Friday, October 01, 2004

Did Anyone Listen To What They Said?

I watched the entire debate last night. This morning I checked around and was surprised to find that almost everyone thinks it was a draw or that Kerry won. I think they are completely wrong. Anyone who thinks Kerry won did not spend much time listening to what he actually said. Here are a few things that stuck in my mind:

  • Afghanistan is the only battleground in the War on Terror
  • He kept talking about "outsourcing" the hunt for OBL (mentioned this several times) but wants to "outsource" the entire Iraq effor?
  • He bragged about the generals who support him
  • He said we "pushed" our allies aside and continued to denigrate the allies that went with us into Iraq
  • He said that weapons inspectors had "trapped" Saddam Hussein
  • He claimed to know where Osama bin Laden is (Afghanistan) - How?
  • He said twice that Saddam was NOT a threat; then admitted that he was
  • He said you don't send troops in without body armor, yet he voted not to supply them with the aforementioned armor
  • He repeatedly said we were too unilateral in Iraq, but also repeatedly said he would be MORE unilateral with North Korea and that multilateral talks were bad
  • He talked about the American "occupation" of Iraq
  • He implied repeatedly that our troops can't do the job alone
  • He is going to get more countries to join "the wrong war, at the wrong time, in the wrong place
  • He mentioned the UN several times and even quoted Kofi Annan
  • He said that any pre-emptive strike by the US needed to pass the "global test"
  • He said the UN inspectors were "continually weakening" Saddam
  • He mentioned Vietnam way too many times as the basis for his thinking
  • He thinks that to earn respect in the world you have to sign treaties, even if they are not in the best interest of the US
  • He repeatedly said that part of his "plan" was to have "meetings" and "conferences" about what to do
  • He said that the US should provide nuclear fuel to Iran
  • He claimed the North Koreans breached the pact with the US with plutonium, when it was highly enriched uranium
  • He said he had never "wilted" or "wavered" in his entire life
  • He's going to shut down the US nuclear weapon development
  • In response to Bush mentioning Beslan, he talked about being in Moscow at KGB HQ
  • He talked about how important it is to support the troops, but gave as an example of his "integrity" how he came back from Vietnam and protested the war.
  • The only "specifics" that Kerry came up with about what he would do in Iraq, were basically the same thing we ARE doing, PLUS meetings and conferences--as noted previously. THERE WAS NOT ONE ORIGINAL OR USEFUL IDEA TO COME OUT OF HIS MOUTH ON THIS TOPIC

Well, these are just a few things that I noted while listening to the debate. I probably spent less time actually looking at the two men on TV because I was jotting down notes or looking things up in the computer. So I didn't notice some of the things other people have mentioned (like Bush looking "disgusted" while Kerry spoke). I did note that Bush did not speak as fluently as Kerry--but that is nothing new. He never has, except for a few well-known exceptions (like in the aftermath of 9/11). I knew Kerry was a better extemporaneous speaker going into the debate, so it didn't score any points for me.

I actually debated with myself if I should listen to this first debate. I was afraid that Bush might really stumble. I'm glad that I did listen, though, because it made me realize again, what a great man Mr. Bush is. Not a great speaker, but a great man. I think that if anyone listened to what Mr. Kerry said, he lost the foreign policy debate bigtime.

Transcript of the debate HERE.


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I actually agree with you. Bush definitely won on content, but as a psychiatrist you should know that process counts too.

Jackson

Dr. Sanity said...

Jackson, I agree that process also counts and I think that Bush won on the items of sincerity, resolve and consistency. He didn't look as good as Kerry and he didn't speak as fluently as Kerry (too many hesitations as he tried to collect his thoughts), but overall, I'd give him a A- on process.

Anonymous said...

Pat:

I did not see the debate. I was only able to hear on the radio. Also, I read the entire transcript. When you read the transcript, that Texas expression comes to mind, "All hat, no cattle." Kerry has the nice hat with rhinestones and Bush has a feed lot full of cattle.

Oak Leaf

Anonymous said...

Cooky here. I thought it was a draw. Some people thought Kerry did better because their expectations are so low: he didn't do his usual stupefying Boston-Brahmin moaning talk last night. But Bush didn't play his trump card: Kerry is pre-9/11 in his thinking, about global togetherness and all that crap. These terrorists don't give a rat's ass about international agreement, sanctions, diplomatic stuff --- they just killed 35 kids yesterday, just to be disruptive.
I wish the Republicans would play their strongest card: that 9/11 DID happen, terrorists are not JUST in Afghanistan, and we have to go after leaders that harbor and support them whether the UN or the world likes it or not!

Never underestimate the Republican's ability to skip the obvious and lose an election....

C.

Anonymous said...

Anyone seen this? Celsius 41.11... I guess its an anti-Moore flick. Would like to know what the conservative blogosphere thinks of this...

-anonymous coward

Anonymous said...

Wow that's quite a list for someone who was listening to write up. The way I saw/heard it Bush said the following over and over and over:

1. Being president is hard work.
2. Kerry sends mixed messages.

Neither of these points give us any new or valuable information about what he intends to do. As Kerry said with Bush in office we will get "more of the same."

Next time maybe keep your pencil down and pay attention to both candidates. Stop, look and listen...remember that advice from grade school.

Dr. Sanity said...

Read the transcript. Bush doesn't have to say anything new--he's actually doing what needs to be done now. Kerry is the mystery man and all we got from him is
1. I'm going to have lots of conferences
2. I have a better plan
3. I have a really better plan