I'm enjoying aspects of tonight's second presidential debate, hearing the same tired items being raised (predominantly by Bush) while Bush attempts to appear composed and climb out of the hole he put himself during last Thursday's debate. One thing I noticed - did you? - that it seems as if his attempt to control his features saw his blink rate skyrocket. Or, maybe he was doing that before and I was too distracted by the scowling and the uneven contortions that had me wondering a few times last week if he was having a stroke.
A short time ago the Machiavelli of the Bush administration, Karl Rove, implied that the Kerry/Edwards campaign would have some surprises waiting for them before Election Day. Now, this could be simply blowing smoke - whistling in the dark. However, I am among those at least marginally concerned that there will be some big surprise - most likely something the Bush administration will tout as a victory. Whether it's going to be a cache of WMDs suddenly "found" in Iraq, or, more likely Osama bin Laden pulled out of somewhere.
It's with this in mind that I've winced every time I've heard a Democrat lean hard on the no weapons of mass destruction finding, because in my opinion it shouldn't matter if they were found to exist or not; Saddam and fundamentalist Islamic terrorist organizations had no love for each other, and had entirely different and conflicting aims. People who raise the spectre of Hitler with respect to Saddam Hussein demonstrate a laughable grasp of history. As for plans to reinstitute weapons programs once sanctions were lifted, with one or more hostile neighbors - most notably Iran - Saddam would have had to be an idiot, and certainly an incompetent national ruler, if he didn't have that aim. It's important to keep in mind, among other things, that Saddam was a mob boss - a vicious ruler of his desert kingdom - but posed no serious threat to us. Iran, and even elements in Pakistan, pose a more likely threat to us and our allies. But I seriously digress.
As for the issue of October Surprises, I sincerely hope people will not be swayed by either of the above mentioned "surprises" should they come to pass.
Tuesday's vice presidential debate was loosely a draw. I don't care for Dick Cheney, but he acquitted himself fairly well -- command of actual facts or no. He certainly followed the rules for the debate better than John Edwards' enthusiasm apparently allowed him to.
Tonight's debate saw, in my humble opinion, another win for John Kerry. Bush pulled himself together a couple times - he was almost convincing during his comments on how he would improve the economy & healthcare, though it started to fall apart. I would have paid all the money I had in my wallet at the moment to have someone ask the president to define what a "sub Chapter S corporation" (I believe that was the term - I'm neither a business major nor a tax attorney - if I find it was something different I'll correct it here) is. Whenever Bush tosses around some terms they've drilled into him so that he sounds well-informed, it's so painfully obvious that I'm amazed people can simply drink it in at face value.
I loved the citation of the Dredd Scott decision during Bush's meandering answer regarding what sort of judges he wouldn't nominate for the Supreme Court. Hearing the man talk sometimes reminds me of conversations I've had with people once they're five, six or more beers into the evening. Similarly, Bush's absolutely desperate attempt to tar Kerry with the "yes or no," "couldn't be simpler" comments regarding voting for or against a ban on certain types of abortions despite Kerry just having lucidly explained how such decisions are seldom that simple, and that the bill he voted against was similarly simple-minded.
After late January 2005 I hope to never hear the words "President Bush" again without the word "former" preceding it.
(Note: I opened this edit window within a minute or two of when the debate began, and have tossed little bits here and there into the mix during the debate so that I could publish it within a few minutes of the end of the debate.)
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