"Next Question" - How the White House Press Office has Failed to Defend the President

Since Ari Fleischer's departure last spring, the Bush Administration has been by skewered repeatedly by Left-wing accusations and blatantly biased reporting from major media outlets. The current White House Press Office is unwilling or unable to defend the President, his ideas, or his agenda. Conservatives can not afford this continued loss of momentum and we can no longer blame the liberal media for being itself. It's time we started demanding more from our President and those charged with getting out OUR message and taking the battle to the Left. Press Secretary Scott McClellan and Communications Director Dan Bartlett have failed and it's time for them to go.

Since January of this year, the Administration has played defense only (and poorly at that) against the steady stream of Left wing demagoguery which sadly seem to define the Democratic Party thus far in the new millenium. Instead of defending the President, reframing the debate, and shoving back, McClellan and Bartlett seem content with their mealy-mouthed justifications and half-hearted defenses of all that is under attack this election year. This election year has been like none other before it in that many conservatives are wondering if the President is running a campaign at all. Consider the communication failures thus far - the War in Iraq, the Economy, treatment of prisoners, the American Military, Bush's record on race, Bush's National Guard service, etc... Conservatives are right on the issues above (pun intended) but it's not apparent that McCllelan and company actually belive it...

Let's start from start...It is the Press Office that allowed the war to become solely a matter of finding WMD, rather than dismantling the threat that was Saddam Hussein and articulating the broader plan for the region's stability and liberation. A plan that was drafted and publicized years ago by so called "Neo-Cons" Rumsfeld and Cheney during the Clinton years. Imagine a Middle East where representative governments are the rule and free markets develop middle classes throughout this otherwise poverty stricken region. Imagine literacy rates high enough to give new hopes and reason to those who will otherwise turn to the religious fanacticism for their world view. This is the conservative vision for the region. Actually, this is the conservative vision for all people and it's time we started asking liberals why they feel that only Europe and North America and a handful of G8 nations are deserving of the gifts that liberty and personal property rights bring.

I fault the Administration for allowing the U.N. and those who would subjugate us to them for defining the terms of what constitutes victory in Iraq. There are literally thousands of stories of personal triumph and freedom happening to real people in Iraq today, not to mention Afghanistan. Great news where lives have been changed and saved because of President Bush's leadership.

Never before in the history of the world, has one nation engaged another in battlefield victory, occupation, reconstruction and return of sovreignty in one year's time. This effort has been one of epic generosity and kindness by the American people. It has made the Iraqi people and the rest of the world safer. Saddamm Hussein won't ever use WMD again. Period.

The boot on the neck of every Iraqi has been lifted, yet the Adminstration can't seem to find the time to relay one of the stories to the American Public. You can find dozens of stories here. I urge you to click on this link, as you're not likely to hear about these stories from the Administration or major media outlets.

Abu Ghraib is still front page news this Summer despite the Army's own investigations into this matter last Winter and no evidence of wide-spread abuse. How exactly did a handful of isolated sexual abuse incidents and fraternity-type hazing stunts become the shame of the Nation? Further, did anyone from the Bush Administration clarify exactly how information extraction gets done and why we need it? It's not pretty, but it's entirely necessary. Check your World Book for the term Utilitarian ethics.

Despite record economic growth lately, the majority of Americans still believe the economy is bad citing high gas prices as evidence. Inexplicably, the White House is relatively silent on this too. President Clinton had his cheerleaders out every day/all day during his tenure touting just about everything positive happening on his watch. Perhaps I'll draft a PowerPoint presenation and send it over to Scott and Dan. The economy should be a Slam Dunk yet the message is still not getting out.

Latest polling data indicates that most Americans believe that President Bush is wealthier than John Kerry. He is not. John Kerry's and John Edwards' wealth dwarfs that of Bush/Cheney. Of course, John Kerry and John Edwards are only too happy to let folks believe they're for the "little guy." Apparently, most Americans have not been to Boston and Nantucket. And, apparently the Press Office doesn't seem to find exposing hypocrisy important during an election year.

Most news outlets reported last week that the President had "snubbed", "declined" or "refused" to speak before the NAACP. In fact, no invitation was ever extended - well, not really. What was offered was a trap into which the President was allowed to fall. In June, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond deemed Republicans as enemies of black Americans and compared conservatives to the Taliban. I quote Mr. Bond, "Their idea of equal rights is the American flag and the Confederate swastika flying side by side." Shocking. In response, Scott McClellan issued this scathing rebuttal, "The current leadership of the NAACP has certainly made some rather hostile political comments about the President over the past few years." Can this Administration muster even a little righteous indignation....ever?