replies, as he raises a bottle of very expensive wine, "It not as hard as you seem to think. Once you get beyond integrity, the rest is a piece of cake. More wine?"

This is only the opening volley. "Home-grown terrorist" is now already in place in case there is a troop reduction sufficient to soften the public mood about Iraq. And, it is better than the color coded alerts that were effective for awhile.

I first met Ed Walker over thirty years ago, when he was a student at Sonoma State College (CA). A Vietnam-era vet, Ed is a shrewd and articulate observor of the political scene.