Trash Talk

A New York Times editorial on Tuesday accused President Bush -- rather than his critics -- of rewriting the history of the run-up to war.

The White House immediately fired back. In the cover letter to a memo ostensibly "setting the record straight," the press office wrote: "On Tuesday we were greeted by an editorial from the newspaper that gave us Jayson Blair. 'Decoding Mr. Bush's Denial' is so replete with half-truths, misstatements, and false statements that it boggles the mind, until one recalls whence it came."

Yesterday, John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) -- decorated veteran and respected war hawk -- called on Bush to bring the troops home. "This is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion! The American public knows it. And lashing out at critics doesn't help a bit," Murtha said.

And within hours, the White House was lashing out at him.

Press secretary Scott McClellan released this statement : "Congressman Murtha is a respected veteran and politician who has a record of supporting a strong America. So it is baffling that he is endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic party. The eve of an historic democratic election in Iraq is not the time to surrender to the terrorists. After seeing his statement, we remain baffled -- nowhere does he explain how retreating from Iraq makes America safer."

In the midst of last year's down-and-dirty presidential race, the Bush White House outwardly tried to take the high road, leaving the nastier and more sarcastic attacks in most cases to people not being paid with taxpayer funds.

But in its current defense of the war, as Michael A. Fletcher points out in a Washington Post news analysis, the White House itself is doing the trash talking.

"These tactics have worked before -- never more so than during Bush's successful reelection bid in 2004. And it is not a coincidence that they are being revived now. White House officials say they are quite consciously borrowing tested campaign techniques -- aggressive opposition research and blistering partisan invective, to name two -- to lift Bush out of his current problems of mounting criticism and falling public support for the Iraq war."

After laying out the two examples mentioned above, Fletcher writes: "Such trash-talking of opponents is commonplace for politicians in campaign mode. Even in the context of a polarized capital, it is noteworthy for a White House to strike such a tone in making its case on a sensitive national security issue. Bush aides suggested that if they sound as though they are waging a campaign, it is because a campaign is being waged against them.

"'One way to look at it is that the need to respond aggressively is born out of the audacity of the Democratic attacks,' said Nicolle Wallace, White House communications director. '. . . We recognized the need to set the record straight in a way that hasn't been necessary since the campaign.'

Wallace was on NBC's "Today Show" this morning, and Katie Couric asked her about the latest memo.

"Was it appropriate then in your view for White House press secretary Scott McClellan to say Murtha endorsed, quote, policy positions of Michael Moore and the liberal wing of the Democratic party?"