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Friday, September 03, 2004 |
Rhetoric vs. reality
There was Bush, last night: "[W]e have fought the terrorists across the Earth, not for pride, not for power, but because the lives of our citizens are at stake.... We have led, many have joined, and America and the world are safer." Those words were delivered just hours after we learned this: As speakers at the GOP convention trumpet Bush administration successes in the war on terrorism, an NBC News analysis of Islamic terrorism since Sept. 11, 2001, shows that attacks are on the rise worldwide -- dramatically. Of the... [The Carpetbagger Report]
4:05:25 PM Permalink
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Republican class at its finest
Noted without comment, because I'm too disgusted to rant. President Bush on Friday wished Bill Clinton "best wishes for a swift and speedy recovery.""He's is in our thoughts and prayers," Bush said at a campaign rally. Bush's audience of thousands in West Allis, Wis., booed. Bush did nothing to stop them.... [The Carpetbagger Report]
Oops. I see on Josh Marshall's blog that this apparently didn't happen. That's a bigger suprise, actually.
4:05:07 PM Permalink
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Young Republicans back war, as long as others fight it
"Young Republicans gathered [in New York] for their party's national convention are united in applauding the war in Iraq, supporting the U.S. troops there and calling the U.S. mission a noble cause. But there's no such unanimity when they're asked a more personal question: Would you be willing to put on the uniform and go to fight in Iraq? In more than a dozen interviews, Republicans in their teens and 20s offered a range of answers. Some have friends... [Rational Review News Digest]
I guess the young Republicans are no different than the current crop of Republican leaders.
10:04:22 AM Permalink
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Employment News: Not Good
144,000 increase in payroll employment in August, just enough to keep us from losing ground relative to the growing labor force. A nonfarm employment level of 131.47 million--but according to the forecast the Bushies released last February, it was projected to be 133.18 million by now.
I, at least, would very much like to know how George W. Bush answers the following question: "What has gone wrong with the economy to leave us with an employment level 1.7 million below what you projected last February that it would be by now?" [Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal (2004)]
Is anyone going to ask that question? Does Bush have an answer?
9:53:01 AM Permalink
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Back to the Future
What Bush would do if he were president. [Slate Magazine]
For $2.4 trillion, guess what word—other than "a," "and," and "the"—occurs most frequently in the acceptance speech George W. Bush delivered tonight.
The word is "will." It appears 76 times. This was a speech all about what Bush will do, and what will happen, if he becomes president.
Except he already is president. He already ran this campaign. He promised great things. They haven't happened. So, he's trying to go back in time. He wants you to see in him the potential you saw four years ago. He can't show you the things he promised, so he asks you to envision them. He asks you to be "optimistic." He asks you to have faith.
"Since 2001, Americans have been given hills to climb and found the strength to climb them," said Bush. "Now, because we have made the hard journey, we can see the valley below. Now, because we have faced challenges with resolve, we have historic goals within our reach and greatness in our future." ballot box
Politics and policy.
Back to the Future
What Bush would do if he were president.
By William Saletan
Posted Thursday, Sept. 2, 2004, at 11:47 PM PT
NEW YORK—For $2.4 trillion, guess what word—other than "a," "and," and "the"—occurs most frequently in the acceptance speech George W. Bush delivered tonight.
The word is "will." It appears 76 times. This was a speech all about what Bush will do, and what will happen, if he becomes president.
Except he already is president. He already ran this campaign. He promised great things. They haven't happened. So, he's trying to go back in time. He wants you to see in him the potential you saw four years ago. He can't show you the things he promised, so he asks you to envision them. He asks you to be "optimistic." He asks you to have faith.
"Since 2001, Americans have been given hills to climb and found the strength to climb them," said Bush. "Now, because we have made the hard journey, we can see the valley below. Now, because we have faced challenges with resolve, we have historic goals within our reach and greatness in our future."
Continue Article
Recession. Unemployment. Corporate fraud. A war based on false premises that has cost us $200 billion and nearly a thousand American lives. They're all hills we've "been given to climb." It's as though Bush wasn't president. As though he didn't get the tax cuts he wanted. As though he didn't bring about postwar Iraq and authorize the planning for it. All this was "given," and now Bush can show up, three and a half years into his term, and start solving the problems some other president left behind.
9:41:24 AM Permalink
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Iowa GOP Platform
Just a few fun tidbits from the official platform of the Iowa Republican Party: 2.7. We support a landlord’s right to refuse leasing property to cohabiting homosexuals based on moral grounds
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2.9. We believe those guilty of second offense illegal drug use, manufacture, or selling, should be subject to termination of parental rights.
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3.2. We oppose compulsory preschool, and any proposal to lower the age at which children are required to attend school.
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3.4. We believe that the local choice to teach creation science, or intelligent design science, should be allowed in government schools rather than exclusively teaching evolution as the only viable theory. We also believe that tax funded libraries should include creation science materials on their shelves.
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3.7. We support the abolition of the Federal Department of Education, and the removal of this position from the Cabinet. In addition, we call for the downsizing of the Iowa Department of Education. We believe that the control of education should be left to the parents, teachers, and local school boards.
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3.9. We favor posting the Ten Commandments in public schools.
3.10. We believe the state should prohibit school based health clinics from providing or recommending abortion or birth-control services or referrals.
3.11. We believe that educators should stress abstinence outside of marriage as the surest way to prevent pregnancy, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and the associated psychological problems. We also oppose the distribution of condoms in tax-funded schools.
3.12. We oppose the teaching of homosexual behavior as a normal, acceptable or alternative lifestyle, and believe that sex education must emphasize traditional heterosexual lifestyles.
3.13. We support the immediate expulsion of the Human Growth and Development K-12 Sex Education programs as defined in Iowa Code Sections 279.50 and 279.51 from our government schools.
3.14. We oppose Governor Vilsack's scholarship program for self-declared homosexual students.
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3.19. We believe Educators at all levels shall have comprehensive communication skills in English, and that English should be the official language used in all areas of the Iowa educational system.
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3.22. The Iowa legislature should allow educators more disciplinary tools or options when confronting disruptive student behavior.
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4.2. We oppose the Kyoto treaty on the environment and the language of the UN Kyoto Protocol, as it would put the US, its jobs, citizens, and businesses at an economic disadvantage. We support responsible environmental policy that recognizes the importance of existing as well as alternative sources of fuel for both developed and developing countries.
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We believe that the basis of our laws and founding documents are rooted in Judeo-Christian values. We believe that every human being has the God given, unalienable right to life regardless of age or degree of dependency from conception to natural death. We believe the family is the cornerstone of society; a traditional two parent family of one man and one woman is the best environment to raise children.
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5.7. We support adoption only by heterosexual married couples, consisting of one man and one woman.
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5.14. We strongly oppose the UN "Convention on the Rights of the Child."
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5.16. We believe that present laws should be enforced, new laws written and fines levied to prevent indecency and pornography.
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6.1. We believe in retaining the moral absolutes which our founding fathers derived from Holy Scriptures as the principal foundation of our laws.
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6.3. We assert that the phrase, “the separation of church and state” as is commonly used, contradicts the original intent and practice of the framers of the Constitution.
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6.8. We support English as the official language for the United States.
6.9. We oppose any further restrictions on gun rights, eroding our Second Amendment rights.
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6.11. We oppose special rights based on social or economic grouping, and oppose "hate crime legislation" or quota systems designed to favor one group over another.
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6.25. We call upon the US Congress to pass HR 2357, the "Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act," which would restore the liberty of churches to participate in America's political life without fear of retaliation by the Internal Revenue Service.
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6.31. We believe the United States should withdraw from the United Nations and the U.N. headquarters should be removed from U.S. soil.
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7.9. We favor spousal benefits for legal, heterosexual marriages only.
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7.11. We believe that healthcare is a privilege and not a right. Therefore we strongly oppose the adoption of any socialized national health care system.
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8.15. We believe the United Nation’s International Criminal Court represents a grave threat to the Freedom and Liberty guaranteed every American by the constitution, and urge legislative action to ensure the safety of our citizens.
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10.1. We urge continued economic and military support for Israel, our strong ally.
10.2. We support Israel’s right to use military force to protect itself from terrorists.
10.3. We strongly urge the United States government to cease pressuring Israel to give its land to Arab nations, and to recognize that Israel clearly needs this land for its national defense.
10.4. We support the immediate and full U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations and oppose any U.S. funding of the United Nations.
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11.4. We should maintain an environmental policy that protects the rights of humans before other species.
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12.4. We support the reversal of Roe vs. Wade.
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13.3. We believe that state and federal capital gains taxes should be abolished. What kind of party bases its beliefs on excluding certain classes of people, creating classes of people that are more equal than others? What kind of party identifies its goals as taking away rights from citizens? What kind of party peppers its platform with goals that fly in the face of commonly accepted good economics and science? Is this a party with which you identify? And after all these suggested changes to state and federal constitutions, the Iowa Republican party tossed this one in: 6.4. We oppose judicial activism. [eric.weblogs.com]
This is why what I wrote last night was wrong: this crowd -- why don't they just call themselves God's party, aka hezbollah, and get it over with -- has to be stopped.
9:01:38 AM Permalink
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© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.
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