Friday, October 01, 2004
Bush and Kerry's First Debate
Last night, I watched the debate at the Metropolitan Republican Club in New York, then came home and reviewed a transcript of the debate on the Fox News web site.
To Kerry's credit, he came across as poised, articulate, and on the offensive. President Bush, for the most part came across as on the defensive, but made a few good retorts.
As I suspected, Kerry went on and on about how we've snubbed our allies and insufficiently prostrated ourselves before the U.N. with regards to the war in Iraq
"First of all, he made the misjudgment of saying to America that he was going to build a true alliance, that he would exhaust the remedies of the United Nations and go through the inspections."
"And we pushed our allies aside."
Notice that ONLY when the issue of using military force comes up do liberals EVER cry about about the cost to taxpayers. It's like the only role of government in their view, is that of a sugar daddy. Try bringing up the cost of failing public education and welfare to a liberal, and you'll get roars of protest. But God forbid Americans should spend any money defending themselves and their interests...
"And so, today, we are 90 percent of the casualties and 90 percent of the cost: $200 billion -- $200 billion that could have been used for health care, for schools, for construction, for prescription drugs for seniors, and it's in Iraq."
Also, Jim Lehrer asked many inane questions, the worst of which was "What criteria would you use to determine when to start bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq?"
I mean really, do the terrorists, courtesy of their friends at Al Jazeera, need to hear this from us?
Kerry's response on whether or not he would ever launch a pre-emptive war is telling:
"No president, though all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America."
"But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons."
There's always that "BUT." And what is all this business about proving it to "the world?" Who gives a rat's behind?
President Bush's response was funny and absolutely the correct one:
"Let me -- I'm not exactly sure what you mean, 'passes the global test,' you take preemptive action if you pass a global test."
"My attitude is you take preemptive action in order to protect the American people, that you act in order to make this country secure."
Notice also that the only time Kerry *did* say he'd ever use military force (without involving our beloved "allies") was for Sudan. It's only for peace keeping missions that liberals ever advocate the use of our military.
"But I'll tell you this, as president, if it took American forces to some degree to coalesce the African Union, I'd be prepared to do it because we could never allow another Rwanda."
Finally, Kerry's comment on nuclear proliferation is quite telling:
"You talk about mixed messages. We're telling other people, "You can't have nuclear weapons," but we're pursuing a new nuclear weapon that we might even contemplate using."
Looks like somebody here has trouble distinguishing a free prosperous country that respects the rule of law, from the many rogue states in the world. Typical...
Aside from these points, President Bush could have skewered Kerry on his activities upon returning from Vietnam, (how that is NOT a valid campaign issue I don't understand.) and how his Senate voting record to date has been consistent with someone who is anti-U.S. military and soft on communism/terrorism.
To Kerry's credit, he came across as poised, articulate, and on the offensive. President Bush, for the most part came across as on the defensive, but made a few good retorts.
As I suspected, Kerry went on and on about how we've snubbed our allies and insufficiently prostrated ourselves before the U.N. with regards to the war in Iraq
"First of all, he made the misjudgment of saying to America that he was going to build a true alliance, that he would exhaust the remedies of the United Nations and go through the inspections."
"And we pushed our allies aside."
Notice that ONLY when the issue of using military force comes up do liberals EVER cry about about the cost to taxpayers. It's like the only role of government in their view, is that of a sugar daddy. Try bringing up the cost of failing public education and welfare to a liberal, and you'll get roars of protest. But God forbid Americans should spend any money defending themselves and their interests...
"And so, today, we are 90 percent of the casualties and 90 percent of the cost: $200 billion -- $200 billion that could have been used for health care, for schools, for construction, for prescription drugs for seniors, and it's in Iraq."
Also, Jim Lehrer asked many inane questions, the worst of which was "What criteria would you use to determine when to start bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq?"
I mean really, do the terrorists, courtesy of their friends at Al Jazeera, need to hear this from us?
Kerry's response on whether or not he would ever launch a pre-emptive war is telling:
"No president, though all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America."
"But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons."
There's always that "BUT." And what is all this business about proving it to "the world?" Who gives a rat's behind?
President Bush's response was funny and absolutely the correct one:
"Let me -- I'm not exactly sure what you mean, 'passes the global test,' you take preemptive action if you pass a global test."
"My attitude is you take preemptive action in order to protect the American people, that you act in order to make this country secure."
Notice also that the only time Kerry *did* say he'd ever use military force (without involving our beloved "allies") was for Sudan. It's only for peace keeping missions that liberals ever advocate the use of our military.
"But I'll tell you this, as president, if it took American forces to some degree to coalesce the African Union, I'd be prepared to do it because we could never allow another Rwanda."
Finally, Kerry's comment on nuclear proliferation is quite telling:
"You talk about mixed messages. We're telling other people, "You can't have nuclear weapons," but we're pursuing a new nuclear weapon that we might even contemplate using."
Looks like somebody here has trouble distinguishing a free prosperous country that respects the rule of law, from the many rogue states in the world. Typical...
Aside from these points, President Bush could have skewered Kerry on his activities upon returning from Vietnam, (how that is NOT a valid campaign issue I don't understand.) and how his Senate voting record to date has been consistent with someone who is anti-U.S. military and soft on communism/terrorism.
