Value Judgment: Can We Have a Real Response?

Value Judgment is a daily weblog written by two independent voters on the eastern seaboard of the United States. VJ will focus on the 2004 U.S. Presidential campaigns, including strategy, tactics, and substance. The authors supported Howard Dean in the Democratic primary. Accordingly, his activities will be a prominent topic on this site.

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September 7, 2004

Can We Have a Real Response?

I am beyond outraged that the Vice President has suggested that if you vote for Kerry, the terrorists will kill you. This is outrageous, anti-democratic, and downright unAmerican.

If the Democrats had any sense of proportion or real insight into the incredible damage these neocon savages are doing to our democracy, they would heed the suggestion of this dKos commenter:

An appropriate response would be a request for the Vice-pResident to resign, signed by all Democratic members of the Senate and Congress...excepting Zell Miller. Seriously. This is something that would not be far-fetched in past years. Back when Democrats knew what was at stake and believed in our principles.

For that matter, any reasonable Republican with any sense of patriotism would do the same. There is no place for this kind of fearmongering and smearing in a functioning democracy. Dick Cheney should be ashamed of himself. And the Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for looking the other way and offering little but meek responses to sheer, unfounded, power-mad demagoguery.

Posted by J at September 7, 2004 08:06 PM

Comments

And a big thank you to Madeleine Albright for her response:

"this kind of scare tactic by the vice president of the United States is irresponsible"

And thank you to John Edwards for stepping up and focusing on the intended impact of such a message rather than refuting the content:

Edwards Calls Cheney Remark 'Un-American'

Despite my distaste for the whole un-American name-calling thing, it's really nice to see the Democrats hitting hard where it hurts instead of trying to refute the lies and misrepresentations.

Posted by: fishd at September 9, 2004 02:15 AM

Cheney's statement was profoundly unAmerican. "Namecalling" can be accurate. Cheney seems repeatedly to pine for a proto-fascism. The most charitable explanation I've seen is cognitive impairment after too many heart surgeries.

Posted by: J at September 9, 2004 08:19 AM

I agree, it's just that I see how much of a knee-jerk reaction people have to the term and it harks way too much to the Senate UnAmerican Committee for my comfort.

I'm glad Edwards said it, because it's been used so thoroughly against Democrats and anti-war Americans for the three years and I think that heightened the impact of the return volley. I just don't like it.

Cheney comes off as schizophrenic sometimes, and he's scary.

Posted by: fishd at September 9, 2004 10:39 AM