Harry McKnight – 9/22/06

This page was last updated on September 23, 2006.

Hold Bush accountable; H. G. McKnight; Beaver County Times; September 22, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Shortly before the last presidential election, I wrote a letter to the editor suggesting that according to the latest polls America was about to re-elect arguably one of the worst presidents in the history of the country to a second term.

[RWC] Here’s a link to Mr. McKnight’s letter of September 2004. Here’s a brief list of what Mr. McKnight thought would happen, but hasn’t.

· A military draft

· A war soon after the 2004 election with Iran and/or Syria

· Lost jobs. (As a reminder, as of September 1st, the economy has created more than 1.7 million jobs over the past 12 months – and more than 5.7 million jobs since August 2003. The economy has added jobs for 36 straight months and real wages grew 7% over the past year.)

“Unfortunately, the polls were right and George Bush was re-elected.

“It didn’t take him long to reaffirm himself as one of the worst. Witness his disastrous foreign policy (Iraq), his failed response to Hurricane Katrina, his total disregard for the moral and ethical principles that this country was founded on and his disregard for the poor and middle classes of this country.”

[RWC] Regarding his “one of the worst” comment, I wonder if Mr. McKnight was alive during the Carter administration.

Note Mr. McKnight doesn’t give us the basis for his “total disregard for the moral and ethical principles …” comment. It’s just another drive-by accusation.

“Now, America faces another important election, and the campaign of fear and scare tactics that this administration relies so heavily on is well under way.”

[RWC] Note Mr. McKnight provided no examples of “the campaign of fear and scare tactics.” Not to be too picky, but isn’t it redundant to say both “fear” and “scare?”

“Regrettably, there is nothing we can do about Bush’s last two years in office. We can, however, still do something, and that something is to make sure that this president is held accountable for his actions in his final two years.

“We can do this by making sure that Democrats gain control of the House and hopefully the Senate. By doing so, we will stop the rubber stamp approval of this president’s blunders, both in foreign and domestic policy, by a Republican-controlled House and Senate.”

[RWC] It appears “rubber stamp” is a Democrat talking point given the frequency with which Democrats use it.

As I’ve written before, I love the “rubber stamp” criticism when a Republican tends to vote for proposals put forth by a Republican president or other Republicans. Is it rubberstamping when a Democrat supports Democrat presidents and other Democrats?

Mr. McKnight assumes Democrats will automatically oppose President Bush and will automatically support each other. Isn’t that rubberstamping, Mr. McKnight?

“I ended my 2004 letter by stating that if Bush was re-elected, ‘God help us all,’ and I think my concerns have been proven to have been justified.

[RWC] Above I noted some of Mr. McKnight’s “concerns” from his 2004 letter. If he truly believes his “concerns have been proven to have been justified,” he hopes we don’t remember his “concerns” or lives in a different world than I.

“So I will also end this letter by saying if you don’t assure that this president is held accountable for the next two years, ‘God help us all, again.’”

[RWC] Fortunately, Mr. McKnight doesn’t have a good track record.