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theme in a White House speech.
Blackwell also understood the value of the emotional "feet-people"argument. "We may be in a no-lose situation," he said at the time. "If the president's opponents succeed in Congress" in blocking Reagan's Central America military funding, "the refugees are coming - and the public will hold [the Democrats] accountable."
Selective Editing
In some ways, the second ad produced by the anti-Kerry Swift Boat veterans may be even more troubling than the first because of what it portends for the future of a meaningful American democracy. In the second ad, the anti-Kerry veterans cropped Kerry's 1971 testimony when he appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as a leader of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. The selective editing made it appear that Kerry was accusing veterans of committing atrocities in Vietnam.
"They personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads," the clip of Kerry's testimony says as one of the anti-Kerry veterans intones, "The accusations that John Kerry made against the veterans who served in Vietnam was just devastating."
But what Kerry actually was doing was recounting testimony given by Vietnam veterans at a conference where some had confessed to committing atrocities. Instead of accusing these veterans of committing these acts, Kerry was simply relaying their testimony to the senators. Anyone listening to this ad, however, would have a completely false impression of what Kerry meant. The ad is a very dirty trick.
Beyond the deception, there's also the fact that atrocities were committed in Vietnam. Massacres, torture, rapes and mutilations occurred on all sides. But it now appears that even a young man, who serves in combat and returns to the United States, can't describe the brutal reality of war without disqualifying himself for the Presidency. Only patriotic platitudes are acceptable.
By ripping Kerry's quotes out of context and effectively doctoring his meaning, the Republican attack machine has demonstrated that it can destroy the reputation of anyone who dares engage the American people in anything like a meaningful debate. In contrast, the machine's favored candidate can act as irresponsibly as he wishes and have his behavior protected.
Three Decades
The Republicans have been constructing this attack machine for three decades. Initially, it was a defensive reaction to Richard Nixon's resignation over the Watergate scandal. The goal was to build a network of conservative media, think tanks and attack groups to protect a future Republican from another Watergate debacle.
But the senior George Bush was among the first to recognize that this machinery could be used offensively as well as defensively. This new capability was unveiled in a national political campaign in 1988 when Bush used it to take apart Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. Aided by the emerging conservative news media, especially Moon's Washington Times, the Republicans questioned Dukakis's sanity and his patriotism.
For his part, George H.W. Bush implied that Dukakis was un-American for belonging to the American Civil Liberties Union and for vetoing a Massachusetts bill that would have compelled public school students to pledge the flag every day. In a foreshadowing of the Swift Boat attacks on Kerry, an "independent" pro-Bush group aired a racially provocative ad about a convicted black murderer, Willie Horton, who raped a white woman while on a Massachusetts prison furlough.
Since 1988, this conservative media machine has continued to grow exponentially, creating a kind of gravitational pull that has caused the mainstream news media to drift to the Right, partly so journalists can protect themselves from accusation of being "liberal." This combination of factors has left the Democrats nearly defenseless when the Republicans unleash a propaganda barrage during a campaign season.
At least until recently, the Democrats and liberals failed to invest any significant sums in a similar attack apparatus. Now, they are finding that their belated recognition of the danger is too little, too late.
Devastated
The smears against John Kerry's patriotism, honesty and courage have inflicted severe - possibly irreversible - damage on his candidacy for president. According to some polls, Bush has opened up a double-digit lead. The national news media can be expected to fill up the next several weeks with commentary about how brilliantly Bush succeeded in "defining" Kerry and how Kerry failed to respond appropriately.
The larger danger, however, is that the United States may not have another meaningful national election for the fore
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