DEBUNK: Right-wing Myth: If the liberals were in charge...

A few weeks ago, I was listening to The Stephanie Miller Show, when a caller on the show stated that if the liberals were in charge during World War II, we would all be speaking German today. I believe it was Jim Ward (the show's extremely talented impressionist) who responded by pointing out that the liberals were in charge during World War II.

FDR and a Democratic-controlled congress were in charge during the second world war, and not only did they do an amazing job of ensuring we would not be "speaking German" (nor Japanese, for that matter), but they fought war-profiteering (which wastes tax-payers' money) and prevented any insurgencies by treating the enemies after the war like human beings and not as resources for corporate exploitation.

Neo-conservative foreign policy, macho posturing, and "cowboy" diplomacy may work well in movies or television, but they fail to accomplish their goals in the real world no matter what the good intentions (which have really paved a road to hell in Iraq) may be.

I listen to The Al Franken Show everday while I am at work, and one of my favorite points that Franken promotes on his show is that Republicans campaign with the tactic of saying that "government does not work" and then work to prove that it does not work when they are elected. This is evidenced by the inability to capture Osama bin Laden, the war in Iraq, the federal response to Hurricane Katrina (remember how Bush strummed while New Orleans drowned like Nero fiddled while Rome burned), the record deficits, and much more. Now that Bush and a Republican-controlled congresss are in office and working to show that government does not work (and doing an excellent job at that) they refuse to do oversight or investigate how why it is that government does not work. This is because they can continue to win elections as long as they can campaign by saying that government does not work but preventing any official documentation that says that they are responsible for it not working.

This supports my own idea that Republicans are great at campaigning but terrible at governing, as opposed to Democrats who are great at governing but terrible, by comparison, at campaigning.

My point (yes, there is a point to this rant) is that there is this myth that is pervasive throughout mainstream media, talk show monologues, punditry, and, therefore, many Americans that Democrats are weak on national security and weak against terrorism. However, history and recent events do not support this myth because it is just a myth (i.e. false). The pervasiveness of the myth is proof of how good the GOP is at campaigning, but how this myth still exists after all the recent evidence of GOP failure in governing is beyond my comprehension.

We cannot allow the myths to continue, and they reality is not enough to disprove them apparently. Democrats need to do a better job of campaigning, and with reality on their side, that should be easy. Unfortunately, we only have about two months before the mid-term elections to overturn the myth that the Right has been pushing for decades. I think we can, and we must do it. Haven't we had enough?