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Cleaning Up the Nation
Austin Bay:
If Air America were a conservative radio network its corrupt funding trail and cynical abuse of a poverty program would be front page news at the NY Times and full-time mega-scandal at
Rank Materialism
Freedom. I am now the proud new owner of a Gateway 6020GZ laptop, perfect for students and others with limited means. I can now go into a Starbucks or a Barnes & Noble and look like I'm doing some
Fallujah Fonda
Uh-oh. From the Telegraph comes this exciting news:
Jane Fonda is returning to anti-war activism and embarking on a cross-country tour to call for an end to US military operations in Iraq.
Acros
John Pilger: Partner in Terrorism
In an outrageous piece of terrorist propaganda appearing on the cover of today's New Statesman, John Pilger puts the blame for the 7/7 London attacks not on the terrorists, but rather on Tony Blair:
Further Thoughts
I have already conceded that Kerry won on style and on debating forensics (a word for which I was searching earlier and which Pej has reminded me exists for that purpose, among others). He seemed much more "there" than did Bush, which will help him a lot, I think.
But after those first impressions die down, it's time to take note of what the candidates actually said, and what we can infer about what that'll mean for the future.
Clearly, Kerry's "global test" quote was his low point. It was obvious to me that he came up with that phrase off the top of his head; it certainly wasn't prepared beforehand. This spur-of-the-moment locution demonstrates his true feelings on the matter more than a practiced (and focus-grouped) turn of phrase would.
Kerry is simultaneously saying that he won't be beholden to foreign powers when it comes to defending the US, but on the other hand, any action he takes will need to pass this global test. It's hard to know how those two can be reconciled. As with the question of the Iraq war itself, Kerry must straddle the significant schism within the Democratic Party. But based upon his anti-war activism and Senate record, I believe Kerry is more in tune with the global approval way of thinking.
When specifically asked by Jim Lehrer whether he would prefer bilateral or multilateral talks with North Korea, Kerry said "both", which will play right into the Republican line on his indecisiveness and tendency to "mixed messages".
Kerry criticized Bush for not being multilateral enough on Iraq and for being too multilateral on NoKo and Afghanistan (the cheesy "outsourcing" bit). It seems that where Bush is being multilateral, unilateralism would be better, and vice versa. While this could be possible, it doesn't pass the smell test, though it won't be an easy point for the Republicans to take advantage of- it's a bit complicated. It does however underline the fact that Kerry hasn't said much about what he'd do in the future other than to gainsay whatever the president has said- a promise to do the opposite. He's Not Bush. That's not enough.
Significantly, in Iran and Sudan, multilateralism is failing miserably, and neither candidate pointed this out. Kerry didn't because he intends to do nothing. Bush didn't because he intends to do something, I suspect, but thinks that it would be unpopular to say so. He's probably right. There may be a little bit of FDR-style public denial going on within the administration. I certainly hope there is.
As for what Bush did say, there wasn't much, or anything really, that was new. He's been president for nearly four years, so I guess this shouldn't be surprising. Stay the course in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. That seems to me to be a good plan. I don't believe that the violence in Iraq is as threatening to our strategy there as many others do. I'm not expecting a bold new plan because I don't think it's necessary.
So as the performance aspects of last night's show evaporate, it's clear that Bush is the candidate who'll be the more active defender of the US and the West. This is the only issue that matters this year.
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© 2002-2006
Brian O'Connell.


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