Just an idea here

There are times I wonder if anyone in the Democratic Party has an IQ above room temperature. Reading about Cindy Sheehan, the woman who is waiting outside Bush’s fake ranch as a protest to the war, confirms that in quite a few ways, so let me, as a simple little gadfly, give any Democrat who might happen to read this somewhere some advice:

America loves soldiers. We do. It’s probably somewhere in our DNA, but for some reason, we tend to love our hired killers, and think of them as automatic heroes, even if, for the most part, they either join the military because someone in their family told them to, they couldn’t find a decent job, or they need the personal power. Let’s face it, what other job can a 16 year old sign up for where everyone calls you a hero just for signing a piece of paper?

If you are running for office, you need to understand that. Even if you know that most of the people in your district signed up because they weren’t quite smart enough to get a job loading shelves at Wal-Mart, the minute they put on a uniform and go through basic training, they transform from “Wade, the fucking bully who someone needs to knock the shit out of” to “Wade, the man who is willing to die for our freedom.” So, every chance you get to be around a soldier, do so. The Republicans do. They don’t enter the military, they don’t let their kids enter the military, and they don’t much do anything for the military, but because they show up, everyone thinks Republican = National Defense and Love Of Soldiers.

Now, anyone who is paying attention knows that this is bullshit. No, no fancy metaphors or cute phases to make the truth go down a bit easier. Just a simple fact. It’s bullshit. And the longer the Democrats allow the public to believe this bullshit, the harder it will be for us to have anyone but Evangelical corporate whores running the US to the bottom of every “quality of life” list that there is.

Since Bush got into office, he’s been cutting away at Soldier benefits, uses the National Guard as much as he can so that we can pay them less and dump their medical benefits as soon as possible, and hasn’t shown up at a single soldier’s funeral. The Republicans have made it a crime to photograph the returning flag draped coffins, not allowing us to honor the fallen, do their best to hide the figures, and try to stop anyone who mentions who and how many have died (just ask Ted Koppel).

And not a single Democrat has done either jack or shit to capitalize on this. If the situation were reversed, whoever the Democrat in office was would be subject to endless calls that he attend funerals, ads would be running on every market that had lost a soldier giving his name and asking people to “Call the White House. Tell The President To Honor Our Soldier’s Sacrifice.” The right-wing yap dogs would have the marching orders to hammer on the cuts in military benefits every single day, and offer amendments to bills they KNOW will fail so that they can run ads where “Representative So And So voted against giving our soldiers medical coverage for the injuries they got in THEIR war.”

When I turn on my TV, I don’t see a single ad. I rarely hear the Liberals in the media bring any of this up. I only see whatever Republican Fathead was able to get a camera to pay attention to him speaking to cheering soldiers, or having a backdrop of people in uniforms.

So. I think that they first Democrat who starts running ads that mention Republican Senator So and So voted to cut Veterans benefits, goes to Army bases and promises soldiers that if they are elected they will have medical coverage for life, and flies about the country talking to families and attending funerals will win.

Is it a shallow was of looking at things?

Damn skippy it is. People are busy and their knowledge of politics is shallow. They have jobs, kids, bills, three CSI series and four Law and Order series to watch. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to pick apart nuance and understand shades of gray.

Will it work?

Don’t know. But right now, Bush’s approval ratings are tanking because of his bullshit way of fighting the war in Iraq and trying to keep it as a war with no American consequences. If someone were to actually SHOW the consequences, I would imagine there’ a better opportunity of change than if the Democrats continue doing what they are doing…which is either nothing or cowering in fear.