June 23, 2005

Here They Go Again - Rove Adds to the Republicans' Over-the-Top, Partisan Rhetoric

Republicans are no strangers to hyperbolic language. This, after all, is the party whose Vice President told a Democratic Senator to: “Go F*** Yourself” on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Yet, while Karl Rove has been crassly exploiting 9/11 for years, his recent statement attacking the patriotism of Democrats marks a new low. It’s time the Republican Right-Wing Attack Machine stopped its smear campaign and focused on the getting the job done for Americans.

Karl Rove attacks the patriotism of Democrats to distract from the Bush Administration’s failures. Rove: "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." [New York Times, 6/23/05]

Congressman Hostettler said Democrats denigrate and demonize Christians. Hostettler: ``Like moth to a flame, Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to denigrating and demonizing Christians.'' [Congressional Record 6/20/05; Wall Street Journal 6/21/05]

Senator Rick Santorum compared Democrats to Hitler. Santorum: “I mean, imagine, the rule has been in place for 214 years that this is the way we confirm judges. Broken by the other side two years ago, and the audacity of some members to stand up and say, how dare you break this rule. It's the equivalent of Adolf Hitler in 1942 saying, "’I'm in Paris. How dare you invade me? How dare you bomb my city? It's mine.’" [Congressional Record, 5/19/05]

Senator Allen called the Civil War a “four-year struggle for independence and sovereign rights.” As governor, Allen suffered through an antagonistic relationship with the state NAACP in Richmond. Tempers reached a boiling point in 1997, when Allen proclaimed April as Confederate History and Heritage Month and called the Civil War "a four-year struggle for independence and sovereign rights." [Newport News Daily Press, 12/22/02]

Senator Coburn questioned why older Senators remain in the Senate and suggested that Senators are on the dole. Coburn: "Why would you want to be up here [the United States Senate] when you're 68 years of age? If you have any type of life, this is the last place you'd want to be.” He goes on: "There are a lot of people who are in the Congress that would never achieve in the private sector anywhere close to the remuneration they receive as a member of Congress.” [The Hill 5/25/05]

Senator Cornyn linked judicial decisions to courtroom violence. “I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection, but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence. I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making political decisions, yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in violence, certainly without any justification, but that is a concern I have that I wanted to share." [Dayton Daily News, 4/7/05]

Congressman DeLay threatened judges in wake of Schiavo case. “The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.” [USA Today, 3/31/05]

DeLay: Republican Will Target Judiciary In Light of Schiavo Case. Speaking with reporters in Houston, DeLay said lawmakers will target “an arrogant and out of control judiciary that thumbs its nose at Congress and the president.” [CNN, Morning Grind, 4/1/05]

Senator Frist compared Democratic efforts to prevent the nomination of out of the mainstream judges to an assassination. Frist: “Mr. President, The – In response, the Paez nomination – we’ll come back and discuss it further, and actually I’d like to come back to the floor and discuss it, and it really brings to I believe a point what is – the issue. And the issue is that we have leadership-led partisan filibusters that have obstructed not one nominee but two, three, four five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten in a routine way. The issue is not cloture votes per se. It’s the partisan leadership-led use of cloture vote to kill, to defeat, to assassinate these nominees.” [Congressional Record, 5/18/05]

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