Taking offense

Some of the more reasonable voices on the left are not offended by George Bush’s ads featuring images from 9/11.

I am. Here’s why.

Of course Bush must talk about 9/11. But these ads do not constitute Bush talking about 9/11. They constitute his using 9/11 for political gain.

Bush speaks of 9/11 as an act of war. Which it was. But he acts as if he was presented on that day with not a tragedy, not an atrocity, but an opportunity. He has never missed a chance to use those 2700 deaths to further his own ideological ends, from tax cuts to ANWR drilling to the Iraq war. Now he wants to use them to gain votes for his re-election.

To Bush—maybe not in his mind, though certainly in his actions—the horror of 9/11 is a tool. And yeah, I find that pretty offensive.

Filed under: politics/2004