Republicans question loyalty and propaganda

Clinton and Obama

US Republicans new tactic:  Questioning loyalty and propaganda

Is questioning the loyalty of Democrats part of a new Republican strategy to discredit leaders of the people’s party?  In the last few weeks two prominent Republicans began efforts to intentionally question the love and loyalty for the American people by Democrats President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.    

It started with Rudy Giuliani on February 18 when the former New York City Mayor Giuliani said at a New York City event, "I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America,” according to a report by ABC News.

"He doesn't love you. And he doesn't love me. He wasn't brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country," said Giuliani, who lost the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. His comments were reported by Politico and the New York Daily News at the time.

Then he attempted to back track with damage control after Democrats called him on it by saying, "My blunt language suggesting that the president doesn't love America notwithstanding, I didn't intend to question President Obama's motives or the content of his heart."

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Giuliani

 If Giuliani was not questioning the President’s “motives” or “heart,” what was he questioning: Obama’s parentage and his American grandparents who lovingly nurtured him together with his American mother?

Obama’s mother Ann Dunham was an anthropologist and earned her PhD from the University of Hawaii and worked for a US Agency for International Development, the Ford Foundation and Women’s World Banking to promote extending microcredit to combat global poverty.  Obama’s grandfather born in the US in 1918 served in the US Army in World War II.  While his grandparents raised and influenced him growing up, he refers to his mother as the dominant figure in his formative years. "The values she taught me continue to be my touchstone when it comes to how I go about the world of politics.”

Casting doubt on the President’s love and loyalty for America was insulting and unfounded by any stretch of the imagination based on Obama’s birth, childhood and life path. Because Giuliani’s statement is not substantiated by fact, what was his motive? Was the former mayor “trolling” the media, as some reported in USA Today, in order to capture a week’s reporting in a debate on the President’s love of country?

Giuliani is not the only one alluding that Democrats are less than patriotic.  In an interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, former Governor of Texas Rick Perry jumped on the bandwagon to smear Hillary Clinton as she is poised to seek the Democratic nomination to run for president in 2016.

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Perry

Perry responded to recent reports that the Clinton foundation had not notified the State Department when it previously accepted a donation from a foreign nation, Perry questioned Clinton was loyal.

“I think it falls flat in the face of the American people when it comes to, are you going to trust an individual who has taken that much money from a foreign source? Where’s your loyalty?” Perry said in the interview.

The donation in question was from Algeria for $500,000 and came right after the Haiti earthquake. All of the funds were distributed for relief there. The Clinton Foundation is a nonprofit that focuses on issues like economic and leadership development and health security. Since 2010, they’ve raised a total of $36 million for Haiti efforts, according to MSNBC.

“The foundation acknowledged they should have alerted officials about the donation from the country,” they said in the report.

“As the Clinton Foundation did with all donations it received for earthquake relief, the entire amount of Algeria’s contribution was distributed as aid in Haiti,” the statement said. “This donation was disclosed publicly on the Clinton Foundation website; however, the State Department should have also been formally informed.”

Still, Perry chose to paint the oversight in policy protocol as American disloyalty.  And even more egregious and presumptive he suggested the American people would question it. Question what exactly?  How does an accidental breach in protocol equate to American disloyalty?  This kind of exaggeration casts doubt on the mayor’s real intentions. 

The tactics by Giuliani and Perry are similar to infamous Republican “whisper campaigns.”  The difference is that in “whisper campaigns” the lies, half truths, and suppositions are spread masking the perpetrator of origin to protect liability.  The two mayors in this case are overtly attempting to plant a seed of unpatriotic doubt into the minds of Americans about two of the most prominent Democrats—one the current president and the other possibly a future president.

The best way to counter this kind of propaganda is to call it out and confront vague innuendo with facts and the truth.  Still once a derogatory allusion has been broached, some people who want to believe the worst, even if it’s untrue, will do so.

As competition for the media spotlight surrounding the 2016 elections intensifies, are these seemingly casual smears an intentional, nefarious effort by Republicans to begin chipping away at the creditability of Democratic leaders? 

Running and holding public office means a candidate puts themselves, their family and reputation out for public scrutiny.  It’s not for the faint at heart or those unseasoned in the challenges of seeking a career in politics; therefore, President Obama and Mrs. Clinton will move forward prioritizing the best interests of Americans at heart as they have done throughout their careers.   

Resources

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rudy-giuliani-let-me-explain-why-i-said-obama-doesnt-love-america/

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/democrats-criticize-giuliani-comments-obamas-patriotism-29076933

Jones, Tim (March 27, 2007). "Barack Obama: Mother not just a girl from Kansas; Stanley Ann Dunham shaped a future senator". Chicago Tribune. p. 1 (Tempo).

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/02/22/obama-bush-patriotism-politicians-america-column/23842055/

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/rick-perry-questions-hillary-clinton-loyalty

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