From the NYT Editorial Page:

As President Bush throws himself into the final days of a particularly nasty campaign season, he's settled into a familiar pattern of ugly behavior. Since he can't defend the real world created by his policies and his decisions, Mr. Bush is inventing a fantasy world in which to campaign on phony issues against fake enemies.

In Mr. Bush's world, America is making real progress in Iraq. In the real world, as Michael Gordon reported in yesterday's Times, the index that generals use to track developments shows an inexorable slide toward chaos. In Mr. Bush's world, his administration is marching arm in arm with Iraqi officials committed to democracy and to staving off civil war. In the real world, the prime minister of Iraq orders the removal of American checkpoints in Baghdad and abets the sectarian militias that are slicing and dicing their country.

In Mr. Bush's world, there are only two kinds of Americans: those who are against terrorism, and those who somehow are all right with it. Some Americans want to win in Iraq and some don't. There are Americans who support the troops and Americans who don't support the troops. And at the root of it all is the hideously damaging fantasy that there is a gulf between Americans who love their country and those who question his leadership.

Mr. Bush has been pushing these divisive themes all over the nation, offering up the ludicrous notion the other day that if Democrats manage to control even one house of Congress, America will lose and the terrorists will win. But he hit a particularly creepy low when he decided to distort a lame joke lamely delivered by Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. Mr. Kerry warned college students that the punishment for not learning your lessons was to "get stuck in Iraq." In context, it was obviously an attempt to disparage Mr. Bush's intelligence. That's impolitic and impolite, but it's not as bad as Mr. Bush's response. Knowing full well what Mr. Kerry meant, the president and his team cried out that the senator was disparaging the troops. It was a depressing replay of the way the Bush campaign Swift-boated Americans in 2004 into believing that Mr. Kerry, who went to war, was a coward and Mr. Bush, who stayed home, was a hero.

"FEAR is the Mind Killer..." And in the case of many on the Right, it seems that death happened a long time ago. It would be funny reading some of the desperate post on Right Wing blogs, you know.... the ones with the apocalyptic imagery, and grave warnings about how we are all going to be in danger if the Democrats win... If they were not so scary. No not scary in the sense that they are believable. Scary in the sense that these people are so desperate to stay in power that they will do ANYTHING, and I mean anything... to scare us into voting for this bankrupt administration again.

Well, perhaps I am wrong, but I see signs that the tide has turned. Once, the Republicans effectively used the claim that the Democrats had no platform other than "anything but Bush." Well now it seems that the Republicans find themselves in a position where they have nothing to talk about, so its about demonizing the Democrats, and creating issues where they do not exist, with Democrats that are not running for office. It is not working....

Have you ever "smelled" fear? Ever seen the look on the face of a cornered animal... We are seeing the digital equivalent of this in the last few days before the elections.

It's not just about Iraq. Scandals in the Republican party have consumed the party for over a year, but Republican control of both houses have prevented proper investigation and disclosure. It looks like in these last days before the election, they are having an impact:

Indictments, investigations and allegations of wrongdoing have helped put at least 15 Republican House seats in jeopardy, enough to swing control to the Democrats on Tuesday even before the larger issues of war, economic unease and President Bush are invoked.

With just five days left before Election Day, allegations are springing up like brushfires. Four GOP House seats have been tarred by lobbyist Jack Abramoff's influence-peddling scandal. Five have been adversely affected by then-Rep. Mark Foley's unseemly contacts with teenage male House pages. The remaining half a dozen or so could turn on controversies including offshore tax dodging, sexual misconduct and shady land deals.

Not since the House bank check-kiting scandal of the early 1990s have so many seats been affected by scandals, and not since the Abscam bribery cases of the 1970s have the charges been so serious. But this year's combination of breadth and severity may be unprecedented, suggested Julian E. Zelizer, a congressional historian at Boston University.

For more than a year, Democrats have tried to gain political advantage from what they called "a culture of corruption" in Republican-controlled Washington. Republican campaign officials insist the theme has not caught on with the public, but even they concede that many individual races have been hit hard.

So perhaps fear will play a role in this election after all. But it wont be fear of faceless terrorist... It might just be the fear of Conservatives and Republicans who are staring defeat in the face.... The NYT editorial was spot on...

"when candidates for lower office (or conservative bloggers) make their opponents out to be friends of Osama bin Laden, or try to turn a minor gaffe into a near felony, that's just depressing. When the president of the United States gleefully bathes in the muck to divide Americans into those who love their country and those who don't, it is destructive to the fabric of the nation he is supposed to be leading." (insert mine).

Others with thoughts:

The Democratic Daily, The Moderate Voice, DownWithTyranny!, Is That Legal?, Barking Moonbat Early …, Hullabaloo, Rising Hegemon and Brilliant at BreakfastThe Huffington Post, The Next Hurrah, MyDD, DownWithTyranny!, TPMmuckraker, The Corner, Electoral Vote Predictor, Public Campaign Action …, The Caucus and Sunlight Foundation

I think its time for Americans to reject fear... To stand up and loudly say... "I am NOT afraid, and I will not allow fear to dictate my choices on November 7th."

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Posted by: Marina making pictures at November 2, 2006 03:14 PM