"You don't launch a new product in August," White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card told The New York Times. No, the centerpiece of the strategy was the first anniversary of Sept. 11, helping to "move Americans toward support of the action against Iraq." Accordingly, on the next day President George W. Bush launched the new product at the United Nations. And here we are in the month before Congressional elections able to think of nothing but Saddam Hussein. We really need to stand back and admire the superb marketing skills of the White House. Their efforts at mass distraction have really worked! All of us, like sheep, dare not be unpatriotic.
Who would now notice the economy (except the jobless), after the president mashed our panic buttons for 30 minutes Monday. Scary. But some think him ill informed; he forgot to mention that the Iraqi people are sick and exhausted already after we have bombed them for twelve years , killing off one million of them.
There is a measure of sincerity, however, in this marketing. I have no doubt that Cheney and Rumsfeld really do love war. How despicable to market war. But it's not too late. This manipulating is transparent enough that the American people can still turn around and just say, "No you don't!"
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