David V. Matthews – 4/24/06

This page was last updated on April 29, 2006.

Bombs away; David V. Matthews; Beaver County Times; April 24, 2006.

I found this letter so humorous I decided to have fun with it.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“What will probably happen if (or when) Bush orders a preemptive nuclear attack against Iran this year?”

[RWC] This letter is an example – the second in two days – of what I call the fantasy tactic. In this approach, the author dreams up something that hasn’t happened, been proposed, or said and then bashes the target for the author’s fantasy. It’s a variation on the “When did you stop beating your wife?” approach.

The military draft fantasy was an example during the 2004 presidential campaign. If you recall, the anti-Bush crowd concocted the draft fantasy by claiming President Bush planned to reinstate the military draft after his reelection. Democrats introduced so-called “draft” bills on January 7, 2003, as a political stunt and all sponsors were Democrats. Nevertheless, the anti-Bush crowd bashed President Bush for something he never proposed and his administration never wanted.

“- Tens of thousands of Iranians will die from the attack itself. Many more will die from cancer, radiation sickness, starvation, etc. The ‘liberal media’ will offer little if any coverage of these fatalities. Why should the media upset the delicate sensibilities of their audience?”

[RWC] In case you missed one of his previous letters, Mr. Matthews puts “liberal media” in quotes because he believes there is no liberal bias in the media.

“- Most Democrats, not wanting to look weak on murdering Muslims during an election year, will refrain from criticizing Bush. Their leaders will say they want to conserve their political capital for a really big issue.”

[RWC] I’m sure this must be true. As we all know, Democrat leaders have been reluctant to criticize President Bush. When Democrat leaders refer to President Bush as a liar, loser, et cetera, it’s been all in good fun.

“- The few pundits who oppose this attack will do so for technical reasons. Should we have attacked so soon? Should we have nuked a different area? Should we have used more or fewer nukes?”

[RWC] I’m sure this must also be true. It’s clear most pundits are in President Bush’s pocket. Don’t be fooled by the rabid group of “journalists” who attack President Bush or the White House spokesman during just about every news conference. They are just about the only remaining anti-Bush journalists and/or are just putting on a show for the cameras.

“- No one in the ‘liberal media’ will call the attack illegal, immoral, or genocidal, or call for the impeachment of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, etc. Nevertheless, conservatives and right-wingers will excoriate the media for not supporting the attack enthusiastically enough.”

[RWC] So true. Further, if the “liberal media” did call for impeachment, it would likely be because it wanted more nukes dropped out of mercy. After all, we don’t want Iranians dying lingering deaths from “cancer, radiation sickness, starvation, etc.” I disagree that “conservatives and right-wingers will excoriate the media for not supporting the attack enthusiastically enough.” It’s more likely those evil “right-wingers” would need to rein in the “liberal media” giddiness for getting to cover the first wartime use of nukes in 60+ years. After all, if the “liberal media” appears too happy, we news consumers may figure out President Bush really controls the media.

“- Gasoline prices will skyrocket and will remain high for months, maybe for years. The government will help out by telling us not to worry, the free market will correct things eventually.”

[RWC] This reads like Mr. Matthews believes this is a bad thing. I don’t know about Mr. Matthews’ personal opinion, but don’t most leaders on his end of the economic, political, and social spectrum constantly tell us we need to pay more for gasoline to encourage conservation and the development of alternative energy sources? Isn’t that one of the reasons they oppose most new domestic exploration, production, and refineries?

I’ll conclude on a serious note. It never ceases to amaze me that folks like Mr. Matthews appear to believe President Bush – and by extension the U.S. – is a bigger threat to peace than countries like Iran and North Korea. Twenty years ago, people were saying the same things about President Reagan.