I had a few days off so I didn't post for a while. I guess I'm gearing up for the Repugs convention. The last few weeks have been dominated, of course, by the Swift Boat Veterans and their attacks on Kerry. Their allegations have been pretty much thoroughly discredited with every piece of available documentation backing Kerry's version of events. In many cases, the statements of these veterans contradict earlier statements they made that are complimentary to Kerry.
Here's the story: a group of Vietnam vets are pissed at Kerry for saying what he did when he came back and are doing whatever they can to get back at him. End of story. John O'Neill, the ringleader, was a Nixon errand boy versus Kerry 30 years ago. Imagine his bitterness: his sworn enemy has been in the US Senate for more than 20 years and is months away from assuming the presidency.
Bush doesn't have much to sell himself on, frankly, except for the fact that he didn't cry publicly after 9-11. I like conspiracies as much as anyone but I don't buy into most of the Bush crime family theories. More importantly to me, this Administration is one of the most incompetent in history. It's hard to argue otherwise. Here are ten good reasons he shouldn't be reelected.
10) The latest numbers show over a million more Americans in poverty and over a million more without insurance. These numbers are typically released in mid-September but since they suck so bad, the Administration rushed to release them in August, when the media would pretty much sleep on them. Hey, they were right.
9) Bush shouldn't be reelected for this simple reason: to piss off the media. Why they are in love with this simple man who failed at everything he did before assuming the presidency is beyond me. I saw a CNN roundtable this weekend with Judy Woodruff where she said the Repugs should be pretty happy with recent poll numbers that show Bush leading Kerry by 20 points on the question of decisiveness. Of course, she didn't mention the same poll that said the majority of Americans think the country is moving in the wrong direction.
8) Almost 1,000 Americans killed, thousands more injured, and 30,000 Iraquis killed. Also, the twisted "Loss-Leave" program that doesn't allow military members to leave once their service is up.
7) The lack of postwar planning for Iraq. Has any Administration ever had its head more squarely up its ass?
6) The war itself. Facts were twisted to fit a sick agenda. 9-11 was the convenient episode that gaved them the rationale.
5) The disregard for the environment. Keep in mind, one of Bush's first decisions was to withdraw the US from the Kyoto Treaty.
4) His lifetime of letting others fight his battles. Bush, like Cheney, supported the Vietnam War, but went out of his way so he didn't have to go himself. He has others attack Kerry (like McCain before him) but Bush professes nothing but respect for his service. Chicken shit.
3) A net loss of more than a million jobs and a record deficit. Way to go, Chimpy!
2) The lack of accountability. This Administration loves to say, "I take full responsibility..." without anyone ever accepting responsibility or paying any kind of price. Isn't there a support group for this type of behavior?
1) The ineptitude in carrying out the war. Here's a great recipe: alienate your allies, tweak the facts to fit your rationale, out a couple of undercover agents in the war on terror (Plame and Kahn), ignore the Geneva Conventions (I'm sure our troops were psyched about that one), blame some lower level troops when the prison torture scandal blows up, allow Haliburton to rape the American people, back a guy for President who is bosom buddies with Iran (Chalabi, who sat with the First Lady during last year's State of the Union address), and have no plan for the post-war occupation.
Four more years? Sign me up.
Any other questions?
Posted by brettdavey
at 8:29 PM EDT
