Bullying Works

As historians look back on the Bush Mess, one of the great lessons will be that bullying works. Using lies, smears and misinformation, the Bush administration demonstrated that bullying is an extremely effective method of manipulating the political process and public opinion.

For example, when the Bush crew used the anguish and trauma of 9/11 to gain support for a nation-building scheme in Iraq, members of the media and Congress who questioned the policy were quickly accused of being unpatriotic, which shut many of them up. It was classic school-yard bullying.

When a seasoned diplomat exposed as fraudulent claims by the Bush administration that Iraq had been trying to buy Uranium from Niger, the Bush crew smeared his reputation and in the process exposed his wife as a CIA operative. Again, classic bullying.

When elections neared, the Bush crew pushed U. S. Attorneys across the nation to pursue voter-fraud cases against Democrats despite a lack of evidence, threatening the attorneys with termination for non-compliance. First rate bullying.

Further examples are legion. On virtually every issue, in virtually every instance, when faced with hard questions, the Bush administration went on the offensive using distorted accusations, character assassination, misinformation and personal innuendo rather than address the substance of the policy or decision being questioned.

If you attack the question or the critic, you’ll never have to give a straight answer!

Even today, their bullying tactics infect the national discourse. For example, when Congress recently voted to authorize funds for the continuing occupation of Iraq, the final compromise bill excluded a timeline for withdrawal. Pundits asked whether the bill would hurt Democrats, since, as CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry put it, the “left wing of the Democratic party” was against the war.

His comment, however, was a reflection of the lies and distortions the Bush crew and their minions have successfully bullied our media into accepting.

The “left wing of the Democratic party” is a smear phrase intended to trivialize and marginalize an issue or critic. Yet mainstream journalists use it ad nauseam because it creates a sense of conflict, and conflict generates ratings, even when the assertion is wildly inaccurate. In this instance, a large majority of Americans from both sides of the political spectrum want our troops withdrawn from Iraq immediately, not just “left wing” Democrats.

Here’s a note I wrote to CNN's Wolf Blitzer (Late Edition, 5-27-07) in response to Ed Henry’s remark:

Dear Mr. Blitzer,

Several times on today's show, your guests characterized the "left wing" of the Democratic party as being against the war in Iraq.

That characterization is stale, inflammatory and entirely false. The middle of the nation, both left and right, is against the war, and polls show that a large majority of our fellow citizens want our troops withdrawn beginning immediately. You, yourself, have mentioned polls which reflect this undisputed fact.

It would be accurate to say that a majority of Americans are against the war and want us out, spanning both Democrats and Republicans, left and right.

Until journalists stop using divisive, infotainment language like "left wing of the Democratic party" and use, instead, the FACTS, our nation will not get news, but rather a distorted editorial. Shame on your guests for skewing the national mood and keeping the dialog bound by distinctions that have become irrelevant to the issue. CNN should be better than that.

Bullying, by its nature, is divisive and polarizing. It creates dialog based on insinuation and stereotype, rather than on substance and logic.

Unless we reduce the infection bullying has produced, our political landscape will continue to be littered with distortions and divisions while the real issues remain on the sidelines, tragically unaddressed.

- JT Compton

V