Ed Gillespie: Cost of war is no more than Americans spend on cosmetics

[kayleybeth]

Awhile ago I signed up for the RNC mailing list. Here is my weekly email from them. Is it just me, or do they sound desperate and pathetic? Also, notice the Freudian slip in the first sentence (in bold).

Dear Friend,

Democrats continue to play politics with the
President's international politicies, specifically
concerning the war against terror. At the same time
Democratic presidential candidates engage in political
hate speech unprecedented for any presidential contest.
While Democrats are comparing the president to a gang
leader and calling the war and Iraq a fraud the
president and republicans continue to work on
important policies to protect our homeland,
economic and national security.

It is important to remember the costs of fighting
the War on Terror are significant but the cost of
not fighting are unimaginable. Compared to similar
conflicts the cost of fighting the war in Iraq is
small. The cost for this war amounts to approximately
0.5% of Gross Domestic Product, compared with 130%
for World War II and 15% for the Korean War.

The $87 billion request for Iraq and Afghanistan is
less than 4% of the entire federal budget next year
- about the same amount as Americans spend on cosmetics.

As Team Leaders, we are dependent upon you to make sure
communities across this great nation get the FACTS.
Talk to your friends and neighbors. Tell them what a
wonderful job our President is doing and when they ask
for proof, tell them. We here in Washington, D.C.
know we alone cannot win the battle for the hearts and
minds of our fellow Americans, but with your help we
can and we will.

Thank you for all that you do for this great nation.

Sincerely,

Ed Gillespie
Chairman
Republican National Committee

Edited for HTML error

[Cooley Hurd]

1. How many people were killed by Revlon?

That's just plain silly...:eyes:

[kayleybeth]

4. My favorite

is ol' Ed accusing the Dems of politicizing shrub's "politicies". Must have written and sent this one in a hurry... didn't even proofread it.

[trumad]

2. And what do they use in the opening scene of Six feet Under?

Cosmetics....

[boxster]

3. "politicies" Isn't that more like a Bushian Slip? Let's coin a new term.

I love how they think they can explain everything away with a little fuzzy math.

If the war is wrong to begin with, it doesn't matter how "cheap" it is. What a clueless jerk.

End the war; buy more cosmetics!

[kayleybeth]

7. Somehow

I think they have had some fun with the math on this one. It would be interesting to know if the comparisons to WWII and the Korean war are made in terms of today's dollars. He also neglects to mention that the $87 billion is only a downpayment... and it is in addition to the $68 billion already appropriated.

[chaumont58]

26. No lie, like sublimnable or Is our children learning yet?

Ole Ed has been around Chimpie too long.

[salmonhorse]

5. The RNC, Republican Party...

...has gone rather unpleasantly insane and they are somehow very proud of that fact!

[SoCalDem]

6. Tammy Fay would kick ass.. send her to Iraq..NOW

:)

[grasswire]

9. hhahahahaha!

Thanks for the image, SoCal. Great laugh, and I needed it.

[madrchsod]

8. well the dumb fuck is off

about 79 billion..8 billion was spent on cosmetics....

[frank frankly]

10. this is disgusting, awful, stupid, insane

did I mention insane?

no, really, this is insanity.

Ed, you are a criminal and an asshole.

[cms424]

11. gee, only 4%

As if that is just a drop in the bucket. Of all the justifications for the war, that may be the worst one I've seen so far.

[frank frankly]

12. I think it is the worst

hands down, the worst.

of course I don't watch Faux, so I may be a little off.

[newyawker99]

32. Hi cms424!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Cha]

13. Comparing an immoral and crimes against humanity, invasion

to "buying cosmetics"...is typically reprehensible rhetoric from these souless mocksters.

[Metatron]

14. What does this mean?

"Tell them what a wonderful job our President is doing and when they ask for proof, tell them."

Tell them what?

Even the GOP cannot give any proof (sorta like the WMD thing, I suppose).

[grasswire]

15. tell it to 337 grieving mothers....

.....POS Gillespie.

Tell it to the mothers and wives and children.

What's the death of a GI worth? A tube of lipstick?

I'm fuming.

[Eloriel]

16. Oh! Great way to trivialize

just about everything: the war, the money being spent on the war, people's concerns about the war, people's concerns about the money being spent on the war ... not to MENTION that this isn't exactly a personal discretionary income expenditure!

Idiot. No, make that arrogant idiot.

Eloriel

[FauxNewsBlues]

17. Non Clark or Dean Kick

Meet the enemy folks. It isn't one of the 10 democrats.

[kayleybeth]

18. Thank you FNB

You are so right. ANY of our candidates would be better than the monsters who have control of our country right now.

[chookie]

19. Shameless

Is that *really* supposed to make anyone feel better? Does that really put things into perspective?

This stuff is bizarre. Not as bad as Brit Hume's assertion that troops were safer in Iraq than they would be in California.

Another thing they love to say is how miniscule the casualties are compared to, say, D-Day or Dunkirk. Huh?

Uh, aren't *these* the people who are always exhorting us to support the troops? I wonder how the troops feel about shit like this - that they are safer in Baghdad than they would be in LA, and that their losses are piddling few.

Jeb better not count the military ballots in 2004....

[leetrisck]

20. one tube of lipstick for one dead soldier

That's the Republican way

[whathappened]

21. dear freinds

that will get the wingnuts everytime , it makes them fill like they are part of this whole wonderful thing that is happening well jr. plays being presadant , what a hoot , sent them all off to the land of the free , iraq

[Loyal]

22. Fuck Ed Gillepsie

WHAT ABOUT THE HUMAN COSTS, ED? 350+ DEAD SOLDIERS, AND THE GRIEF OF THEIR FAMILIES? WHAT ABOUT THE EMOTIONAL TOLL ON THEM?

I'm sorry for my language and the caps, but I get so sick of hearing Republican bullshit about how Iraq is safer than D.C. for our troops, and that the war is not expensive. Makes me sick.

[ronzo]

23. Not to mention his proportionally small head....

I'm serious.

[Dubyawatchers]

24. Bet they won't ask

I bet they won't ask Americans to give up their cosmetics for a year
to help pay their war.

[QC]

25. "political hate speech unprecedented for any presidential contest"

How soon they have forgotten their '88 and '92 campaigns, two of the meanest and most empty in history.

[BiggJawn]

27. 87 Gigabucks for "lipstick on this pig"? Oh, BTW, I want PROOF!

That's a LOT of cosmetics, isn't it?

"Tell them what a
wonderful job our President is doing and when they ask
for proof, tell them."

OK, I'm waiting....Tell me WHAT, Ed?

I want PROOF that your puppet is "doing a wonderful job" what would you have your "team leaders" tell me?

He's doing a wonderful job of totally fucking up America. Such a wonderful job that it will take GENERATIONS for this country to un-fuck itself.

Tell me what, Ed?

He doesn't want to go to jail, he's bucking for that scaffold on the Mall with the higher-ups...

[ronzo]

31. LOL,

seriously. :)

[Monte Carlo]

28. Cosmetic $$$ stays in the economy. Bombs explode, and that $$$ is gone...

... pretty much forever. Military budgets generally do not produce profits.

[jiacinto]

29. "Political Hate Speech"

Gillespie is being so hypocritical here. Let's see. This is the party of the:

the Wille Horton Ad;
Jesse' Helms infamous "job applicant ad" used against Harvey Gantt;
The attacks launched against the Clintons throughout their eight years in Washington;
The ads used against then-GA Senator Max Cleland in GA during the 2002 election cycle;
Accusing Ford in 1976 of putting a black running mate on the ticket, used by Reagan;
Attacking John McCain right before the SC presidential primary in 2000 because he adopted a child from Bangladesh;

I am sure that there are tons of other instances I can think of, but I am too tired to remember them. Gillespie is being completley hypocritical.

For a party that has taken the discourse far into the gutter he has nerve to be attacking the Democrats as being the ones who engage in "political hate speech".

[jiacinto]

30. The military should be happy

At least now they can be confident in the fact that the GOP values them more than cosmetics!

[FlaGranny]

33. Another point missed -

spending on cosmetics is good for the economy. Spending on war is bad for the health of our servicemen and women and not good for the economy (except for Halliburton and friends).