August 31, 2004, Missing the point, are we?
Well, I watched the twin GOP-heavyweights (the Sainted John McCain and St. Rudy of Giuliani) with a very limited attention span last evening. But I tend to agree with this CNN assessment, that the "big moment" (used by both speakers as their spurious justification for extending the Bush power-grab by another four years) was that asinine shot of Dubya screaming through a bullhorn at firemen on 14 September, 2001 (little mentioned is the scene of Bush frantically washing himself afterwards to get the stench of Untouchable Caste members off of his body, or his immediate rush to get the hell out of New York, a City full of people who didn't vote for him). I recall distinctly the intervening 72 hours thinking what a worthless piece of shit Bush was for his COWARDLY REFUSAL TO COME TO NEW YORK ANY EARLIER. I didn't even think about his cowardly big-9-11-adventure, or the goat story. (BTW-- I think a lot more of Michael Moore for sitting there with his big grin at the GOP Convention, flashing the victory sign... seriously... can you imagine a pussy-shit like Bush sitting in a room full of people who hate him?)
Anyway, back to the RNC...to his credit (and the reason he continues to maintain the sainted moniker, even as I do think less of him for having endorsed Bush, even though I know it kills him to do so and he is doing it purely out of duty) McCain DID NOT use the occasion to bash or belittle his friend Senator Kerry (unlike, say, Rudy the Hatchet-- in the parlance of his father's reputed family business-- who had no problem doing that, just as he had no problem indicting people he knew to be innocent as a prosecutor or inciting rogue elements of his CIty's police force to be... rogues).
McCain, however, simply did what a MAN does: tell us why he feels George W. Bush is a better choice to lead us in the War against Some Terrorists. (BTW, a "war on terror" cannot be won: the Israelis find this out the hard way even today as over a dozen people were killed in bus bombings in Beersheba, and to his credit, the President admitted that we may never actually "win" the "war on terror".)
Well, duh. I pointed this out nearly three years ago in this column: a "war on terror" is asinine, and cannot "be won" anymore than a "war on crime" or a "war on drugs". Where Bush may be wrong is that a war against Al Qaeda (and Saudi sponsored terror) may unquestionably be won... but then, we finally see Bush's sudden mature perspective (which doubtless caused Karl Rove to age several years). Kerry, to his discredit, has jumped on this with "gotcha" sound-bites, rather than a substantive engagement that the swing state voters are desperate to hear from him.
On the "Man" theme, we go back to Senator Kerry, who gave us his reaction from a windsurfing trip on Nantucket (hey, I like it there myself; haven't been to Kennebunkport, but then, no one invited me). Senator Kerry has been blowing some good opportunities lately: Bush acknowledged that there were "failures" in conducting the war of aggression against Iraq. And Bush acknowledged the war on terror cannot be won. Senator Kerry has two GOOD options (or he could do both things): (1) calmly praise the President for his NEWFOUND candor and honesty, and promise to run a calm, rational, issue based campaign that doesn't involve FAKE TERROR ALERTS and scaremongering, and (2) ask the American people to make a calm, sober reflection of whether a frat-BOY coward deserter who shit in his pants on 9-11, or a career, calm, deliberative MAN senator who saved a Nevada Senator's life with a prompt Heimlich maneuver and was brave and decisive (if not necessarily Audie Murphy) in battle in Vietnam will be a better leader through what Bush ADMITS will likely be a war we can never truly win. If I were Senator Kerry, I would tell my 'Nam buddies to go home... that point has been made enough. The folks in key-state Wisconsin (where Bush has peaked too early and now leads, albeit within the margin of error) desperately want Kerry to answer the questions of how he will crush Al Qaeda and how he will extricate us from the Iraq quagmire-- and they do NOT want the words "Viet" or "Nam" as part of their answer.
Senator Kerry's reputation is that of "a closer"; I am quite certain he knows what to do. The GOP Convention signs read "A strong nation", because of course, they have a WEAK CANDIDATE. This week, in a City that hates him, will be George W. Bush's high water mark. Starting this Labor Day weekend, the regularly scheduled melt-down will continue. And THE MAN can step forward and tell us why he can lead us in these tough times, when THE [frat]BOY cannot.
Yee ha.
Comments
Oooops--Bush now supposedly going to correct himself and claim that he does believe the war on terrorism is winnable after all. This is not a flip-flop, because he always thought so, he just wasn't clear that what he really meant was "not winnable in the sense that you will have a definite peace treaty that indicates the terrorists have given up and are submitting to our rule." Of course, this is only plausible if you don't read the second sentence of his earlier remarks, in which he indicated that the best success one could hope for was a climate of public opinion in which terrorist acts were viewed less favorably.
Also RNC now says Jenna and Barbara will introduce their mother after all--they were saying last evening that the Bush girls would not, because they were too "shy." (Shyness is what I've notice most about them over the last few months. They looked very shy in Vogue. They also seem very shy as they wheel and grin for the photographers. Jenna seemed shy when she stuck her tongue out at reporters. But I guess they've decided they can buck it up for a five-minute intro of Laura.
Posted by mamayo at August 31, 2004 05:15 PM
My suggestion to the young Bush ladies is that, if they feel at all nervous, they should just take a nice stiff drink... that will both calm them down AND loosen them up.
The whole thing is just a big laugh among not only friends (if Michael Moore feels perfectly at home among 4,800 Republican delegates, gawsh darnitall the Bush twins should), but family. Grampa Wimp is there; Auntie Doro (who is head of the Maryland delegation) is there (I wonder if Uncles Marvin or Neil are there? I'll bet Uncle JEB will be there...)
Come on, if the girls screw up, its not like Mom might kill them, or anything. I mean, its not like she's killed anyone (oh wait... she did...
Posted by the talking dog at August 31, 2004 05:44 PM
Excellent post Mr. Talking Dog. We love the way you think.
Posted by Canuck Duck at September 2, 2004 04:21 AM