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I wasn’t planning on disrupting what’s meant to be a quiet and meditative day with political invective, but this to me seems to be a big deal. I think that with the gathering Democratic momentum the G.O.P. is playing for higher and higher stakes, hoping that one single rhetorical victory will sway public opinion back to their court. That is, after all, their specialty: they did it with the opposing candidates in the last two presidential elections, and managed for several years to parley the objectives of the Iraq war from one (WMDs) to another (terrorist support) to another (humanitarian) to another (regional stability).
Here is their current tack, and if the popular media is any indication, it would seem to be working: one of CNN’s top stories today was Cheney: Pelosi shows ‘bad behavior’ in Syria. As a friend of mine wrote in an email yesterday: “What I DID see was on CNN, of all places, a picture of Pelosi in a
headscarf with the caption ‘TERRORIST?'”
This is a hypocrisy.
It turns out that the Republicans sent their own delegation (three congressmen) to Syria just days before Pelosi’s trip. You can read about it here. If the Daily Kos is too left for your tastes, the New York Times has finally covered this as well. It should also be noted that Pelosi has not refuted Bush’s foreign policy beyond establishing contact with the Syrians. This is, doubtless, recognized, in the fact that the White House hasn’t spoken out their own delegation, which was formulated along very similar lines. It should finally be noted that some Republicans have shown indignation in Pelosi wearing a headscarf in deference to Islamic custom, yet Laura Bush and Condoleeza Rice have done the same.
I think that this issue is so transparently moot that there is great damage in letting accusations slide by. If any friends or coworkers make derogatory comments about Ms. Pelosi in Syria, please set them straight. And please drop at least a quick line to your local news agency asking to show circumspection in their coverage of politics.
END OF POST.