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Wednesday, August 23, 2006

This makes no sense whatsoever
Posted by Jill | 7:02 AM
How can Americans understand that the war in Iraq has nothing to do with fighting terrorism against the U.S., believe that war was a mistake, yet in the face of Bush's continued insistence that the two are intertwined, give him IMPROVED ratings on his handling of the terrorist threat at the same time that his overall approval rating is unimproved?

The poll found that 51 percent of those surveyed saw no link between the war in Iraq and the broader antiterror effort, a jump of 10 percentage points since June. That increase comes despite the regular insistence of Mr. Bush and Congressional Republicans that the two are intertwined and should be seen as complementary elements of a strategy to prevent domestic terrorism.

[snip]

Public sentiment about the war remains negative, threatening to erode a Republican advantage on national security. Fifty-three percent said going to war was a mistake, up from 48 percent in July; 62 percent said events were going “somewhat or very badly” in the effort to bring order and stability to Iraq.

Mr. Bush recorded a gain of four percentage points in how the public views his handling of terrorism, rising to 55 percent approval from 51 percent a week earlier. This was his highest approval rating on the issue since last summer and followed the arrests in Britain in a suspected terror plot to blow up airliners.

Mr. Bush’s overall standing was nevertheless unchanged from the previous week, with 57 percent disapproving and 36 percent approving, far below the level Republicans in Congress would like to see as they prepare for elections in November.


These numbers just don't make sense, unless they reflect the deep-seated NNED that Americans have to not face the reality of just what the man who has been running the country for the last five years and has another 2-1/2 years left to go is.

While the Administration claims credit for the arrests of British air terrorism suspects, it simultaneous cuts funding for developing and deploying new liquid explosives detection technology. Meanwhile, this supposed threat that has an additional 5-10% of Americans running back to Big Daddy Bush may be, just as so many other so-called terrorist plots on which the news media reported to breathlessly and urgently, simply thoughtcrimes. Supposedly Rashid Rauf had "obtained some of the materials for the explosive", but hadn't prepared or mixed it. Well, given that airport security isn't allowing people to take simple cosmetic chemicals and soft drinks on planes, any of us could be arrested for "obtaining materials for explosive" every time we buy a Diet Coke -- especially if we buy a tube of Mentos at the same time.

Last week I was listening to an old Morning Sedition podcast from August 2004, in which Marc Maron drew parallels between the way the Bush Administration uses fear to foster a sense among Americans that only he can protect them -- and abusive domestic relationships. I've pulled that excerpt from the show into an mp3 and will post it tonight, so check back later. It's worth a listen.
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