Recently in Bush-Positive Category
Bush is, in my estimation, adequate as President, but not much more. I've thought that all along -- which is why you've never seen the kind of lyrical praise of Bush here that once appeared at Andrew Sullivan's place, or the kind of disappointment with Bush you see at Sullivan's place now. But in a world of goofy-looking yet pompous empty suits, the adequate man is . . . President. And the Democrats made sure that this was the choice we had in 2004.
Yep.
From InstaPundit:
I too am worried about what Matthew Yglesias calls Bush Unleashed, at least so far as spending and social legislation goes. Democratic hopes that Bush would somehow be compelled to govern like a Democrat, for no clear reason that I can see, were always destined to be dashed, but the pickups in the house and Senate mean he’ll have a freer hand than I was expecting when I endorsed him.
Jeesh Glenn, you’re being a pessimist. I thought you were a small-l libertarian?
What if Bush used his “mandate” to:
- Cut Spending
- Fix the Income Tax system.
- Reform Social Security.
- Scare Iran into reforming on their own without us doing anything.
That’s what I’m hoping for…to hell with moving to the right socially, what if Bush moved way over to the right fiscally? Wouldn’t that be cool?
Bush made all the big decisions correctly in the Global War on Terror. While he’s flubbed some of the details, his opponent seems to indicate that he would have made all the big decisions incorrectly in the GWOT. Given that, I must choose Bush.
When I read this MSNBC article, I thought Kerry was going to be smart enough to take the high road:
Bush was informed of the tape aboard Air Force One late Friday morning by national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. “Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country,” he told reporters at the airport in Toledo, Ohio. “I’m sure Senator Kerry will agree with me.”
“I also want to say we are at war with these terrorists,” said Bush, who added that he was “confident we will prevail.”
Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, was informed by his senior foreign policy adviser, Rand Beers, who was briefed by the administration.
“As Americans, we are absolutely united in our determination to hunt down and destroy Osama bin Laden and the terrorists,” Kerry said as he boarded a campaign plane in West Palm Beach, Fla. “They’re barbarians, and I will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes, period.”
Then I read the WaPo version:
“Let me make this very clear,” Bush said in Toledo, Ohio, standing next to Air Force One. “Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country. I’m sure Senator Kerry agrees with this.”
Kerry, too, said, “My reaction is that all of us in this city are completely united.” But he criticized Bush for not capturing bin Laden earlier, and he added pointedly, “I believe I can run a more effective war on terror than George Bush.”
Effing weasel. What’s wrong with saying, “no matter who gets elected, we’re coming for you!”? Why couldn’t Kerry have just said that. I’m going to start calling him Weasel-Boy.
[Update]
Well, at least the people on his campaign are a little smarter then Kerry. Here’s his official statement:
In response to this tape from Osama bin Laden, let me make it clear, crystal clear. As Americans, we are absolutely united in our determination to hunt down and destroy Osama bin Laden and the terrorists. They are barbarians. And I will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes. Period.
So I’m still annoyed at him, because I think he’s going to turn this into an election issue based on the quotes in the Washington Post when President Bush tried to avoid that, but maybe he will take the high road.
In what could be read as a bizarre endorsement of Bush’s Democratic challenger John Kerry, bin Laden, addressing the American people, said “best way to avoid another disaster” was to avoid provoking Arab anger. “Liberals do not neglect their security, contradicting Bush, who says that we hate freedom,” bin Laden said.
Yeah, even Osama won’t endorse Kerry, he’s just a member of the Anybody but Bush crowd.
Piss off Osama, Vote Bush!
But I’m going to do it anyways.
Megan McArdle of Jane Galt writes a very thoughtful piece on who she’s going to vote for. I didn’t agree with everything in it, but I definitely understood her point of view.
Here’s the conclusion, but as InstaPundit says: read the whole thing.
Ultimately, I’ve decided to take the advice of a friend’s grandmother, who told me, on her wedding day, that I should never, ever marry a man thinking he’d change. “If you can’t live with him exactly the way he is,” she told me, “then don’t marry him, because he’ll say he’s going to change, and he might even try to change, but it’s one in a million that he actually will.”
Kerry’s record for the first fifteen years in the senate, before he knew what he needed to say in order to get elected, is not the record of anyone I want within spitting distance of the White House war room. For all the administration’s screw -ups — and there have been many — I’m sticking with the devil I know. George Bush in 2004.
