[Marxism] Max Elbaum on Repub offensive

[Ethan Young <ethanyoung@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rove's Warning For 2006: It's All About the "War On Terror"
by Max Elbaum
 

The speech that will define U.S. politics throughout 2006 has already been 
given.

The audience was the Republican National Committee and the date was January 19. 
The speechmaker was Karl 
Rove, top political adviser to President George Bush.

Rove laid out the political strategy that will shape the fight for U.S. public 
opinion, the midterm elections, and the 
terrain for all social struggles in 2006. The cornerstone of this strategy is 
once again â??You Are With Us or You Are 
With the Terrorists.â??

This battle plan is a direct challenge not simply to the Democrats, but to 
antiwar activists and every progressive and 
grassroots movement. The responsibility falls squarely on us to meet Rove head 
on with an unequivocal challenge
to the war in Iraq and to the â??war on terrorâ?? justification for spying, 
torture, and racist injustice from the Gulf Coast 
to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Marching Orders

Roveâ??s speech was front-page news in the New York Times Jan. 20:

â??Roveâ?¦left little doubt that once againâ??as has been the case in both 
national elections since the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacksâ??he was intent on making national security the pre-eminent issue in 
2006â?¦.He lacerated Democrats for what 
he described as their â??cut and runâ?? policy on Iraq, for blocking a renewal 
of the broad antiterrorism law known as the 
 USA Patriot Act, and for challenging the legality of the administration's 
widespread use of warrantless wiretaps in 
the face of widespread criticism.

"The United States faces a ruthless enemy, and we need a commander in chief and 
a Congress who understand the 
nature of the threat and the gravity of the moment America finds itself in," 
Mr. Rove said. "President Bush and the 
Republican Party do. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many Democrats."

Roveâ??s words are not individual opinions. They are marching orders with the 
full power of the White House behind 
them. The official Republican Party apparatus of political operatives, media 
flacks, multi-millionaire donors, 
ambitious House and Senate candidates and more are already saluting and 
marching to this tune. Roveâ??s â??unofficialâ?? 
army of right-wing talk show hosts, dirty tricksters and religious zealots are 
already pummeling away.

The last year hasnâ??t gone well for Bush in public opinion. A majority now 
disapproves of his policy in Iraq. The 
Presidentâ??s overall approval ratings have plummeted to a dismal 40 percent. 
Even some Republicans are critical of 
Bushâ??s claim that he can spy on any U.S. citizen without a warrant and 
disquiet about the situation in Iraq.


Some have speculated that the Republicans might therefore shy away from a focus 
on Iraq and the spying issue in 
2006.

But the White House's response to adversity has never been to soften its 
message or â??move toward the center.â?? It is
 to go on the offensive. Rove believes Bush won the 2004 election by painting 
his opponent as â??soft on terrorism.â?? 
With Republicans vulnerable in 2006, this means Attack and Smearâ??and not just 
on electoral terrainâ??will be a daily 
fact of life.

Nothing should be ruled out as too low a blow. A right-wing campaign has 
already begun spreading swift-boat style 
lies about Vietnam War veteran turned Iraq war critic John Murtha. The extreme 
right is already chanting the mantra
 that Osama Bin Laden equals Howard Dean equals Michael Moore. A kind of 21st 
century McCarthyism is here right 
now. If Rove has his way, terrorist baiting will become a powerful and lasting 
weapon to crush all opposition.

Racism is an integral part of Roveâ??s â??us against themâ?? appeal. His 
implicit â??usâ?? is â??White America.â?? His most explicitly
 demonized â??themâ?? are Arabs and Muslims. But with language filling 
right-wing airwaves and filtering steadily into 
mainstream discourse about â??hordes coming across the borderâ?? and 
â??protecting our way of life,â?? a thinly coded 
ideological assault on all peoples of color is part of the mix.

The immediate goal of this 2006 crusade is to protect Republican majorities in 
the Senate and House. But Roveâ??s 
plan has tremendous consequences beyond the electoral arena.

It is crafted to bolster and harden Bushâ??s policy of permanent occupation in 
Iraq. It is designed to increase the 
rightwingâ??s power in every arena of struggle over policy, resources, and 
rights. It is a club to justify repression 
against, and denial of resources to, every oppressed community and progressive 
movement, from Gulf Coast 
victims of Katrina and the immigrant communities that are now in Republican 
gunsights, to trade unions, the 
womenâ??s and lesbian/gay movements, and human rights and civil liberties 
organizations.

Headway for Roveâ??s crusade means curtailed democratic rights and massive cuts 
in social programs. His idea is not 
just to win one more election. He and Bush aim to solidify rightwing control 
over all branches of government for a 
generation. September 11, 2001 didnâ??t just give the right an opening to 
justify new imperial adventures abroad. 
Domestically Rove and Co. think they can use 9/11 as a battering ram to prevent 
opposition movements from 
gaining traction in the voting booths or in the streets for decades to come.

Meet Polarization Head-On

Rove can be stopped this time around. The administrationâ??s failures in Iraq 
and in response to Katrina, its â??culture of
 corruptionâ?? scandals, and much more have taken their toll on public opinion. 
Divisions have opened up within the 
Republican Party apparatus and the partyâ??s social base.

But beating back Rove requires his â??war on terror trumps everythingâ?? 
message to be confronted head on. Only a 
hard-hitting â??No!â?? to continuing the occupation of Iraq and to using 
â??national securityâ?? as a cover for empire-building 
abroad and reaction at home will succeed. We need an across-the board challenge 
to the entire â??culture of fearâ?? 
framework with its relentless use of allegedly permanent enemies to silence all 
opposition.

Far more is at stake than the final tally in 2006 Congressional contests, 
important as that is. Whether or not the 
White House is confronted and beaten back on the phony "war on terror" will 
shape the foreign and domestic policies
 pursued by whichever party is in office. It will determine which side of the 
political spectrum has initiative and 
self-confidence, and whether or not grassroots movements have space to organize.

There are a growing number of Democratic Party candidates who are now willing, 
at least when pressed from below,
 to take Bush on regarding Iraq and his imperial appropriation of executive 
power. But most top figuresâ??Hillary 
Clinton leading the packâ??either duck the fight or are nearly as backward as 
Bush regarding the pivot question of 
Iraq. No effective resistance to Roveâ??s reactionary juggernaut will come from 
this quarter.

The responsibility to meet Roveâ??s polarization head on falls squarely on the 
antiwar movement and all grassroots 
and progressive activists. The antiwar movement is in the direct line of fire. 
Loudly and militantly, in the streets and 
the media, inside town halls and outside military recruitment centers, in 
actions on the third anniversary of the Iraq 
war and mobilizations throughout the year, we need to anchor the 2006 fightback.

Activists whose main work is focused in other arenas will also play an 
indispensable role. Linking the 
antiwar/anti-repression pivot to every other part of the progressive agenda is 
not just a â??Good Thing,â?? but crucial for
 political survival.

If we jump start our efforts and go all-out for the next year, we can stop Karl 
Rove from being the person able to 
give the defining political speech of 2007 and 2008.

Max Elbaum is a staff member of War Times/Tiempo de Guerras , a group 
represented on the steering committee of
 United for Peace and Justice.

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