furt
November 5, 2004, 10:51pm
21
Mirasawa:
I said HONESTLY LISTEN, and not study the opposing side like a Jew studying Hitler. I mean keep the mindset that the left and right both want what’s best for everyone, but there are different ideas on how to get there.
That would require effort. The OP seems mostly interested in whining.
Economy: Many complain that the bad economy is due to Mr. Bush, but I think it’s because of the Internet bubble burst and the aftershock of 9/11. The big question isn’t “why does the economy suck?”, but rather “could another leader have done better?”. And my assessment is that Bush did pretty good here. Granted, I thought he spent too much (he didn’t veto a single bill during his first term). But his general philosophy is far less spendy than Mr. Kerry, and Mr. Kerry had no plan of where to get the money to pay for his very expensive proposals.
Bush had no plan of where to get the money to make up for his tax cuts and I don’t think anything’s changed.
Terrorism: Mr. Kerry was adament that he would pay more attention to the U.N. in his international decisions. And I don’t believe this is wise for the security of the U.S. Mr. Bush may not always be right, but I know where he stands, and both Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry were very clear that Mr. Bush would more often take the side of the U.S. in U.S. vs. U.N. issues. And I like that.
Anti-terrorism measures need to start at home. I mean effective mesures, not this feel-good crap being pushed on us by the NSA. I saw Kerry as taking that approach.
Iraq War: There’s a lot of things that could be better here. But my assessment is that Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry both saw the same information, and both came to the conclusion that force was required in Iraq. Later, when the war was more unpopular, during the primaries, Mr. Dean said the war was a bad idea, and Mr. Kerry agreed to appease his electorate at the moment. Not only do I think Mr. Kerry flip-flopped in a big way on the war, more importantly, I don’t think that he would’ve done a better job had he been the President in 2000. In fact, I believe he would’ve done a much worse job.
We clearly don’t belong in Iraq but leaving now would create a vacuum of power. I have no doubt that Kerry knows this. The proper approach would be to leave troops in the area but with minimal presence on Iraqi soil. I don’t know if that’s possible though.