What I Can Promise You Is . . .

Just read a passionate article by Ellen Goodwin on the Vice President's comments last week.

So it's come to this. The presidential campaign took off in New Hampshire, where the state motto is “Live Free or Die.” Now it's heading into the home stretch, and the Republican motto is “Vote for Us or Die.”

In the days leading up to 9/11 anniversary, the vice president finally raised the alert -- color it crimson -- that a vote for Kerry was a vote for terrorism. If voters make “the wrong choice,” he said, “then the danger is that we'll get hit again, and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating.”

At least Cheney didn't call Kerry himself a terrorist, a label he once applied to Nelson Mandela. But this was no slip of the tongue. It was a rhetorical baby step from the language of the Republican convention that aggressively put the war on terror at the center of the campaign and Bush at the helm.

Of course the pitch that only Republicans can protect America has been gong on since September 12th (and of course, in a slightly different form, long before that).

I also think that Tom Tommorow's latest cartoon (here at Salon, I'll see if I can remember to link to the Working for Change version tomorrow for those of you who don't like ads) is right on the money. I've had several friends comment on how they are glad Gore wasn't in the White House when this happened; I'm not exactly sure what they mean, but certainly the Republican noise machine would not have been gentle on Mr. Gore.