“Senator McCain? Osama Bin Laden Here. Have I Got A Deal For You.”

What’s wrong with the media?  They fail to see the possibility that a McCain victory would inure to the benefit to Osama Bin Laden and other anti-American terrorist organizations around the world.  They also fail to explore the possibility that a continuation of the threat of Al Qaeda would benefit a McCain Administration.

I’ll admit to being a contrarian on this point, but I don’t believe that Osama Bin Laden is looking forward to an Obama administration in the US.  Why would he?  The very election of Barack Obama would fly in the face of his assertion that the US is an evil empire run by a bunch of old, white Christian men who are out to conquer the Muslim world.  The more militarily conservative our government, the greater recruiting tool it lends to the causes of anti-American terrorists around the world.

Ronald Reagan

George H W Bush

Disagree?  Let’s look at some recent America-centric history for indicators.  None other than “The Great Communicator” himself, Ronald Reagan, is credited for bringing down the Soviet Union and the threat of communism in the world.  While it actually happened during Daddy Bush’s administration, it was, in fact, the Reagan arms race that played the greatest role in the fall of the USSR.  What happened next?  Why, we became “best buddies” with the new Russians under Daddy Bush, and the American public stopped worrying about the nuclear sky falling on our heads.  Then what happened?  Without the fear Republicans had used for my whole life to scare the American people about those risky Democrats, a faltering economy became the focus of the 1992 Presidential race and William Jefferson Clinton came into office.

Bill and Hillary Clinton

What terrible lesson did those at the top of the Republican Party learn?  Like “The Prince” himself, Machiavelli, said: one way to maintain control over “your” population is to have a common enemy to scare them with.  For eight long years the Republicans watched in horror as, despite all their attacks against Bill and Hillary Clinton, they held their ground in the White House.  Only the chaos of a sexual miscue on the part of President Clinton set the table for the Republicans to turn their culturally conservative “base” loose and bring the 2000 election within “stealing distance.”  Thanks to a well-placed brother in a key battleground state, George W. Bush managed to win the presidency with an assist from the Republican-stacked Supreme Court of the United States.  Notably, it was the last court ruling the “Bushies” seemed to like, as they ran an anti-judiciary government.

George W Bush with Shafig bin Laden, Osama's brother

Bush and Salem bin Laden, another Osama brother

For those with short memories – I am getting older myself and feel your pain – the first eight months of the W presidency were a laugh a minute.  He seemed absolutely unqualified to do the job, and everyone suspected that Dick Cheney was really running the show.  Bush’s prospects for re-election were off to a very bad start.  But then an old Bush family friend and ally came to the rescue in what is arguably the most dramatic moment in American history.  Osama Bin Laden, a man from a family close to the Bush family, along with the Taliban government of Afghanistan – a government supported by Reagan and Bush – launched a sneak attack against our country just as the New York based early-morning shows were on the air to show it in all its horror.  After initial disarray on the part of both Bush and Cheney, Bush pulled off his great moment in the sun by appearing triumphantly atop the ruins of the World Trade Center and promising to bring justice to those who committed this heinous crime.

Just to keep the record straight, while air traffic was halted over the US immediately after the attack, the Bush Administration granted an exemption to the Bin Laden family members in the US to fly home to Saudi Arabia in their private jet.  How strange.  And how much stranger is the fact that was never really questioned by the media.  In typical fashion the media, whose own capitol, New York City, had been attacked, rushed to judgment and support for our valiant leader in the nation’s moment of loss.  Starting that day the mainstream news media became addicted to Bush Administration Kool-Aid, an addiction that lasted the better part of the next five years.  Judging from their rush to the defense of the Paulson/Bush bailout plan, I suspect they are still secretly sipping the Bush Brew.

Bush Kool-Aid

But I digress.  Suddenly, after September 11, 2001, the Bush Administration was able to get anything they wanted from the media and from a Democratic Congress that was afraid to stand up to them for fear of electoral losses in 2002.  The idiot Democrats, as they deserved, were turned out of Congress anyway as the Republicans, armed with a new enemy, turned the scare tactics up to the highest volume possible.  Now, the Republicans had found their old voice.  And it was so effective that by the 2004 re-election campaign of George W. Bush, it took just a little tweaking on a few social issues, gay marriage and right to life (abortion), for the Republicans to scare just enough soccer moms to vote for Bush in Ohio.  Nobody talks about it, but the Department of Homeland Security issued warnings all during the fall months that year that shopping malls in Ohio were being targeted by Al Qaeda.  This less than subtle threat worked, especially after Bin Laden himself appeared in a nick-of-time video days before the election.  Once again, Karl Rove had played his hand masterfully, and now, four years later we find ourselves paying the price for being duped.

Which is it, Dubya?

So it is not hard for me to envision a 3:00 a.m. phone call to Senator McCain from Bin Laden offering a new trick in exchange for leaving him free to hide behind the “gates of hell.”  After all, hasn’t the Bush Administration – who had no particular problem tracking down the Saddam Hussein family – seemed peculiarly disinterested in finding Bin Laden?  Let’s face it, Hussein was a family enemy of the Bush’s after Daddy Bush’s Gulf War adventure, but Bin Laden and his family were old oil cronies.  Odd, huh?

So it would be too much not to expect to hear from Osama Bin Laden just before the election.  We can probably count on him making nice about Barack Obama for good measure.  Bin Laden has been playing us like a fiddle for years, and the Republicans are constantly singing his tune.

As I said yesterday, fasten your seatbelts.  It’s going to be a very bumpy ride.  But be of good cheer, Obama has shown over and over that he is able to rise to the occasion each time they throw something new at him.  That’s why he’s my man and should be yours.  Keep the faith!

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