Tuesday, 05 October 2004

Comments

"This is not simply a fight against terror - terror is a tactic. This is not simply a fight against Al Qaeda, it's affiliates and adherents - they are foot soldiers. This is not simply a fight to bring democracy to the Middle East - that is an objective. This is a fight for the very ideas at the foundation of our society, the way of life those ideas enable, and the freedoms we enjoy."

R.L. Brownlee, Acting Secretary of the Army and General Peter J. Schoomaker, Chief of Staff, United States Army

Posted by: Ozzie | Oct 5, 2004 8:32:28 PM

First of all, could we please put the "ism" back in "terrorism"?

Secondly, don't tell me this war is being fought for "the very ideas at the foundation of our society". What a crock. This war was waged for one thing, and one thing only: OIL.

Iraq was never a threat to us, and only became a threat when George W. Bush destabilized the country and threw open the borders to Al Qaeda. If Iraq is a threat to our way of life, it's only because the neocons couldn't restrain their excitement and rushed into war without a plan.

George W. Bush is responsible for this mess, and no amount of flag-waving propaganda can distract from that simple fact.

NOW we have to finish this horrible war. George Bush has demonstrated that he has absolutely no capacity to lead the United States to victory in the so-called "War on Terror". It's time to elect someone who can.

Posted by: smooveJ | Oct 6, 2004 12:38:15 PM

"The president's job is not to pass global test. The president's job is to protect the American people."

The Italians, the British, and the Poles "deserve the respect of all Americans, not the scorn of a politician."

"You cannot win a war you don't believe in fighting. In Iraq, Senator Kerry has a strategy of retreat. I have a strategy for victory."

"Brush off your best friends. Fawn over your critics. That is no way to gain the respect of the world."

"Iraq is no diversion. It is the place where civilization is taking a decisive stand against chaos and terror. And we must not waver.  Unfortunately my opponent has been known to waver."

"As a senator for two decades he has built a record of weakness."

The Bush Doctrine: "Whatever it takes."

The  Kerry Doctrine: "A global test would replace American leadership. Retreat in Iraq.  A twenty year record of weakness in the Senate."

Posted by: Ozzie | Oct 6, 2004 1:01:49 PM

Dick Cheney won the debate not because he made John Edwards look like a playful puppy, though he did. He won because he drove a sword into the man who wasn't there - John F'ing Kerry.

The Democrats are going to lose this election because Americans don't trust them to manage national defense. Cheney ruthlessly reinforced that historic predilection. In other times, the vice president might have seemed a cold fish, too sober and stiff to connect with the American people. But in an age of car bombings and beheadings, he stands the supremely serious man. These are times such men are prized.

We don't want varsity lettermen with Colgate smiles. We want hard, tough, seasoned leaders who will methodically destroy the people who would kill us.

Cheney was methodical in the way he went after Kerry - not Edwards - chopping down a Massachusetts senator who tilts and totters with every stiff breeze. Kerry's fatal flaw, and Cheney knows this, is that he has wavered far too many times to ever be credible on the war.

The message the vice president drove home on Tuesday night was not so much that Kerry flip-flops, but that Kerry is supremely unserious about the most serious issue of our time.

Posted by: Vivian | Oct 6, 2004 2:10:43 PM

Want to make liberals angry?

Defend the United States.

Posted by: Southern Man | Oct 6, 2004 3:06:49 PM

The state of the Democratic Party: "Teddy Kennedy crawls out of Boston Harbor with a quart of Scotch in one pocket and a pair of pantyhose in the other, and Democrats hail him as their party's spiritual leader."

Posted by: Southern Man | Oct 6, 2004 3:14:57 PM

Would somebody please take away these guys' cut & paste privilges?

I'll respond to Ozzie, but you other three will just have to manage to come up with something original if you want to get my attention. Ozzie's original post in italics:

"The president's job is not to pass global test. The president's job is to protect the American people."

Kerry never said America needs to pass any kind of test. This is what he said during the first debate:

'I will never cede America's security to any institution or any other country.'

The Italians, the British, and the Poles "deserve the respect of all Americans, not the scorn of a politician."

Kerry et al don't have any "scorn" for the British or any of our other allies. They're merely pointing out that the Coalition of the Willing is essentially America and Britain. Even Poland has announced that it will withdraw it's 2500 troops by next year. The majority of the countries included in the coalition are contributing neither troops nor money.

"You cannot win a war you don't believe in fighting. In Iraq, Senator Kerry has a strategy of retreat. I have a strategy for victory."

Kerry's not the one who retreated from Fallujah. Kerry's not the one who outsourced the hunt for Bin Laden at Tora Bora to the Afghan warlords. If this is George Bush's definition of victory then I'll take Kerry's leadership any day.

"Brush off your best friends. Fawn over your critics. That is no way to gain the respect of the world."

POP QUIZ: Who was the first foreign leader to visit the US after 9/11?

A: Jacques Chirac, President of France. The guy who said "Today we are all Americans."

We responded with "Old Europe" and "Freedom Fries." Who's the one brushing off our best friends?

"Iraq is no diversion. It is the place where civilization is taking a decisive stand against chaos and terror. And we must not waver. Unfortunately my opponent has been known to waver."

Yeah, yeah. Kerry's a flip-flopper. Just remember, George Bush is the one who chose to go to war in Iraq and then fucked it all up. Somebody's got to pick up the pieces, and we've all seen how effective Bush has been

"As a senator for two decades he has built a record of weakness."

From johnkerry.com:

"Kerry Has Supported More than $4.4 Trillion in Defense Spending Including Voting for 16 of the Last 19 Defense Authorization Bills. He Voted for the "Largest Increase in Defense Spending Since the Early 1980's."

John Kerry is a strong supporter of the U.S. Armed Services and has consistently worked to ensure the military has the best equipment and training possible. In 2002, John Kerry voted for a large increase in the defense budget. This increase provided more than $355 billion for the Defense Department for 2003, an increase of $21 billion over 2002. This measure includes $71.5 billion for procurement programs such as $4 billion for the Air Force's F-22 fighter jets, $3.5 billion for the Joint Strike Fighter and $279.3 million for an E-8C Joint Stars (JSTARS) aircraft. Kerry's vote also funded a 4.1% pay increase for military personnel, $160 million for the B-1 Bomber Defense System Upgrade, $1.5 billion for a new attack submarine, more than $630 million for Army and Navy variants of the Blackhawk helicopter, $3.2 billion for additional C-17 transports, $900 million for R&D of the Comanche helicopter and more than $800 million for Trident Submarine conversion."

The Bush Doctrine: "Whatever it takes."

The Kerry Doctrine: "A global test would replace American leadership. Retreat in Iraq. A twenty year record of weakness in the Senate."

The Bush Doctrine: "Act first. Think never."

The Kerry Doctrine: "Foster global alliances. Rebuild Iraq. Continue to defend America."

Posted by: smooveJ | Oct 6, 2004 6:02:11 PM

man, where did all of these moron's come from? I love that they have NOTHING BETTER TO DO than to come here and paste drivel they found on freerepublic.com. I mean, shouldn't you all be doing something CONSTRUCTIVE to help turn around this election you all are LOSING? Posting retarded comments on an obscure family blog seems plainly desperate to me.

Posted by: contrapunktus | Oct 6, 2004 6:20:11 PM

vivian,

the only thing cheney won was the adoration of his mean-spirited base. But the base is a non-issue at this point, and it was stupid of cheney to continue sucking their genitals. As for the debate, Edwards crushed Cheney because he adressed his answers to real people, and had real content in what he said. Thats why all of the polls (online AND real ones) show that Edwards cleaned up in the undecided category.

take off the bush goggles, you might see a bit straighter.

Posted by: justine | Oct 6, 2004 8:24:57 PM

You must be doing something right, smoovej, to be attracting these trolls. They only attack when they feel threatened.

Posted by: Gale | Oct 7, 2004 10:37:10 AM

Hey smoovej since everyone here is playing the cut and paste game I thought I'd join in too. Nice replies to those comments.

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years.

These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage."
--Alexander Tyler's Thesis form the Cycle of Democracy

Posted by: calabane | Oct 7, 2004 1:38:31 PM

That's a hell of a quote, Calabane. Luckily, we've got a leader who is down with the Sweet Baby Jesus. Only George Bush can guide us through this period of "spiritual faith". Maybe during his second term he can declare June 10 to be National Jesus Day, instead of just Texas Jesus Day.

That IS what you meant, isn't it?

Thanks for all the help on this thread, guys. I don't know why, but the trolls have been coming on fast and strong. I think Gale's right - they're starting to bug out.

I guess that's what four years worth of cognitive dissonance will do to you. I almost feel bad for them.

Almost, but not quite.

Posted by: smooveJ | Oct 7, 2004 5:24:33 PM