MOTTO: (To be stated slowly, in a deep, slow voice.) George. W. Bush. Bring. It. On.* (Then, more quickly, and in a whiny baritone voice) *(Except you can't mention 9/11. That's politicizing it. Or my lack of an jobs and economic policy. That's just out. Oh, and you can't talk about my Vietnam service. [I served in Vietnam. Did you know that?] Also, no discussing of my habit of marrying heiresses. That's just too personal. Of course, it is wildly unfair to bring up my voting record in the Senate. It means you're questioning my patriotrism, and I fought in Vietnam. Did I mention that? You may not remind the voters that I am from Massachussetts, nor that my voting record is among the most liberal in the Senate. That is being divisive. And, especially, you should never point out that I take multiple, contradictory stances on virtually every policy choice, whether it's important or not. That is nuance, and you're too stupid to understand nuance, so cut it out. Finally, forget bringing up my record on Iraq and/or the Patriot Act and/or Homeland Security. I am definitely foragainst all of them, and it's none of the business of the American people, anyway. [Besides, since I served in Vietnam {did I mention that before?} I should get a slide on these. Other than that, [return to sonorous, supercilious, snotty French voice] Bring. It. On.)** **Above is subject to change, emendent, retraction, or nuancization without prior notice.
LOL. Kerry calls the administration a the "worst bunch of liars" etc he's ever seen, then whines that they are engaging in negative campaigning. Of course, no one wants to run on the promise of a $900 billion tax increase.
>Finally, forget bringing up my record on Iraq and/or >the Patriot Act and/or Homeland Security. I am >definitely foragainst all of them, ROFLAO. That one got me. JB
Interesting, I never heard nor saw print of Kerry "promising" a $900 billion tax increase. I know some Republican pundits interpolated from a variety of Kerry's statements and proceeded to do a rough estimate of what they assumed would happen, but Kerry denied ever having said such a thing. As to negativity in this campaign, I found it further interesting that after Kerry's off-the-cuff "worst bunch of liars" gaff the Republican mucky-mucks at all levels were absolutely aghast (must've offended their delicate sensibilities, LOL), immediately demanded an apology, and came out with strong statements against such "negative commentary" at the presidential-campaign level. And then the very next day the RNC blanketed 18 states with negative television ads!! This is not a defense of Kerry, for whom I do not trust and will probably not vote, but just an observation about the willingness of Republicans to totally discount their own actions while decrying the same actions of their opposition. Guess that's politics at it's finest. Anyway, McCain was right, this is already shaping up to be the ugliest presidential campaign in memory.
So be it. It was bound to happen considering the charged issues on terrorism and the economy that we're dealing with here. I sincerely hope that voter turnout will hit north of 60% in '04. Hypocrisy on both sides was expected, though I have yet to see any substantive policy proposals from Kerry about anything. Negativity and hypocrisy will be the status quo until an actual policy debate is introduced. Unfortunately I think Kerry is still trying to buy time to figure out where he stands on the major issues.
amen to that. "But we're the good guys! We're conservatives and we love god and jesus (and hate, I mean HATE that dirty allah) and therefore everything we do is OK no matter what it is because WE love jesus and that makes us right no matter what."
I was using the term "promise" in the context of "inevitable" or "highly likely", as in dark clouds carry the "promise " of a thunderstorm. I did not say he "promised" a big tax increase, although it is about as obvious as anything can be that he will try to push for one the minute he is elected, just as the liar Clinton did. Of course, like the liar Clinton, he claims it will not hit the middle class, but this is hard to credit, particularly since unlike Ckinton, Kerry has never actually met any middle class people. When one tried to question him recently at a supposed "town hall" meeting as to which foreign leaders were rooting for him, Kerry was aghast at the fellow's obvious lack of respect for his betters and told him to "shut up." You repeat the media's mistake in failing to distinguish between personal attacks, which I would call "negative campaigning" and pointing out a candidate's record or the likely effect of his proposals, which I would call a policy debate. Obviously, Kerry is engaging in the former and wants no part of the latter. Hence, he and his media cheerleaders label any attempt by Bush to criticize the Kerry record as "negative." Just to make it clear, spreading stories about Kerry's girlfriend(s) would be negative. Suggesting that he won medals for awfully routine duty in Nam would probably also be negative. Showing pictures of him with Hanoi Jane Fonda would not be negative, because it is part of his political career and is very relevant to his judgment. Also, he has indicated he is very proud of this history of calling our soldiers who were still facing the enemy or in POW hellholes "war criminals" and "baby killers", so I don't see how that could be deemed negative. Pointing out that he is the biggest recipient of special interest money over the past 19 years is not negative. It is very relevant to how he sees his role and for whom he is working. Similarly, an ad calling him the most liberal member of the 2003 session would not be negative. It raises an important policy difference between him and Bush. Saying that he looks "french" is negative. Pointing out that his wife owns a million bucks worth of WMT would be negative, but now it is not because he has put the issue of global trade in play. Similarly, it would not be negative to point out that the Heinz company operates 90 % of its plants overseas. I'm not holding my breath for Tom Brokaw to ask him if Heinz exec's are Benedict Arnolds, though.
On the flip side, making the unsubstantiated claim that Bush was AWOL (and therefore a felon) while in the Air National Guard is negative campaigning. Accusing Bush of lying to the world about WMDs to launch a war in Iraq when at the time every other country's intelligence organization -- as well as Kerry and his colleague Kennedy -- agreed with the intelligence assessment is negative campaigning. Accusing Bush of sending troops into combat without proper battle armor when Kerry himself voted against the reconstruction bill that would've funded said body armor is negative campaigning. Blaming the Bush administration for the loss of over 3 million jobs in the US without any explanation as to which specific policies caused the job loss is negative campaigning. Implying that the Bush administration was responsible for corporate malfeasance such as Enron's when most of Enron's corruption took place during the Clinton administration is negative campaigning.
just so you know: *I attacked and took over 2 countries. *I spent the U.S. surplus and bankrupted the US Treasury. *I shattered the record for the biggest annual deficit in history (not easy!). *I set an economic record for the most personal bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period. *I set all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the stock market. *I am the first president in decades to execute a federal prisoner. *In my first year in office I set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history (tough to beat my dad's, but I did) *After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, I presided over the worst security failure in US history. *I set the record for most campaign fund raising trips by any president in US history. *In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their jobs. *I cut unemployment benefits for more o! ut-of-work Americans than any other president in US history. *I set the all-time record for most real estate foreclosures in a 12-month period. *I appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history. *I set the record for the fewest press conferences of any president, since the advent of TV. *I signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any other US president in history. *I presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed. *I cut health care benefits for war veterans. *I set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind. *I dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history. *I've made my presidency the most secretive and unaccountable of any in US history. *Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (The poorest multimillionaire, Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her.) *I am the first president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously struggle against bankruptcy. *I presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud in any market in any country in the history of the world. *I am the first president in US history to order a US attack AND military occupation of a sovereign nation, and I did so against the will of the United Nations and the vast majority of the international community. *I have created the largest government department bureaucracy in the his! tory of the United States, called the "Bureau of Homeland Security"(only one letter away from BS). *I set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any other president in US history (Ronnie was tough to beat, but I did it!!). *I am the first president in US history to compel the United Nations remove the US from the Human Rights Commission. *I am the first president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the Elections Monitoring Board. *I removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history. *I rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant. I withdrew from the World Court of Law. *I refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions. *I am the first president in US history to refuse ! United Nations election inspectors access during the 2002 US elect ions. *I am the all-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations. *The biggest lifetime contributor to my campaign, who is also one of my best friends, presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation). *I spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history. *I am the first president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied, saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1) *I am the first US president to establish a secret shadow government. *I took the world's sympathy for the US after 9/11, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history). *I am the first US president in history to have a majority of the people of ! Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability. *I changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts. *I set the all-time record for the number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling their huge investments in corporations bidding for gov't contracts. *I have removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history. *I entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down. *RECORDS AND REFERENCES: I have at least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine (Texas driving record has been erased and is not available). *I was AWOL from the National Guard and deserted the military during time of war. *I refuse to take a drug test or even answer any questions about drug use. (wink,wink) *All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have bee! n spirited away to my fathers library, sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view. *All records of any SEC investigations into my insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view. *All minutes of meetings of any public corporation for which I served on the board are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view. *Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP) attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review. With Love, GEORGE W. BUSH
If you were against the war in Afghanistan, then you were part of a very small minority. History will be the judge of how successful Iraq is. The majority of the surplus evaporated with the recession he inherited from Clinton. As a % of GDP, this deficit is on the low end of deficits that follow a recession. Another legacy of the recession that began before he took office. See above If you're philosophically against capital punishment, then no answer would help you there. Yet he managed to push through education reform, two major tax cuts, Medicare legislation, all while prosecuting the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq and helping the Republicans gain control of the Senate. Pretty high productivity if you ask me. That's like saying that FDR was responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor or Bush I was responsible for the northern CA earthquake. He didn't want to break the fundraising rules and actively raise money directly from the Whitehouse as his predecessor did! Again, the recession. Man, how many times do I have to repeat myself? Completely unsubstantiated. Didn't he extend unemployment benefits twice in the aftermath of 9/11? The recession yet again. Why don't you fault Clinton for creating the Internet bubble in the first place? Where's the proof? I've never heard of this claim before in the news. Some people would consider that a good thing. Nothing "amended" the Constitution. In fact, there have been no amendments to the Constitution since the 27th, which was first proposed in 1789 and received final ratification in 1992. You obviously consider such things as the Patriot Act as gross violations of the Constitution, which is entirely your own personal opinion. I'll probably agree with you that Bush could've done more, though I think most would agree that the 1970's oil embargo was a far worse crisis in terms of economic impact. Just because Howard Dean said it doesn't make it true. The VA budget increased from $48B to $64B since Bush took office. The VA did recently established a new rule saying that veterans with no medical problems relating to their service and an income above a certain threshold are not eligible for VA care. The rule affects an estimated 164,000 people. Just like the people who held hands around the world to protest Reagan's decision to put intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe. Taking bold moves to deal with real threats tend to be controversial. It doesn't make it wrong. Um. Okay, there's the Kyoto Treaty, which not one country ratified and which was defeated by the US Senate 99-0. There's the ABM treaty, which was signed with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and whose removal has led to the mutual reduction of US/Russian missiles by two-thirds. The Biological Weapons Convention, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and Convention on the Prohibition of Landmines are all unverifiable. Says you? How did you measure that? And if Kerry's elected, the first lady's $600M fortune will trump all of them put together. Largely a result of (1) the inherited recession, and (2) the profligate behavior of local governments during the boom times. Do you want the federal government to bail out the states for growing their budgets by three times the rate of inflation? Most of the corporate malfeasance took place during the previous administration. It was the Bush administration that was left to clean up the mess. Reorganization of existing departments under a single umbrella for better efficiency and cross-communication doesn't equate to "creating" a completely new bureaucracy. Besides, wouldn't you agree that a major reorganization after 9/11 was necessary? I'd agree with you on that one, mainly because I think that the war costs should've been offset by cuts in domestic programs. Having placed Libya at the head of that commission, I think the UN officially made it a farce. I can't comment on that one, since I never read about it. But, considering the previous question, I'm not too shocked by what the UN does. Certainly a strange statement. Not sure how you would objectively measure that in a historical context. Anyway. I'm getting tired of responding to your outrageous claims, so I'll end here. Hopefully what I've addressed so far will expose the fact that most of your claims are simply what you've heard in the liberal echo chamber.