If there was any lingering doubt that this President rules by sowing division and fear it has been put to rest in these last weeks. As Dana Milbank’s chilling front-page story in last Friday’s Washington Post details, Bush and leading Republicans dare to argue that a vote for John Kerry is a vote for Al Qaeda.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert says he believes Al Qaeda would prefer a Kerry presidency. GOP Senate candidate John Thune of South Dakota says that his opponent, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle’s mild criticism of the war “embolden the enemy” and bring “comfort to America’s enemies.” Darth Vader VP Cheney strongly suggested that America would be more likely to be attacked if Kerry were elected.

These are Republicans who breed a culture of fundamentalism and intolerance, who betray the guiding and founding values of America. If a truly great Republican–Theodore Roosevelt–were among us today, he would expose the despicable politics of these fifth-rate offspring of the Grand Old Party and tell them–as he told the nation in 1918:

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

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And Then There Are True Conservatives…

Speaking of sane Republicans, did you see that Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) has made it known that he may not vote for Bush? Last weekend, according to the Washington Post, Chafee told a science seminar in his home state that he would vote for a Republican but not George W., who he has differed with on many issues including tax cuts, the Iraq war and stem cell research.

And let’s hope a small item in Saturday’s New York Times signals a trend: One of West Virginia’s five electors says he may withhold his electoral college vote for Bush even if the President wins in the increasingly important swing state. Elector Richie Robb, the mayor of South Charleston, is incensed about the war in Iraq and painful layoffs in his town.

And by the way, do Bush and Co. believe that conservatives like John McCain, Chuck Hagel and Richard Lugar–who have been all over the airwaves arguing that the US is in deep trouble in Iraq–are aiding and abetting the enemy? And what about the discontent with the commander-in chief from within the military itself? According to a Christian Science Monitor story, there is a “discernible countercurrent among US troops in Iraq–those who blame President Bush for entangling them in what they see as a misguided war.” Will chickenhawk Cheney blast these soldiers in the field as unpatriotic.