War Is War Mr. Kerry
October 29, 2004
Frankly, it grows tedious to hear John Kerry talk about the war on terror. A statement I just watched him make on Fox News a moment ago in response to the Osama Bin Laden tape circulating today emphasizes his inability to give a coherent plan to fight terror. He is totally absorbed in the political calculation of his statements.
Under his administration, “we will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down terrorists wherever they are in the world.”
Does this include Iraq? And if not, why? I thought it was the “wrong war, wrong place, wrong time.” And what specifically would he have done differently? Merely saying “I would have gone after Osama Bin Laden and not Saddam Hussein” is an answer not only blind to the circumstances but crying out for specifics. And the very fact that OBL is broadcasting this message implies his complicity in all that is happening in Iraq now which means he had a stake there before the war.
No matter how much guys like Andrew Sullivan and Daily Kos want to criticize Bush for the handling of the war, they must as vigorously criticize John Kerry for such a politically calculated statement so inconsistent with his campaign rhetoric and political record.
Sphere: Related ContentEnough
October 29, 2004
Hoosier Review has hit the nail on the head:
“I must be completely alone in harboring the belief that the butchers now beheading Western hostages and blowing apart innocent Iraqis are themselves to blame for their primordial depravity - not ‘intelligence failures’ on our part or any mistakes made in Iraq’s postbellum theatre.”
Great point.
Sphere: Related ContentFreedom, The Press and This Election
October 29, 2004
As a conservative who has worked professionally and as a volunteer in Republican politics for the last 20 years, I cannot remember a time when I didn’t want to give the liberal press a good kick in the shin on a daily basis. This election year is no different and in many ways underscores those unrelieved frustrations. But there is a much brighter side to the emotions I feel. It’s called the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
No, I am not about to go off on some “anybody can say anything about anything in any manner for any purpose under any circumstances with any bad intention providing for any destructive end” sort of defense of free speech. There are reasonable limits like slander, defamation and libel and others which this commentary is not intended to address. (Go here if you want to delve deeper into that subject). But I will say that the limits to free speech should be significantly small–falling within the range of negligible to none. This allows for a media frenzy which is uncomfortable to all of us. I believe that is a good thing. And I don’t believe it is unfair to any candidate–whether I like him or not–to endure the scorn of any media outlet whether they are disseminating truth or falsehood. This was difficult for me to accept in the 70’s and 80’s when the broadcast media were consolidated among clearly liberal choices. But–as far as my concerns needed to be addressed–Reagan won, so their actual effect was more limited than my perception could perceive. And I am sure those with a different perspective than mine can find their own examples of winning their cause despite oppressive media criticism.
So now we come to the election of 2004: the press has deconsolidated into multiple cable outlets; Rush Limbaugh has spawned dozens of radio talk shows (mostly conservative but some liberal); and the moonlighting Blogsphere is uncovering valid stories which traditional advertisement-supported media usually miss. This is much like it was when our country first exercised its free speaking muscles, and as it always does it will sort things out for us again.
It’s clear that the New York Times desired an October surprise with its errant article about missing weapons in Al Qaqaa, Iraq. The story is falling apart all around us because they took the first bit of bad information they could use against the candidate they opposed. This is always to be expected in a political season, and it happens on both sides of the issue. It’s the nature of the political “game.” Great campaigns adjust for these eventualities with excellent long and short term planning as last-minute attacks reveal themselves. The Bush campaign gets a B-, in my opinion, on how it has handled the Al Qaqaa story. They’re not out of the woods yet, but when the real information is uncovered in the broadcast media and circles around the blogsphere, our guarantee of a free press will once again play its proper role as the protector of our freedom–even with all the mess necessary to do so.
I still want to kick The New York Times in the shin. But I take solace in the fact that the truth is quickly coming on the heels of artifice. And this is the wonderful, disquieting beauty of our political process.
Long live The Truth!–and the ENTIRE First Amendment.
Sphere: Related ContentVote For Our Dad
October 29, 2004
Here’s some great “inside the Bush campaign” video presented by Jenna and Barbara Bush. Click here for the video to pop up immediately in Windows. Or click the link below to go to the site.
GeorgeWBush.com :: Vote For Our Dad
Sphere: Related ContentVoices of Iraq
October 29, 2004
Confessions Of A Political Junkie directs us to an important film work which documents the conditions in Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s regeime in the eyes of Iraqis:
Sphere: Related Content“It is often speculated by members of the left and certain members of the mainstream media that the people of Iraq were better off under Saddam Hussien.
I’ve often said a great campaign commercial would be for the President or a 527 to have Iraqi citizens tell about the horrors of Saddam’s regime. Well, not quite my idea, but a movie is coming out called Voices of Iraq that lets the Iraqis tell their story in their own words.”
Kerry and the Kitchen Sink
October 28, 2004
John Kerry comes out swinging on George Bush’s Iraq policy today by saying he is going to use “the Bush Test” to evaluate the President’s own performance in the War in Iraq. Using a rhetorical tongue lashing by turning the President’s own words back on him, Kerry continues to use the discredited missing explosives story which many news organizations, including FOX News, showed were already gone from the Al Qaqaa facility back in April 2003 (according to archived news reports). Yet Kerry’s brash statements against the Iraq policy continue:
“In speeches in Madison and earlier in Toledo, Ohio, Kerry launched a withering attack on Bush over 380 tons of explosives that disappeared from an Iraqi military facility around the time of the U.S.-led invasion last year.
He also chided his rival for invoking the memory of President John Kennedy and drew a contrast between the way Kennedy dealt with the bungled Bay of Pigs operation in Cuba and how Bush has handled Iraq.”
Kerry threw the words back at the president during an appearance in Toledo, where he announced he was going “to apply the Bush standard” and declared: “Mr. President, I agree with you.”
“George Bush jumped to conclusions about 9/11 and Saddam Hussein,” he said. “George Bush jumped to conclusions about weapons of mass destruction … George Bush jumped to conclusions about how the Iraqi people would receive our troops. He not only jumped to conclusions, he ignored the facts he was given.”
These statements can only be accounted for as an attempt to gin up his base and use the media to reduce the gains President Bush has been making in these last weeks. Though the polls are wavering daily, many internal polls are pointing to problems for Kerry in states like Ohio, Michigan and New Jersey where the President is doing much better than expected. By reminding his base of their already strong belief that the President lied about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programs, Kerry encourages stronger turnout within his faltering base. And the media’s coverage of Kerry’s speeches have been largely biased toward the Massachusetts Senator by ignoring growing evidence that the military did not allow weapons to slip into the hands of terrorists. And the media as well have yet to give substantial coverage of The Washington Times’ investigation showing that Russia may have helped Iraq send banned weapons to Syria in the weeks leading up to the war.
Look for the Kerry attacks and media obfuscation to continue. The last-minute mudslinging has only just begun. Kerry hopes for his sake that both camps look like two children fighting in the sandbox. In so doing, a juvenile Kerry brings President Bush down from his mature perception in the eyes of the voters.
It just may work.
Yahoo! News - Kerry Uses Bush’s Own Words to Call Him Unfit
Sphere: Related Content. . .On the Clinton UN Watch.
October 28, 2004
Former President Bill Clinton sat down with Diane Sawyer for a personal interview recently. They discussed many topics abou this personal life and his future ambitions. In true Clinton form, the former President did not fully dispel rumors of his interest in the UN Secretary General position.
“There have been rumors that Clinton would like to be secretary general of the United Nations, or head of the World Bank. Asked about these, the former president said, ‘Once you’ve been president, if you want another job, those are about the only two that you know that might be appealing. They’re very important jobs.’But he added he didn’t know where the rumors got started. ‘As far as I know there’s no campaign under way or support for that,’ he said. ‘And neither does either one of them have a vacancy right now. And I strongly support the current occupants of both offices.”
This comes from a man who has not yet settled his mind on the meaning of “is” and who didn’t have “sex with that woman” before he did have “inappropriate relations” with her.
Clinton is a master with the trial balloon. He is clearly interested in becoming Secretary General of the UN or he would flatly deny it here. Quite the opposite, he perceives this position as a step up for him.
Look for this story to develop. And if he continues on this path, watch for Hillary to stay out of the Presidential race in 2008. It will be impossible for the American people to countenance a Clinton running the United States and the United Nations at the same time.
ABC News: Exclusive: Clinton’s Plans for the Future
Sphere: Related ContentThe Effect of the Undecideds
October 27, 2004
The Kerry Spot on National Review Online has published an analysis of undecideds and their effect on the election state by state.
Go read it here.
It makes for interesting reading and may say something about what is going on out there. I think it says that Bush will win, but I am not sure what I see in the polls at this stage of the game.
Still calling it 300+ EV for the President. It’s a gut call. I believe the undecideds will break for him last minute.
Sphere: Related ContentSacrificing Israel
October 27, 2004
Charles Krauthammer has a good idea why John Kerry cannot point to any foreign policy initiative which will bring our allies back on board with the United States in Iraq. Despite the fact that Kerry relentlessly claims he will bring us back into favor with our allies, “the problem for Kerry is that he cannot explain just how he proposes to do this,” says Krauthammer. It seems he is just throwing words out about reversing “our isolation from our allies” to win an election. But is this really the case? Krauthammer makes this assertion.
“He really does want to end America’s isolation. And he has an idea how to do it. For understandable reasons, however, he will not explain how on the eve of an election.
Think about it: What do the Europeans and the Arab states endlessly rail about in the Middle East? What (outside of Iraq) is the area of most friction with U.S. policy? What single issue most isolates America from the overwhelming majority of countries at the United Nations?”
Read more by linking to the article herel
Sphere: Related ContentDRUDGE: ABC News Holds Terror Tape
October 27, 2004
BREAKING NEWS: From the The Drudge Report
Drudge is reporting some information which ABC News has gathered on the terrorism watch.
Drudge says, “In the last week before the election, ABCNEWS is holding a videotaped message from a purported al Qaeda terrorist warning of a new attack on America, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
The terrorist claims on tape the next attack will dwarf 9/11. ‘The streets will run with blood,’ and ‘America will mourn in silence’ because they will be unable to count the number of the dead. Further claims: America has brought this on itself for electing George Bush who has made war on Islam by destroying the Taliban and making war on Al Qaeda.
ABCNEWS strongly denies holding the tape back from broadcast over political concerns during the last days of the election.
The CIA is analyzing the tape, a top federal source tells the DRUDGE REPORT.”
Here’s the complete story.
Sphere: Related Content
