The first debate – Foriegn Policy/Iraq
Ok just a few notes I made from the Bush vs. Kerry presidential debate. Anyone with feedback/answers please let me know…
1. Why does the Bush camp think that the American public is so stupid that repeating the same line over and over will win them the election?
2. Why does Kerry think he can make change in the mideast? We could go over a list of nations who have tried in the past (I think we are on that list more than once).
3.When Kerry says we should have waited for the UN, did he mean more than 10 years? Does he have a limit in mind, and when he reaches his own limit, would he criticize himself for being premature?
4. Why didn’t Bush tackle Kerry over funding for all the “Pie in the sky”, “I’m just going to make everything better” rhetoric? Kerry’s statements show either that he has no grasp of limited resources, or he believes his audience has no grasp of the concept.
5. Why does the Bush camp think that the American public is so stupid that repeating the same line over and over will win them the election?
6. It also appears that Kerry is unable to see that when you build coalitions you have to give and take. You cannot say on one hand that you are offended that US forces are doing most of the fighting, then complain on the other that you are not using US forces for every effort you deem important.
-Extra bonus question 1: What was the last war or police action the US participated in, where we didn’t spend the most money and supply the most troops?
-Extra bonus question 2: (two parts): Most times Iraq comes up for debate in my office, there is always mention of “If the US just wants peace why are we not in Africa”. Can anyone name the country that was embroiled in civil war, where we sent US troops to in Africa (under UN sanctioned effort)? What president pulled our remaining troops out, and publicly blamed the UN for their deaths (which has helped the tribal warlords to keep the country without a central government to this day)?
7. Did anyone notice Kerry trying to suck up swing votes by referring to poor, dead, Ronnie as an ideological peer?
8. Kerry said that 35 countries had better ability to make WMD than Iraq. My question is how many had used them recently (Saddam had)?
9. Kerry talked a lot about fuel rods and seems to point the finger at Bush however this article seems to put their nuclear material stockpile a bit earlier.
10. Why does the Bush camp think that the American public is so stupid that repeating the same line over and over will win them the election?
Overall appraisal:
Bush: Seemed thick and slow at times, beating his “Flip Flopper” refrain into the audience’s heads over and over. Even when he forgot the question or became confused, he still managed to work his way back to “Flip Flopping” before the red light lit. Bush has aligned himself personally with the success of the homeland security department, which may well be his downfall. If there is a successful terror attack on US soil before the election he will loose quite a bit of ground. I would have had much more respect for him if he stated the truth as it is: We cannot completely protect this country from terrorists any more than we can keep hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants out of our country, any more than we can keep thousands of tons of illegal drugs from entering this country, any more than we can keep child pornography off the internet. We can only try to do the best we can with a reasonable amount of money (the amount for homeland security is way too high when you consider the risk) to try and close the biggest holes. If a terrorist group really wants to blow something up inside the US, and are willing to give their lives to do it, they will eventually succeed.
Kerry: Apparently plans to win just by gainsaying everything Bush says, does, or has done. Even down to making sure he disagreed on how to raise children (hopefully I wasn’t the only person who noticed that one). He seems to be saying that the government isn’t doing enough because it isn’t doing everything (back to finite resources). I’m 100% sure that Kerry understands that you cannot search every single cargo container entering the US. He states that only 5% are inspected, what percentage does he deem appropriate? How does he plan to decide on an adequate level, fund, man, and manage the change? I’m sure Kerry is an intelligent man, but how can he in good concise view the increases in spending required to implement the additional processes (that he implies Bush is negligent for not having in place now) different than the tax cut that he rails against (which by the way I was and am against the Bush tax cut, but we can cover that in a tax reform post)?
All that being said I really think both parties have once again produced candidates and campaigns that are not fit for my vote. Please note that Kerry got most of the items above, but it was mostly because Bush didn’t say anything.
Now what do I do? ;-)