Granted, that headline is a bit misleading because it insinuates that I have only one problem when obviously I am severely troubled in many areas. However, this morning I noticed something that thoroughly confused me, so if you’d prefer me to say, “Here’s my problem today…” — so be it.
So I was at the gym this morning (shutup! it could happen!) and I was listening to my iPod and reading, but every now and then I was half-watching the muted TVs with close-captioning up at the front of the room. I think it was the Today show, and Matt Lauer was interviewing the master of spinning while claiming to live in a no-spin zone, Bill O’Reilly. I wasn’t paying attention, but I happened to see one of the captions, and it seemed like they were talking about President Bush’s ad which has caused such an uproar among 9/11 victims’ family members for shots of 9/11 and then according to Newsweek (via Wonkette) for the fact that the ad uses “paid actors — including two playing firefighters.”
Suddenly, I wondered why Bush’s people let this become such a big issue and why the Republicans chose the stance they’ve had, namely that Bush’s 9/11 should be a campaign issue because his leadership during that time … blah blah blah. Why wouldn’t the administration simply have said, “We meant no disrespect to anybody, certainly not family members of the victims, and maybe we should have chosen some different images or presented them in a different manner. We apologize to anyone who might have been offended.” The Bushies could still use 9/11 as a subject in the campaign if they wanted.
But this is just another example of what is wrong with this administration. This immense arrogance; this black-and-white/friend-or-enemy approach to everyone and everything; this inability to accept the very idea that not everyone sees things the same way, and if someone or, better yet, some large group of people disagrees with something, it does not necessarily mean they’re automatically wrong. Why the hell would Rove and crew want to pick a fight with family members of 9/11 victims by saying the attacks do not belong to them … they affected everyone. It just is completely illogical. I’m not interested in the Bush campaign doing anything that will help him win, but I am fascinated at their inability to diffuse a situation which very easily could have been a non-issue.
Out of Focus 