First shots
This is the first of what will no doubt be a few postings about Sen. Kerry's speech tonight. All in all, it wasn't as boring as I've come to expect from him--he definitely could've done worse. But--of course--I'll take issue with some of the things spoken:
-- right off the bat, he's reporting for duty, presumably to the American people. So what on God's green earth has he been doing for the last umpty-billions of years in the Senate?
-- He talked about how the "greatest generation" brought about 50 years of peace and prosperity. And I'm thinking--which 50 years is that? I mean, since WWII, we've had Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf wars and the war on terror--so much for peace--and gas rationing and stagflation that pretty much attack the idea of never-ending prosperity. No, the greatest generation saved us from fascism, and for that we will always be in their debt--but following generations have had their own crises to deal with, and so far they have done so. Already--and this is early in the speech--he's showing a lack of understanding of reality. That doesn't bode well.
-- "I ask you to judge me on my record" Interesting--we'll do that as soon as you stay on one side of an issue for long enough for the ink to dry.
-- So much for positive politics. A shot at the VP (calling him essentially the lead agent in some shadow conspiracy), a shot at the SecDef saying that he should answer to his Officers, not the other way around as stated somewhere in THE CONSTITUTION, and a shot at the AG, basically calling him an enemy of the Constitution. Of course, he ends his speech calling for civil discourse in the weeks ahead. Easy to do when you've already fired off your best shot. (I harken back to yesterday's posting on Edwards--PLEASE, America, reject the politics of negativity!)
-- He looked back with fondness at all the great things we did in the 90's. Hmm. . .I can't get past that whole Al Qaeda/bin Laden thing. Maybe I'm a stickler, though. . .I mean, is the world really that different now than it was back then? (short answer: YES!!!! Does he realize this and is just patronizing you, or is this his alternative reality again?)
-- he kept referring to "OUR band of brothers." That seems to be a statement of political inclusion to me--as if the OTHER band of brothers doesn't deserve to speak about VietNam. I thought the Dems were trying to bring an end to the politics of inclusion. . .
-- he went back into the "facts distorted by politics" line in regards to 9/11, the commission, the ramp-up for war, etc. And I've had just about enough--the 9/11 commission cleared the administration of any wrongdoing in dealing with the "facts" as they were presented. Again, is this a patronizing act, or an act of ignorance?
-- He kept referring to the soldiers in our armed services as "kids". These "kids" are 18, can legally vote, can drink when serving overseas, and HAVE CHOSEN to serve this country. Stop being so darn patronizing!!!
-- He made a point of telling us he'd give our military 40,000 more troops, but NOT for Iraq. This, after voting against more money for Iraq. What is he saying here? And why wouldn't you put the troops where they're needed the most? That seems like poor management of the situation--didn't he speak out against that in his oft-ballyhooed youth?
-- a phrase I'd never heard before--"backdoor draft". Interesting. Entirely false in the impression it leaves the uninformed listener, but interesting.
-- he will fight terrorists by deploying, as well as our might, our "economy" and our "principles". And the terrorists must be so afraid of that! Terrorists aren't states, and therefore don't really need to worry about embargos and the such. And our "principles" are exactly why they hate us. I'm sure this "bold statement" is not going to cause the bad guys much lost sleep.
-- Why, oh why, would you talk about how 95% of the cargo ships entering our ports aren't inspected? I mean, was that common knowledge that I just didn't know? If so, then I apologize for my ignorance--but if not, then why would you all but tell terrorists how to attack this country again? Gee, I'm suddenly so very comfortable with the thought of this guy leading our nation's security. . .(tongue in cheek, of course)
-- I like this line--something about how he believes in "family, faith, hard work, opportunity and responsibility for all" That's great--except that he denies the core beliefs of his supposed faith, he has been the least Senator of the Senate this year, and he clearly wants to provide (rather than make people earn) opportunity while limiting the responsibility for most of the country.
-- didn't he talk about One America towards the end? Gee, and I thought there were two Americas. Who to believe. . .
-- right off the bat, he's reporting for duty, presumably to the American people. So what on God's green earth has he been doing for the last umpty-billions of years in the Senate?
-- He talked about how the "greatest generation" brought about 50 years of peace and prosperity. And I'm thinking--which 50 years is that? I mean, since WWII, we've had Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf wars and the war on terror--so much for peace--and gas rationing and stagflation that pretty much attack the idea of never-ending prosperity. No, the greatest generation saved us from fascism, and for that we will always be in their debt--but following generations have had their own crises to deal with, and so far they have done so. Already--and this is early in the speech--he's showing a lack of understanding of reality. That doesn't bode well.
-- "I ask you to judge me on my record" Interesting--we'll do that as soon as you stay on one side of an issue for long enough for the ink to dry.
-- So much for positive politics. A shot at the VP (calling him essentially the lead agent in some shadow conspiracy), a shot at the SecDef saying that he should answer to his Officers, not the other way around as stated somewhere in THE CONSTITUTION, and a shot at the AG, basically calling him an enemy of the Constitution. Of course, he ends his speech calling for civil discourse in the weeks ahead. Easy to do when you've already fired off your best shot. (I harken back to yesterday's posting on Edwards--PLEASE, America, reject the politics of negativity!)
-- He looked back with fondness at all the great things we did in the 90's. Hmm. . .I can't get past that whole Al Qaeda/bin Laden thing. Maybe I'm a stickler, though. . .I mean, is the world really that different now than it was back then? (short answer: YES!!!! Does he realize this and is just patronizing you, or is this his alternative reality again?)
-- he kept referring to "OUR band of brothers." That seems to be a statement of political inclusion to me--as if the OTHER band of brothers doesn't deserve to speak about VietNam. I thought the Dems were trying to bring an end to the politics of inclusion. . .
-- he went back into the "facts distorted by politics" line in regards to 9/11, the commission, the ramp-up for war, etc. And I've had just about enough--the 9/11 commission cleared the administration of any wrongdoing in dealing with the "facts" as they were presented. Again, is this a patronizing act, or an act of ignorance?
-- He kept referring to the soldiers in our armed services as "kids". These "kids" are 18, can legally vote, can drink when serving overseas, and HAVE CHOSEN to serve this country. Stop being so darn patronizing!!!
-- He made a point of telling us he'd give our military 40,000 more troops, but NOT for Iraq. This, after voting against more money for Iraq. What is he saying here? And why wouldn't you put the troops where they're needed the most? That seems like poor management of the situation--didn't he speak out against that in his oft-ballyhooed youth?
-- a phrase I'd never heard before--"backdoor draft". Interesting. Entirely false in the impression it leaves the uninformed listener, but interesting.
-- he will fight terrorists by deploying, as well as our might, our "economy" and our "principles". And the terrorists must be so afraid of that! Terrorists aren't states, and therefore don't really need to worry about embargos and the such. And our "principles" are exactly why they hate us. I'm sure this "bold statement" is not going to cause the bad guys much lost sleep.
-- Why, oh why, would you talk about how 95% of the cargo ships entering our ports aren't inspected? I mean, was that common knowledge that I just didn't know? If so, then I apologize for my ignorance--but if not, then why would you all but tell terrorists how to attack this country again? Gee, I'm suddenly so very comfortable with the thought of this guy leading our nation's security. . .(tongue in cheek, of course)
-- I like this line--something about how he believes in "family, faith, hard work, opportunity and responsibility for all" That's great--except that he denies the core beliefs of his supposed faith, he has been the least Senator of the Senate this year, and he clearly wants to provide (rather than make people earn) opportunity while limiting the responsibility for most of the country.
-- didn't he talk about One America towards the end? Gee, and I thought there were two Americas. Who to believe. . .
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