Kerry's Convention Speech

I know I said I'm not going to comment on politics as much - and I'm not - but had to say something about John Kerry's convention speech tonight.

Did anyone else see what I thought was pretty clear, given what Edwards said last night and Kerry's speech tonight? It seemed to me that the "positive campaign" rhetoric that Edwards and Kerry included in their speeches was designed strictly to head off any Republican response based on Edwards' and Kerry's Senate voting records and other public statements. I think that the Democrats know that if people start looking at their records carefully, Edwards and Kerry aren't going to look so good, especially given that they've been trying to sound strong on national defense lately. Their voting records belie their tough words, but if the Republicans respond, and there's lots of basis for a devastating response, the Democrats will play the "negative campaign" card against the Republicans.

Doesn't it seem hypocritical that after over three years of vicious personal attacks against President Bush (e.g. all the Bush=Hitler rhetoric), now the Democrats want to make nice? It's clearly just a campaign ploy. The "high ground" talk, it seems to me, is all about trying to deflect or suppress legitimate criticism based on what they've actually done. It's well documented that John Kerry has the most liberal voting record in the U.S. Senate, and people ought to know what he's said and done in the past, versus what he's been saying in his campaign speeches lately. There is often a big difference, especially when it comes to defense and national security issues.

I was appalled at what appeared to me to be a lot of blatant hypocrisy by John Kerry in his speech.

For example:

•  Kerry said "You don't value families if you force them to take up a collection to buy body armor for a son or daughter in the service..." John Kerry voted against the bill that would have provided funds for that same body armor. It was part of the $87 billion bill that he voted for before he voted against.
   
•  He admonishes President Bush:
  
  "I want to address these next words directly to President George W. Bush: In the weeks ahead, let's be optimists, not just opponents. Let's build unity in the American family, not angry division. Let's honor this nation's diversity; let's respect one another; and let's never misuse for political purposes the most precious document in American history, the Constitution of the United States."
  
  Yet earlier in the speech he makes personal attacks against President Bush and senior members of his administration:
  
  "I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war." Bush lied, people died!
  
  "I will have a Vice President who will not conduct secret meetings with polluters to rewrite our environmental laws." That evil Dick Cheney is going to destroy the planet! Halliburton! Ooooiiilll!
  
  "I will have a Secretary of Defense who will listen to the best advice of our military leaders." The terrorists in Iraq are all Donald Rumsfeld's fault! If he had listened to the generals we could have taken out Saddam without a single casualty, and all Iraqis would love us!
  
  "And I will appoint an Attorney General who actually upholds the Constitution of the United States." Ashcroft is a fascist! He's spying on us and wants to know exactly what library books we've checked out. The horror!
   
•  Kerry said, "I am proud that after September 11th all our people rallied to President Bush's call for unity to meet the danger. There were no Democrats.  There were no Republicans. There were only Americans.  How we wish it had stayed that way."
  
  I think we all wished it had stayed that way, but the reason it didn't was because the Democrats seem to think that President Bush, in my view a fundamentally honest, intelligent and decent person, is a liar, homophobe, and fundamentalist Bible-thumper, at once a malign, nefarious genius and so stupid he has to have his handlers tell him how to respond to every situation.

Kerry's speech was full of all kinds of other nonsense and platitudes - he's going to cut taxes for the middle class and reduce the deficit by 50%, but at the same time enlarge the military, give full health care coverage to everyone, increase funding for education, and yadda, yadda, yadda. Apparently, all this is going to be funded by increasing taxes on the "wealthy" and big corporations. It's standard Democratic Party class warfare rhetoric, and it's just plain magical thinking. Kerry has no real plan - it's just just a bunch of words to appeal to the many Americans that want more from the government, but want to pay less out of their own pockets. It's "Robin Hood" politics - take from the wealthy to give to the poor. My questions: how long before there are no more "wealthy" people left, because they've all been taxed out of existence? How long before the U.S. slides completely into the unproductive, uncompetitive oblivion of socialism, like so much of Europe?

It's hard to say what effect Kerry's speech will have on his polling numbers, but it sure didn't impress me at all. It was just more of the same - vague platitudes and ad hominem attacks on President Bush and his administration, made all-the-more unpalatable by Kerry's false words about "hope," "optimism" and "taking the high road."

My one word summary: pfeh.

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