Compare and Contrast

The political buzz this morning concerns remarks by Karl Rove at a New York Conservative Party address, in which he criticized liberals for a weak and apologetic response to 9/11. Glenn Reynolds  has his usual great collection of links, and this comment:

SOMETIMES I WONDER if Karl Rove is as smart as everyone says.  But just as the Durbin affair was dying down, he makes a comment about liberals and the war that leads Democrats -- itching for payback -- to angrily demand his resignation.

Trouble is, those demands just provide an excuse for Republicans to repeat every single stupid or unpatriotic thing that every Democratic politician ever said. And there are a lot of those. Examples can be found here, and here, and here.  And, of course, there's this.  And because the usual suspects in the media could be expected to pick up on the Rove story much faster than the Durbin story (as they did) now there's a news hook.

As the Post did.  Sen. Dick Durbin evoked Nazi Germany to describe U.S. practices at Guantanamo on Tuesday, June 14, and the Post waited until that Friday before burying a seven-graf squib on A11.  As the clamor grew, coverage declined, with nothing for another two days until an even smaller five-graf item ran on A6 that Sunday. The story didn't get any kind of front-page treatment--an A6 story teased on A1-- until Wednesday, June 22, after Durbin made his final Technicolor apology.

Rove made his comments on Wednesday night, normally too late to appear in Thursday's edition, so Democrats' call for Rove to apologize got an express train to the front page today in Democrats Call for Rove To Apologize.

All exactly according to plan--either Rove's, or the Post's.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit hordes! And thanks to Glenn.

(Noting that "horde" is a compliment )

Comments

[mmmIdiot]

What's your point? They are entirely different stories... even I can see that. On the one hand a senator reads from an FBI e-mail and says that these things bring to mind things that you heard from Nazis/Communists (not at all the same as calling the troops Nazis). Not a particularly clear anyway as, arguably, one could read a prison regiment and say that these are the things we expect from 3rd world dictatorships. It's a difference of degree of course.

Or, on the other hand, Karl Rove a government employee telling half the country they just want troops dead. And then, the administration standing behind him.

Those are two stories are newsworthy in entirely different ways.

[Bugz]

Half the country? I thought Rove's comment was directed at Liberals. Every Democrat I know has been backpedaling away from the 'L' word ever since Mondale and Dukakis demonstrated that Liberals are unelectable at national levels.

So Democrats are Liberals after all. Who knew?

[TallDave]

Honestly, I think Rove did this deliberately knowing the Dems were aching for a distraction from Dean and Durbin. And the Dems went for it hook, line, and sinker.

Now the GOP gets to ask the question: What DID liberals say after 9/11? And the answer is:

We, The Undersigned, Citizens And Residents Of The United States Of America … Appeal To The President Of The United States, George W. Bush … And To All Leaders Internationally To Use Moderation And Restraint In Responding To The Recent Terrorist Attacks Against The United States.” (MoveOn.Org Website, “MoveOn Peace,” http://web.archive.org/web/20021...g/ petition.php3, Posted 9/13/01, Accessed 6/23/05)

• “We Implore The Powers That Be To Use, Wherever Possible, International Judicial Institutions And International Human Rights Law To Bring To Justice Those Responsible For The Attacks, Rather Than The Instruments Of War, Violence Or Destruction.” (MoveOn.Org Website, “MoveOn Peace,” http://web.archive.org/web/20021...g/ petition.php3, Posted 9/13/01, Accessed 6/23/05)

Just After 9/11, Liberal Filmmaker Michael Moore Derided “Terror And Bloodshed” Committed By Americans. (David Brooks, Op-Ed, “All Hail Moore,” The New York Times, 6/26/04)

• Just After 9/11, Moore Blamed America’s “Taxpayer-Funded Terrorism” And Bush Administration For Terrorist Attacks. “We abhor terrorism – unless we’re the ones doing the terrorizing. We paid and trained and armed a group of terrorists in Nicaragua in the 1980s who killed over 30,000 civilians. That was OUR work. You and me.…Let’s mourn, let’s grieve, and when it’s appropriate let’s examine our contribution to the unsafe world we live in.” (Michael Moore Website Archive, “Death, Downtown,” Posted 9/12/01, www.michaelmoore.com, Accessed 7/27/04)

• Michael Moore Said U.S. Should Not Have Removed Taliban After 9/11. Moore: “Likewise, to bomb Afghanistan – I mean, I’ve never understood this, Tim.” (CNBC’s “Tim Russert,” 10/19/02)

Liberal Donor George Soros Claimed America Should Have Treated 9/11 Attacks As Crime, Responded With Police Work. “War is a false and misleading metaphor in the context of combating terrorism. Treating the attacks of September 11 as crimes against humanity would have been more appropriate. Crimes require police work, not military action. To protect against terrorism, you need precautionary measures, awareness, and intelligence gathering – all of which ultimately depend on the support of the populations among which terrorists operate. Imagine for a moment that September 11 had been treated as a crime. We would have pursued Bin Laden in Afghanistan, but we would not have invaded Iraq. Nor would we have our military struggling to perform police work in full combat gear and getting killed in the process.” (George Soros, The Bubble Of American Supremacy, 2004, p. 1

• Soros Said The Execution Of 9/11 Attacks “Could Not Have Been More Spectacular.” “Admittedly, the terrorist attack was a historic event in its own right. Hijacking fully loaded airplanes and using them as suicide bombs was an audacious idea, and the execution could not have been more spectacular.” (George Soros, The Bubble Of American Supremacy, 2004, p. 2)

• Soros Said War On Terror Had Claimed More Innocent Victims Than 9/11 Attack Itself. “This is a very tough thing to say, but the fact is, that the war on terror as conducted by this administration, has claimed more innocent victims that the original attack itself.” (George Soros, Remarks At Take Back America Conference, Washington, DC, 6/3/04)

Ouch.

But there's more! Democrats themselves had this to say:

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), 10/1/01, Roll Call: "I truly believe if we had a Department of Peace, we could have seen [9/11] coming."

Al Sharpton, 12/1/02, New York Times, on the 9/11 attacks: "America is beginning to reap what it has sown."

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, 3/1/2003, Toledo Blade: "One could say that Osama bin Laden and these non-nation-state fighters with religious purpose are very similar to those kind of atypical revolutionaries that helped cast off the British crown."

You gotta admire Rove, he knows how to pick his fights.

[Jim O'Sullivan]

mmmIdiot:

Half of our population consists of self-described liberals? I think not. And reminding liberals said that those responsible for 9/11 should be "brought to justice", i.e., indicted, is exactly what liberals did. That is, in your mind, telling them that they just want troops dead?

[Peter]

I was a democrat until the last election. I voted Democrat in every election since 1988. I voted for Clinton twice and Gore once.

After 9/11 I could certainly see that the hard left had taken over the soul of the party. I am simply unwilling to tolerate the idea of islamic supremacism in my own homeland.

Voted for Bush this time and was glad to do it.

I'm still a liberal on just about every other issue. I make a fairly good side-income as an artist and a musician. I live in a very liberal place (Washington DC). Strangely enough, there is no room whatsoever at all for me in the Democratic party anymore.

Yeah. Turns out they hate Jews.

[Cooper]

This is directed at mmmidoit. I do beleive this creature is aptly named.

I'm a vietnam veteran and I'm tire of know nothings and idoits commenting on things they have no idea about.

If they had guts they would go see whats going in on the world instead of setting on their butts crying about the Decomrats being out of power. They are truly Amazing

[Pluto's Dad]

half the country?
Even the NYT said last week that Bush enjoys a 54% approval rate for the war on terror. Note that does not mean 46% of the people disapprove. Since 30% are undecided. So only about 26% of this country disapproves of the way the President is handling things. Sorry that's not half.

You are right they are competely different. Rove attacked Democrat leaders, just like Byrd did a few months ago. But Dean attacked the military during a time of war. Much more serious.

[Tom]

mmmIdiot: I'd like you to review what Rove actually said (I believe there is a transcript in the NY Post and if not, it should be on the Whitehouse.gov) and point to me where he said liberal want troops dead. That sounds like a particularly half-assed slanted paraphrasing you pulled off of DU or Kos. What did Rove actually say?

Furthermore, some liberals DID specifically hope for American deaths. I don't have the time to find the quotes, and you wouldn't care if I did, but I recall more than one liberal person or group specifically wish for us to be taught a lesson, for "a million Mogadishus", for Americans to die and lose the war.

If you don't agree with the things your fellow travelers have been saying for the past 4 years, it is long past time to do anything about it. If you agree, then stand up like a man and say it.

[Somethoughts]

I think the reason the media covered Rove's comments faster is because the Democrats called for Rove's head. The action the Democrats took required the coverage, the comments did not.

When Durbin spoke, bloggers were pissed but but the GOP didn't call for him to resign. If someone or some group in authority called for Durbin's resignation, that would be the story. It's not news when a group of people get mad over what people say.

Well, it's not news for anyone but authors of lefty and righty blogs.

[Somethoughts]

Tom: What you're saying - about some minute number of fart-left zealots saying they wanted Americans dead and slathering it on everyone who thinks left - is unfair. More than a few right-wing fanatics said 9/11 was payback for the acceptance of gay lifestyles. But that doesn't mean other righties think that way.

[ICallMasICM]

Half the country's Liberals - in your wildest and I mean wildest dreams. And I missed the part where he said anything about wanting soldiers dead. Now all the Dems gwet to stick up for MoveOn. What a buncha dopes.

[dpt]

There were a few voices after 9/11 stating we must find out why the extremists hate us so much. What have we done as a nation to provoke such a violent reaction?

Do we ask African-Americans to answer, why does the KKK hate you? Do we ask our Jewish neighbors to answer, why do nazis hate you?

The Islamic extremism over the past decades is much broader than the West vs. "Islam", just ask the families of thousands killed by these radicals in Algeria or India.

[Christopher Fotos]

Actually, Somethoughts, it's probably true that "it's not news" for most of the country. I have to be reminded of this every time I drive out of the Greater Washington Metropolitan Dome and worrying about these battles is the last things on most folks' minds.

But it matters to the activists and power brokers, who do seem to have some effect on our lives, so there you go.

Incidentally, I see the long list of self-incriminating Demo/Liberal statements above--I assume that's taken from RNC Chief Ken Mehlman's outline, posted at Hugh Hewitt and elsehwere. I didn't mention this in the original post, but I gather today's front-page story (by Dan Balz) refers to it without quoting it.

(Last graf of Balz's story" "Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said a litany of comments by Democratic elected officials and their liberal allies underscored Rove's point. "It is outrageous," he said, "that the same Democratic leaders who refused to repudiate or criticize Dick Durbin's slandering of our military are now attacking Karl Rove for stating the facts. . . . Karl didn't say the Democratic Party. He said liberals.")

[Dan Hamilton]

It's NOT DURBIN, it's DEAN. I am sick and tired already at the MSM hooking Rove and Durbin. Are they so stupid they can't remember what DEAN has been saying. Dean has been attacking Republicians. Rove attacked Libs. But NO, the MSM doesn't say one word about Dean. Even FOX doesn't talk about Dean. What is wrong with these people.

Ya, I know they are the MSM and by definition they are stupid and can't remember.

[Mr L]

"More than a few right-wing fanatics said 9/11 was payback for the acceptance of gay lifestyles."

Yeah, more than a few -- and a lot less than a many. I think Fallwell or whoever it was was the only national figure to make such statments. If that's the standard, then I can claim the left wing was actively and deliberately colluding with Bin Laden.

The fact of the matter is that immediately after the attacks, the Dems (and prominent members of their base) made some abysmally stupid claims (does anyone remember 'ROOT CAUSES'?). Some of the accountables got the boot for it (e.g. McKinney), some didn't (Dean, Kennedy), but the Dems never actually abandoned wishful-thinking fantasies like having the UN handle it or begging the Taliban to hand over Bin Laden or any of that other nonsense.

The real comedy gold is over at the DU, where they're calling on Rove to resign for this. Durbin gets a pass for his slander, but Rove's got to go for attacking the wingnuts' folly.

[cali white bear]

none of this front page-back page crap should surprise anyone anymore. still, it was a bummer to see KRove's dome and offending quote featured on the front page above the fold of the Saddam Francsico Chronicle. they never even HEARD of musab al durbin, or have reported anything he said in the last month about american GI's being akin to Pol Pot, et al.

Move along, nada to see here.

[LK]

To the keyboards! Find every damn little mention of Durbin and Rove, analayze until the cows come home, and then make your argument. Sounds good to me. Makes me feel better - I am "better" than MSM. I am blogger, here me roar, in numbers too big to ignore. Now I'm going to check the mail, and get into a fresh pair of PJ's.

[Rant Wraith]

Rove baited the liberals (both in the MSM and the Congress) and like the suckers they are they took the bait. Now they are hurting from the hook buried in their cheeks. If the Liberal wings were smart and disciplined they would have let the comments pass. They would have gotten little coverage and be forgotten.

But noooo, the Usual Suspects jump right into the trap and are getting mauled as years worth of embarrassing statements are re-circulated in the blogosphere and the MSM. Sad.

[ChipDWood]

Eh, Rove's a freaking genius. What's new. He throws this out there, like a passerbye throwing a bucket of gasoline into the democratic yard- and they immediately chuck lit matches at it.

Funny how they immediately called for him to resign, just as Rove had intended, as Dean himself has been blasting republican Americans for the past six months yet gets nothing but "aww gee look, crazy Howie at it again" lip-service from the established press. Rove knew it would tempt the arrogance of the power-broking democratic elitists to the boiling point and force their hand in a frantic moment of attempted one-upsmanship & faux-angst post-Durbin weeping-fest. BLAMMO: Clinton, Reid, Schumer, Pelosi, Laughingoutloutenburg, and even John F. Kennery all explode. Little did they realize of course that they'd be seen in this as siding with the likes of MoveOn, Michael Moore, and George Soros- let alone their own fellow Democrats who said the very same thing Rove had simply re-exposed by throwing on their lawn.

More than anything, now they've actually painted themselves into the position of having to defend why they didn't seem upset at all when one of their own likened American troops to Nazis... but shriek like banshees when someone calls they and their stance in this world as it is: PUSSY!

Dude's genius if for no other reason than for opening the door for the democrats to blast off their own tootsies in public.. at their very own calling.

Yeh, the house is burning.

[Go left young man]

Conservatives saw the carnage of 9/11 and said "Hey! let's go knock out the Taliban so al Qaeda can replant the opium fields and ship more heroine over to America and hook a bunch of Americans and then use the profits to build nukes” and then they said “Hold on! Brain storm! We could invade Iraq and create a high tech terrorist training center with real American soldiers as targets.” Then they all held hands and cried out “Hail Lucipher, the evil angel. May his evangelic church bring death to America and the destruction of all life on earth. Welcome the Rapture. Death to America! Death to America!” And then George W. Bush and Karl Rove went and had a tasty lunch.

[Barbara Skolaut]

"Go left young man": Get help.

[Waaahhhh.]

Pretty smart. Now the opposition party is reduced to screaming that they AREN'T a bunch of whining pansies...by crying about how mean Rove is and demanding an apology because he said they were wimps.

Certainly demonstrates manly virtue to me...

[Beldar]

Our host wrote:

All exactly according to plan--either Rove's, or the Post's.

These are not mutually exclusive alternatives. In fact, both may be brilliant plans -- one for the short term, one for the long.

[Ali]

To Go Left:

That's evil for ya, everyone knows the possessed misspell...you can't even spell your master's name right.

Come to the light...all is peaceful in the light.

[Rob Crocker]

Actually, it's even worse when you think about it.

You have Sen. Durbin comparing the troops at Gitmo to Nazis, the Soviet Union, and Pol Pot on the Senate floor. A deafening silence is heard in the papers.

Meanwhile, Mr. Rove makes his comments at a semi-private function and the press is screaming all over the front page ASAP.