Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Screw Up, Excuse, Repeat
If you are a swing voter concerned about Iraq (and not an idiot), John Kerry's NYU speech should swing you firmly into line behind him, because it did a fine job, and largely in one-syllable words at that, of explaining how badly fucked up Iraq is, and how Bush is responsible. If there's a single soundbite that should be repeated over and over again between now and November 2, it's this one:
Yeesh.
Recommended Reading: The Mighty Krugman. Again. If this guy isn't the best columnist in America, who is?
Also, Lean Left has a funny bit titled "GOP: Being an Asshole Is a Campaign Strategy," which assembles some of the best bits of Repug stupidity in recent years. I was pleased to be reminded that it was Oklahoma U.S. Senate candidate Tom Coburn who blasted NBC a few years back for "polluting the minds of our children"--by showing Schindler's List. Yep, nobody does ignorant like the GOP.
If you are a swing voter concerned about Iraq (and not an idiot), John Kerry's NYU speech should swing you firmly into line behind him, because it did a fine job, and largely in one-syllable words at that, of explaining how badly fucked up Iraq is, and how Bush is responsible. If there's a single soundbite that should be repeated over and over again between now and November 2, it's this one:
The president's insistence that he would do the same thing all over again in Iraq is a clear warning for the future. And it makes the choice in this election clear: more of the same with President Bush or a new direction that makes our troops and America safer. . . . If George W. Bush is reelected, he will cling to the same failed policies in Iraq--and he will repeat, somewhere else, the same reckless mistakes that have made America less secure than we can or should be.The administration's dismissals of the speech seem weirdly disconnected from reality--the rhetorical equivalent of sticking their tongues out and saying "nanny nanny boo-boo." (Which makes me think Kerry's hit pretty close to the bone.) Bush did accuse Kerry of preferring dictatorships to democracy, which makes a nice soundbite of its own, although it's ridiculous. As Juan Cole observed this morning, Iraq is no democracy, and furthermore, if we hate dictatorships so much, how come we haven't gone to war with, say, China or Russia? Cole worries that Bush's position--wave the flag, stay the course, never look back--may resonate better with voters than Kerry's because it doesn't require us to admit we were wrong. "And, maybe they have to vote for Bush to cover the embarrassment of having elected him in the first place."
Yeesh.
Recommended Reading: The Mighty Krugman. Again. If this guy isn't the best columnist in America, who is?
Also, Lean Left has a funny bit titled "GOP: Being an Asshole Is a Campaign Strategy," which assembles some of the best bits of Repug stupidity in recent years. I was pleased to be reminded that it was Oklahoma U.S. Senate candidate Tom Coburn who blasted NBC a few years back for "polluting the minds of our children"--by showing Schindler's List. Yep, nobody does ignorant like the GOP.
