I’m convinced that this kind of over-the-top, irresponsible rhetoric is going to cost the Republican Party national elections and even with gerrymandered districts may cost them some votes in districts. Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld — no this is not The Onion or an Andy Borowitz news parody — truly, actually, no-joke, not-kiddin-ya says he “can’t tell” whether President Barack Obama has changed sides in the war on terror.
In other words, he suspects Obama is a terrorist. Or was he just saying it because it felt good and he wanted to whip up the base? And if it’s whipping up the base what is he whipping up? The clear answer: hatred.
Speaking at a conservative gathering late last month, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he didn’t know if President Barack Obama had switched sides in the War on Terror.
The video below — mined by Democratic opposition researcher James Carter IV — shows Rumsfeld answering a question from a man off-screen at an event hosted by the David Horowtiz Freedom Center on May 21 in the Los Angeles area.
“As you go around the country, do you have any sense or the same sort of sinking feeling that the rest of us have that [Obama has] actually switched sides in the War on Terror?” the man asked, drawing a smattering of applause from the audience.
“You know, I just don’t feel competent to answer,” Rumsfeld said. “I can’t tell.”Rumsfeld added, “It bothers me greatly that he’s unwilling to identify the enemy. I don’t see how you win if you don’t.”
He “can’t tell”?
So he really suspects Barack Obama is rooting for Al Qaeda and trying to help them win?
Here is the blunt question you’re not supposed to ask but this is the bottom line. If in the future some nutcase who it turns out fears Obama is working with the terrorists tries to kill him or kills him can it be safely said that Mr. Rumsfeld’s comments that dishonor the offices he has held in several administrations and the administrations themselves may have contributed to it?
He could have answered: “No, it’s clear he’s an American and has not changed sides. But I think he’s doing a poor job on the war on terrorism and let me tell you exactly why. Here’s my precise list of reasons:”.
It’s this constant fanning of hatred that will hurt the GOP nationally. And if they win an election due to it, it’ll make it extremely difficult for them to govern.
(Here’s the sentence I need to copy and paste from now on..)
Republican rebranding is not working.
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Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.