With a very, very distinct emphasis on the "Testy" in testimony.
I don't really see why people are so ga-ga over Condeleeza Rice. She got into a school yard shoving match with Bob Kerry as they were both trying to jockey for the floor. She was evasive, indifferent, indignant and, in my eyes, came off as the perfect shill for ShrubCo. Casting aspersions on the character of others, playing down the briefings given by the outgoing Clinton administration and denied any reasonable culpability for the breakdown of the intelligence systems leading up to 9/11.
In short, she was the perfect political knob. She got to talk, said very little and gave the commision nothing to work with. Perfect. And the obfuscation of the facts and reality that led to the successful execution of the attacks continues unabated.
It has devolved into a He Said-She Said bullshit argument when its far more than that. There was willful ignorance, stupid adherence to an antiquated assault scenario and, in my mind, criminal egoism, that prevented the safe transfer of power from Clinton to Bush.
And, like kids on a schoolyard, none of them will own up to the fact that the ball was dropped, someone screwed up and not everything that could have been done was done to prevent the attacks. The smug attitudes did very little to save the lives of all those people in the World Trade Centers and at the Pentagon and all the victims on the planes.
As a counter point, I saw a short clip with John Kerry on one of the talking head news shows. He was asked how he would do things differently in Iraq. And his response was excellent. He said that he wouldn't be in the position we're in now because he wouldn't have acted almost entirely alone. He would have recruited more support from the world body (of course that means the UN and we all know that the UN is about as effective as a baseball bat made out of jello). He mentioned that the diplomatic efforts to deal with Iraq were pathetic and the main reason that we're in such a tough place with Iraq now is because of the breakdown of the diplomatic machinery. I don't really think I'm representing his response as clearly as he said it.
He also dismantled the recent job growth numbers by breaking them out. A hundred thousand workers went back to work because of the end of a strike, that had nothing to do with Bush's stewardship. That a large number of those jobs were seasonal pickups in the trucking industry. The good numbers and the good news from the economy don't really have much to do with Bush but he's more than happy to take credit for the good news. He needs whatever good hooks he can get right now, whatwith Iraq turning into a slowly evolving disaster with ever more US deaths piling up.
He did help solidify my belief that he is not only a better candidate to lead this country of ours but he's also a more reasoned and reasonable man that George Bush is. John Kerry comes across as thoughtful, considerate and benevolent. He does not come across as a warhawk, he does not come across as a charlatan, he does not come across as smarmy better-than-thou prick (and yes, I'm very well aware that he has all kinds of people coaching him on what to do, how to sit, how to speak, how to gesture with his hands and everything else, so did every other presidential candidate).
In fact, I just went and became a Volunteer for John Kerry. I would encourage anyone else out there who's ready for constructive change in this country. A way to get ourselves out of this nightmare parallel universe created by ShrubCo and the GOP agenda.
Also, note the tone of the campaigns ads from both camps. Kerry's are forward looking and based on substance. Bush's are rearward (which makes sense because his head's been up his ass for years) and based on rhetoric and slander. Don't think Democrat and Republican, think about the person each of these men are. One served his country in Vietnam, the other served himself another beer from the keg while he was AWOL from the National Guard. One had the courage and conviction to speak out against the war he'd just fought in, the other had the courage to go and hide behind his daddy's power so he didn't have to fight. One speaks about helping America, the other speaks about why the other guy is the wrong man for the job. One is trying to return some international dignity and respect to our country, the other is acting in a near unilateral fashion against a global threat without regard to the international community.
The choice is pretty easy. Bush is as crooked as Lombard Street and Kerry, while not my ideal, is a far, far better choice for America, for all of America.
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