Good stuff Bush has done #2

Another good thing Bush has done during his presidency is pressure Saddam into letting weapons inspectors back into Iraq.

He was able to do this mostly thanks to the authorization for the use of force granted by the congress. The treat of force provided the leverage he needed to make Hussein back down. This is what Kerry voted for, not for war as some (e.g. President Bush and Vice President Cheney) have claimed.

Recommended opening debate remarks for Kerry

Ladies and gentlemen of America, my job here tonight is clear. I must show you that as president I will protect us and our interests against the terrorist that seek not just to weaken our resolve, and turn us against each other here at home. They seek to kill as many of us as they can in any manner available to them.

Today the majority of the American people believe that America is on the wrong track. In fact as my opponent so helpfully pointed out just a few days ago a larger proportion of Iraqis believe their county is on the right track -- a country with wide swaths of territory under control of insurgents, daily attacks and bombings. What more proof does Mr. Bush need to realize how dissatisfied our citizens are with the way the current administration has been handling the economy, the environment, and yes, even the war on terror.

Today the majority of the American people disapprove of the performance Mr. Bush has given us as president. He has presided over the worst history of job creation since the great depression. His tax and budget priorities have turned record surpluses into record deficits. He told the American people four years ago that he intended to be a uniter, not a divider. But the policies he has supported have only further divided us.

Let me tell you here today that I will protect our great nation from the perils of terrorism not only just as well and Mr. Bush, I will do it better. Let me tell you how...

Good stuff Bush has done

OK. So I'm going to try to post at least one good thing Bush has done during his presidency. No matter how much I disagree with many of Bush's decisions, he hasn't done everything wrong. To be clear many of these things would have been done by the most mediocre of presidents so this isn't necessarily a ringing endorsement.

#1. When the Taliban refused to hand over Bin Laden he took them out. That was the right choice.

Actually I had this crazy idea back when the Taliban were blowing up 1,000 year old religious monuments that these guys had to go. You can't really justify toppling them over for just that -- but it showed how rigid they were. Of course apparently they were also training and harboring terrorists at the time. I think we may have been able to make the case for taking them out based on bombing of the Cole.

Nation Building

There are two widely accepted approaches to rehabilitating a building site, restoration or new construction. If the existing structure is in pretty good shape and well suited to its purpose restoration is often the best choice. But sometimes a building is in such poor shape or so ill suited that it would save time and money to demolish the existing building and start from scratch.

Then there's the unprecedented approach the Bush Administration is taking with Iraq. You demolish the existing structure and when you realize you don't have enough raw materials to build from scratch you're forced to begin restoring the demolished building.

Sandy Berger Redux

OK the Sandy Berger mess originally sounded pretty bad. But you'd think that even the most hard-core wingnuts would have moved on from this obviously bogus story. Not so, somebody apparently still thinks it sells. It doesn't even smack of desperation-- after all if you're desperate you'd at least be throwing stuff that sticks?

Faith of George W Bush

How is it that the G. W. Bush can place a seemingly equal amount of faith in two rather contradictory directions?
A. Jesus Christ a force for morality, forgiveness, and non-violence
B. The free market, an amoral force which has not interest in the good of individuals specifically nor mankind in general, is not forgiving of those who stumble, and often results in coercion and violence when not properly regulated. The only thing a free market is interested in is an efficient marketplace.

Perhaps I am cynical, but it seems to me G. W. Bush believes in what he wants to believe in regardless of the morality involved.

How is it that G. W. Bush can place so much faith in certain controversial theories while dismissing others?

A. Trickle down economics, a highly controversial economic theory with little supporting evidence, most of which is circumstantial. Not nearly universally accepted by the experts in the field of economics. Touted by G. W. Bush practically as gospel. He has bet our economic recovery on this theory and in the process created a sizable deficit. A deficit is a universally accepted drag on all economies, which can only be offset when an economy grows at a greater rate than the rate of borrowing.

B. Evolution, a highly controversial scientific theory with a wealth of supporting evidence, most of which is circumstantial. Nearly universally accepted by the experts in the field of biology. G. W. Bush does not endorse evolution; he does not actively believe nor disbelieve in it.

C. Global warming, nearly universally accepted scientific theories with a wealth of supporting evidence, which may well require immediate action to reverse. G. W. Bush advocates 'further study' of this issue before proposing any course of action.

Perhaps I am cynical, but it seems to me G. W. Bush believes what he wants to believe regardless of the scientific merit.

Laughing at liberals

The G. W. Bush true believers must be beside themselves in laugher for the irony is palatable. It is just priceless that the same liberal "elites" who simply must know why the terrorists hate us are the same ones who are also wondering how Bush could possibly still be ahead in the polls.

Note to the liberals: don’t get too far ahead of yourselves; sometimes it is okay to treat the symptoms before addressing the actual cause of distress.

Conservatives seem to intuitively already know that the first rule is to stop the bleeding. Too bad they are often just as likely to amputate as set a broken limb.

Progress in Iraq

When President Bush claims he's making progress in Iraq it brings to mind that turtles can make progress too, but I'm not about to try riding one across a busy interstate.

Bush administration defined by

Broken promises, lousy predictions, and lame excuses.

There are also a lot of false claims, but I'm trying not to be too picky.

Sandy Berger Revisited

So with 20/20 hindsight I've got to say the whole Sandy Berger thing was obviously a ridicuously stupid media feeding fenzy. It's a shame that partisains are so quick to jump onto anything and everything they can without a bit of reasonable thought. It's enough to make someone sick of politics. I'm afraid that's exactly what the Republicans want.

What is Bush going to do to fix Iraq?

Why is it that Kerry is expected to let people know how he plans to fix Iraq, but Bush gets a total pass?