bumbling is ‘hard work’
Thursday’s presidential debate confirmed what many of us already
suspected: John Kerry is a strong, articulate statesman, while George Bush is a bumbling, smug, arrogant phony who had no business even dreaming of being President.
Former Republican congressman and conservative commentator Joe Scarborough called Bush’s performance “embarrassing” and suggested that the President “doesn’t have a long enough attention span to focus for 90 minutes.”
Right-wing columnist and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan said that Kerry “won this debate going away” and Bush looked like he’s “in way over his head.” Kerry came prepared to present his plan for the future of our country, while Bush came ready to “give sound bytes,” according to Buchanan.
Perhaps most insightful was conservative pundit Tucker Carlson’s observation that watching Bush speak was like “watching a drunk man cross an icy street.”
The most revealing Bush quotations were his 12 variations of
the phrase “it’s hard work.” The job of President, is, I’m sure, difficult. This is why it should be taken on by a capable, intelligent, brave, strong leader like John Kerry.
Jared Mason-Gere
Eugene
The Bush administration has had a year to train Iraqis to assist our troops. Bush mislead
the American people in a national debate when he said 100,000
Iraqi security forces have been trained. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage testified to a House Appropriations subcommittee that many trainees have received nothing more than a three-
week course in police procedures — what Armitage referred to as “shake-and-bake” forces. Only 8,000 of the total are police who have received a full eight-week course of training.
Because of the lack of trained replacements, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told senators it might not be possible to conduct elections in some parts of Iraq. In a more shocking assessment, Jordan’s King Abdullah has said it will be impossible to hold fair elections in the current state of chaos.
President Bush has failed to
acknowledge the realities in Iraq,
and now our service men and women are paying the ultimate price.
Major Robert Tormey
U.S. Air Force, Ret.
Escondido, Calif.
When Howard Dean tells Oregon students that a draft is “likely” if the current administration retains power, he enjoys a tremendous amount of evidentiary support.
The degree of preparations that our government has taken for a draft since the election of 2000 is breathtaking. From tightening the border with Canada to a provision in the No Child Left Behind Act requiring schools to give the federal government contact information about individual students, the infrastructure for a draft is now in place starting in June 2005.
Recently, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an article questioning how Bush’s military strategy of pre-emptive regime change can be sustained without a draft. A growing legion now sees a fundamental inconsistency between Bush’s foreign policy rhetoric and his claim that a draft is not needed. Any more regime changes must entail conscription, as the troops will not fall from the sky.
Steve Ramirez
Topeka, Kan.
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