The Politics of Distraction

It has been announced that the verdict in the Saddam Hussein trial will be handed down on November 5. The sentence could come the same day, if Saddam is found guilty. How ironic that the decision will come two days prior to the November 7 midterm elections. The timing is all too coincidental. Another ploy by the current GOP administration in collaboration with the Iraqi administration to alter public opinion immediately prior to the vote? A conviction and death sentence would indeed lend credence to Bush's casus belli and distract the American public from the real issues.

The tactic of planting these political seeds in the minds of the American people is nothing new. The vote to authorize the President's power to wage war came just weeks prior to the last midterm election. Retaliation sentiment peaked and a vote against the resolution would have been tantamount to political suicide in a candidate's bid for office. Terrorist plots have been revealed at the time most opportune for the Administration.

In related developments House Speaker Dennis Hastert will announce that he has irrefutable proof that the Democrats were behind the plot to assail the good name and character of ex-Representative, Mark Foley. The GOP leadership contends that Foley's use of the Internet to entice young boys was an elaborate entrapment scheme created by the Democrats, namely Al Gore, the inventor of the Internet. This announcement will come on November 6, if not leaked before hand.