Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Vice Presidential Debate
I just finished watching the vice presidential debate. I hate to say it, but I kind of wish Dick Cheney did the first presidential debate as well. He came across, for the most part, as sharp, knowledgeable, and in command of the situation. Although I thought some of his responses were weak, he never seemed to falter.
John Edwards, I have to say, is quite the pretty boy. To his credit, he also came across as very relaxed, articulate and warm, which will probably go over well with some women.
Anyway, here are some of the things the candidates said that jumped out at me:
Regarding Iraq/Al Qaida/9/11
John Edwards kept repeating that Iraq didn't attack us on 9/11...that there's no connection between Iraq and Al Qaida...
Dick Cheney's response to this was weak. No mention was made of Czech intelligence reports of meetings between Mohammed Atta and Iraqi intelligence.
Likewise, no mention was made of the Iraqi documents obtained by CNS News
On another note, Gwen, the interviewer from PBS asked some good questions. The one I liked best was "What is a global test if not a global veto?
Edwards' response was typical.
He wants to "tell the world the truth... He says it's "critical that we be credible..." And "what we say at the UN" should hold weight (I'm paraphrasing this last part.)
So my question is why? Critical to whom? Why do they make the U.N out to be a hallowed moral arbiter of world affairs when it's nothing but a group of rogue states who hate America? Who cares what rogue states think of America?
Regarding Kerry's Senate voting record, Cheney did a good job of listing what the Senator voted against, which President Bush didn't do. He mentioned El Salvador, and how that country held elections despite the chaos there, comparing it to Iraq. Cheney should have also brought up the fact that Kerry supported the communist puppet regime of the Sandinistas, but unfortunately didn't.
After the debate, some of the Fox News commentators said that Cheney won the first part of the debate, and Edwards the second half. But I'm not so sure. It was in the second half of the debate where I saw the full extent of Edwards' bullshitting abilities. Here are some quotes that struck out at me:
"Millionaires sitting by their swimming pools" (when discussing rolling back tax cuts on people making $200K or more per year)
"People earning salaries pay more taxes than these millionaires"
"tax cuts for multimillionaires"
Vice President Cheney correctly pointed out that rolling back tax cuts on people making $200K or more would hurt small business...that 7 out of 10 jobs are now created by small businesses.
Regarding health care, here are a few more doozie quotes from Edwards:
"see to it that everything (the healthcare) available to memebers of Congress is available to all Americans"
"We'll stand up to the drug companies and the insurance companies"
Really? And who is to pay for all these goodies? The Tooth Fairy?
Regarding jobs:
(We'll) "invest in jobs"
"get rid of bureaucratic spending in Washington"
Sounds like an oxymoron to me!
John Edwards, I have to say, is quite the pretty boy. To his credit, he also came across as very relaxed, articulate and warm, which will probably go over well with some women.
Anyway, here are some of the things the candidates said that jumped out at me:
Regarding Iraq/Al Qaida/9/11
John Edwards kept repeating that Iraq didn't attack us on 9/11...that there's no connection between Iraq and Al Qaida...
Dick Cheney's response to this was weak. No mention was made of Czech intelligence reports of meetings between Mohammed Atta and Iraqi intelligence.
Likewise, no mention was made of the Iraqi documents obtained by CNS News
On another note, Gwen, the interviewer from PBS asked some good questions. The one I liked best was "What is a global test if not a global veto?
Edwards' response was typical.
He wants to "tell the world the truth... He says it's "critical that we be credible..." And "what we say at the UN" should hold weight (I'm paraphrasing this last part.)
So my question is why? Critical to whom? Why do they make the U.N out to be a hallowed moral arbiter of world affairs when it's nothing but a group of rogue states who hate America? Who cares what rogue states think of America?
Regarding Kerry's Senate voting record, Cheney did a good job of listing what the Senator voted against, which President Bush didn't do. He mentioned El Salvador, and how that country held elections despite the chaos there, comparing it to Iraq. Cheney should have also brought up the fact that Kerry supported the communist puppet regime of the Sandinistas, but unfortunately didn't.
After the debate, some of the Fox News commentators said that Cheney won the first part of the debate, and Edwards the second half. But I'm not so sure. It was in the second half of the debate where I saw the full extent of Edwards' bullshitting abilities. Here are some quotes that struck out at me:
"Millionaires sitting by their swimming pools" (when discussing rolling back tax cuts on people making $200K or more per year)
"People earning salaries pay more taxes than these millionaires"
"tax cuts for multimillionaires"
Vice President Cheney correctly pointed out that rolling back tax cuts on people making $200K or more would hurt small business...that 7 out of 10 jobs are now created by small businesses.
Regarding health care, here are a few more doozie quotes from Edwards:
"see to it that everything (the healthcare) available to memebers of Congress is available to all Americans"
"We'll stand up to the drug companies and the insurance companies"
Really? And who is to pay for all these goodies? The Tooth Fairy?
Regarding jobs:
(We'll) "invest in jobs"
"get rid of bureaucratic spending in Washington"
Sounds like an oxymoron to me!
