Hank Kalet

Hyperbole and nonsense — these are the hallmarks of the Bush administration.

The president, in his speech today at the American Legion national convention in Salt Lake City, was slinging of bit of both — along with a whole lot of something more, well, malodorous.

The president wants us to believe that the anarchy in Iraq, the insanity in Israel and Lebanon and the occupied territories, the recurring breakdown in Afghanistan and nearly everything else that is happening in the Middle East is linked and that the theme is a general antipathy toward freedom.

He wants us to believe that the war he misled us into, a war that was likely unwinnable from the get-go, a war that has only exacerbated tensions and destroyed our credibility around the globe, a war that we should not be fighting, is a necessary part of our battle against al Qaida.

He wants us to believe that the insurgents and militias in Iraq that are targeting American troops and doing battle against each other are actually on the same side, that Hezbollah’s missiles are not a political response to what they believe is Israeli aggression, that Hamas is not reacting to occupation, that all of these disparate groups are out to destroy our Constitution and the freedoms it protects.

(This post is not a tacit statement of support for Hezbollah, the insurgents or militias in Iraq or any of those groups. Their methods are brutal and inhuman, their aims questionable and their leaders dangerous. And that I have to state this explicitly is an indication of how degraded our public discourse has become.)

The president wants us to believe — echoing the Vietnam era slogan, “We must destroy the village to save it” — that the very same freedoms that are allegedly under attack by our Islamo-fascist enemies can only be protected by metaphorically burning our Constitution and allowing people like Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld to dance on the ashes. We must, the president seems to be saying, destroy our Constitution to save it.”

Perhaps I’m overreacting. Perhaps my own penchant for hyperbole has overtaken me. Perhaps.

But then, I’m getting a bit tired of this endless attempt to recast everything as a campaign issue. I’m getting tired of the lies and the lives they cost.

I’m just plain tired of all of it.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

This week’s Dispatches looks at the false optimism that Shore-area officials are expressing about the MOM line.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

I’ve offered some thoughts on this before, but I figured it would be good to weigh in again.

Politics being what it is — a competition between noise and money, with the professionals with cash tending to have the upper hand — it only behooves local residents to band together to amplify their voices.

That said, I’m concerned that the connection this new group has had to the failed primary challenge waged by former Mayor Debra Johnson could negatively affect its ability to act as citizen advocates. This is not an implied critique of the campaign or an endorsement of the current administration. Challenges like the one waged by Ms. Johnson are healthy and should be waged more frequently.

The problem is one of perception and any connection to a political candidate has the potential to taint groups like this. Look at MoveOn.org, which considers itself a liberal advocacy group but is really nothing more than a Web-based adjunct of the Democratic Party.

Common Sense, which had a lifespan of about seven or eight years, was as successful as it was locally because of its independence — and that’s the key.

Take Back Our Town needs to remain above partisan politics and focus on issues. This will allow the group to criticize local officials without being subject to accusations that it is carrying anyone’s water.

Here is what I’d recommend:

1. Create a more stable structure. The group appears to be a little too ad hoc at the moment, without a membership roster or set of basic rules. That means that anyone can claim affiliation, while at the same time leaving it susceptible to charges that it lacks support in the community.

2. Remain independent. That means avoiding alliances with political parties and not making candidate endorsements.

3. Be present and be open-minded. That means making sure the Township Council, the school board, the bureaucracy and the political parties know who you are, that you have support and that you’re not afraid to take anyone on.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

So, Rumsfeld’s a quack, eh? That’s the conclusion that Keith Olbermann draws and I certainly see no reason to argue with him. (See it here, as well, or here with the video.)

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

While the national media talk about economic growth, the reality, especially in New Jersey, looks more like this.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick