American Politics Journal -- Cognitive Dissonance, GOP Style

Cognitive Dissonance, GOP Style:
Thief Calls for "Unity" Even as Republicans Viciously Attack Hillary and Democracy
by Tamara Baker

Monday, Dec. 18, 2000 -- SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA (AmpolNS) -- If anyone doubts that the Republicans are the party of cognitive dissonance, one need look no further than the wide gulf between the words of their figurehead, the Connecticut Thief, and their actions.

Even as Shrub reads off the TelePrompTer the words his handlers wrote for him to recite -- such words as 'healing' and 'unity' -- in soothing tones intended to distract and obfuscate, the Republicans are sneaking in under the media's radar screen to go on a savage full-tilt attack against Democrats and democracy.

Item: Shrub's minders immediately set to trying to trick, bribe and persuade certain Dem legislators into leaving their Senate and House seats to fill meaningless posts in his attainted 'Cabinet', just so the Repugs can cement their hold on both Houses as well as their stolen White House slot. Fortunately, millions of Dems mobilized to contact the targeted legislators and make sure they stayed in their seats.

Item: The New York Daily News reports that Senator-Elect Hillary Rodham Clinton recieved an $8 million book contract last week, but even before the deal was signed, Sen. John 'Keating Five' McCain suggested that it be reviewed by the Senate Ethics Committee.

GOPers defending McCain's action (which looks like yet another disgusting, self-abasing act intended to show McCain's fealty to the man he nearly defeated in the primaries) bring up how Newt Gingrich's $4.5 million deal with Rupert Murdoch was 'investigated'. However, there are several differences the Repugs gloss over:

1) Newt Gingrich was House Speaker, the most powerful man in the land next to the President himself. He had the ability, as he showed immediately upon taking up his role as House Speaker, to ram through legislation that would greatly benefit Rupert Murdoch. And remember, legislation originates in the House.

Hillary, by contrast, was not yet even an elected official when she commenced negotiations for her life story. In fact, publishers have been clamoring for her story well before Bill talked her into running for the Senate. Furthermore, she will be a rookie Senator in a chamber controlled by members of the other party; her political pull within the Senate will be minimal at best. She'll be lucky if Trent Lott gives her an office bigger than a closet. And again, the Senate does not originate legislation; she cannot, as Newt did, create a bill that would benefit the company that gave her the book deal.

2) There was no real demand for Newt's book, even from the conservative groups that bought bulk copies of it just to artificially inflate its sales. It hit the remainder shelves within days of publication.

By contrast, not only is there great demand for Hillary's book, publishers worldwide have been saying that her book will be the biggest best-seller ever for a memoir. Everyone will be reading it, friend and foe alike, to try and get a fix on what's happening in her head.

3) Newt's book history has been strictly quid pro quo. His college texts were written for courses paid for by right-wing groups, and his texts didn't exactly suffer a strenuous peer review before they dumped onto the curriculum. And his novel, 1945, is unreadable. (I mean, really: "Pouty sex kitten', Newt?) Few critics outside of the conservative universe treat Newt's oeuvre with anything other than scorn.

Hillary's books, on the other hand, have all been legitimate and critically-acclaimed best-sellers. She didn't need to have anyone buy bulk copies of them to get them on the New York Times best-seller lists.

4) As one of my favorite writers has said, Newt made a lot of money off of being House Speaker, more than he could have made as an obscure hack professor in a second-tier college. (Hey, sounds like Camille Paglia - except that her college couldn't stomach the crazy bint, so they denied her tenure; Paglia used this 'martyrdom' to become the Darling of the GOP, which was willing to overlook such things as her support of the North American Man-Boy Love Association so long as she kept kissing Rush and dissing Democrats. But I digress.)

In contrast, Hillary is flat broke because of the tens of millions of dollars she and her husband have had to pay out defending themselves against nuisance lawsuits that started the second her husband won the White House in 1992. And now, the very amoral scum that bankrupted her with frivolous suits, are now trying to keep her from rebuilding the very financial house that they wrecked? And since WHEN is John 'Keating Five' McCain a moral arbiter, anyway? How can he assert any claim to moral superiority after docilely shuffling to the side of the man whose operatives accused him of having sex with his captors in Hanoi?

That leads me to this last point:

5) It just so happens that Hillary's book deal is a good deal less eyebrow-raising than the one McCain himself signed for HIS book, Faith of Our Fathers, which was published last year by Random House.

You see, Hillary has asked to be paid the entire advance before taking her oath, so that her publisher, Viacom, would have no hold over her while she was in office. In addition, the book deal was inked well after her Senate campaign had ended, whereas McCain's book deal was inked just in time to give him lots of free (and favorable) publicity for his Presidential campaign.

In addition, Hillary is not even yet sworn in as Senator, and as noted above will be a relatively-powerless rookie member of the minority party in the Senate chambers. McCain, in contrast, is the powerful Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, where he has promoted legislation that could be seen as strongly benefitting Bertelsmann AG, Random House's corporate parent.

Why don't we all get hold of the Democrats on the Senate Ethics Committee and tell them that, if John McCain is so concerned about examining book-deals, then why don't we start by examining HIS book deal? They play hardball, we play it right back!

Here's the folks who sit on the Senate Ethics Committee
(http://www.senate.gov/committees/committee_detail.cfm?COMMITTEE_ID=525):

Republicans

Pat Roberts, KS Chairman
Bob Smith, NH
George Voinovich, OH

Democrats

Harry Reid, NV Ranking Member
Kent Conrad, ND
Richard Durbin, IL

Here's the contact information for the Democrats on the Ethics Committee
(note that I'm leaving out the e-mail addies: if you want them to listen to
you, you must phone, fax or snail mail them -- or arrange an in-person visit)

Republicans

Pat Roberts, KS Chairman
Bob Smith, NH
George Voinovich, OH

Democrats

Harry Reid, NV Ranking Member
Kent Conrad, ND
Richard Durbin, IL

Here's the contact information for the Democrats on the Ethics Committee (note that I'm leaving out the e-mail addies: if you want them to listen to you, you must phone, fax or snail mail them -- or arrange an in-person visit):

HARRY REID:
Washington
528 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone 202-224-3542
Fax 202-224-7327

Las Vegas
Lloyd D. George Building
333 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 8016
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone 702-388-5020
Fax 702-388-5030

Reno
Bruce R. Thompson Courthouse and Federal Building
400 South Virginia Street, Suite 902
Reno, NV 89501
Phone 775-686-5750
Fax 775-686-5757

Carson City
600 East Williams Street, #302
Carson City, NV 89701
Phone 775-882-7343
Fax 775-883-1980

KENT CONRAD:

Washington
530 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510-3403
Phone: (202) 224-2043
Fax: (202) 224-7776

Toll-free Phone: 1-800-223-4457
Hearing-Impaired TDD: (701) 232-2139

Bismarck:
U.S. Federal Building, Room 228
220 East Rosser Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58501
Phone: (701) 258-4648
Fax: (701) 258-1254

Fargo:
U.S. Federal Building, Room 306
657 2nd Avenue North
Fargo, ND 58102
Phone: (701) 232-8030
Fax: (701) 232-6449

Grand Forks:
U.S. Federal Building, Room 104
102 North 4th Street
Grand Forks, ND 58201
Phone: (701) 775-9601
Fax: (701) 746-1990

Minot:
U.S. Federal Building
100 1st Street SW
Minot, ND 58701
Phone: (701) 852-0703
Fax: (701) 838-8196

RICHARD DURBIN:

Washington:
364 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
(202)224-2152
TTY (202)224-8180
Fax (202)228-0400

Chicago:
Kluczynski Bldg. 38th Fl.
230 South Dearborn
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 353-4952
Fax (312)353-0150

Springfield:
Senator Dick Durbin
525 South Eight Street
Springfield, IL 62703
(217)492-4062
Fax (217)492-4382

Marion:
701 Court Street
Marion, IL 62959
(618)998-8812
Fax (618)997-0176

Tell the Senators what I've just told you. Mention also that they should feel free to castigate McCain's action for the transparently partisan attack it is, and how it goes against the GOP's public calls for "unity".

Go to it, Democrats!