Yesterday, in a move timed to coincide with Senate hearings on Russ Feingold’s proposal to censure President Bush for illegal domestic wiretapping, GOP chairman Ken Mehlman sent an email to supporters that read as follows (PDF):
Terrorists are at war with our country. And we have a choice.
Either we use every tool available to fight and win the War on Terror … or we heed the calls of Democrats who would censure and impeach the President for fighting the terrorists.
Watch our new web video, “Censure? Impeachment?,” which outlines the stakes in this fight.
On September 11, the President made a solemn commitment to protect the American people. The President made his choice. And many Democrats are making theirs, calling a program to defeat al Qaeda terrorists inside the U.S. an illegal and an “impeachable offense.”
Where do you stand? Watch the video. And take action by signing our petition against repeated Democrat attempts to weaken these efforts to fight the terrorists and keep American families safe.
Sincerely,
Ken Mehlman
Chairman, Republican National Committee
Following the GOP playbook in the wiretapping debate, Mehlman again suggests Democrats don’t want to protect Americans and are seeking to hamper the fight against terrorism, stating that “Democrats … would censure and impeach the President for fighting the terrorists” and referring to “Democrat attempts to weaken these efforts to fight the terrorists and keep American families safe.” Similarly, the web video Mehlman refers to runs alongside the tagline “Tell Democrats to Stop Weakening Our National Security.”
During the hearings on censure that took place yesterday, Senate Republicans went even further, suggesting that the call to censure President Bush is dangerous and would aid the terrorists:
Five Republicans at the hearing took turns attacking the idea as a reckless stunt that could embolden terrorists…
Republicans argued that censure would undermine the president’s efforts to fight terrorism.
“This hearing, I think, is beyond the pale,” said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas.
Mr. Cornyn argued that the censure proposal could send a “perverse and false message” of presidential weakness to terrorists around the world and thus “make the jobs of our soldiers and diplomats harder and place them at greater risk.”
Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, added, “Let’s don’t play games with their lives.”
As common as these anti-democratic tactics have become since 9/11, they still turn my stomach. We are strong enough to fight the war on terror and have a robust democracy at home. We don’t have to choose one or the other.