MONDAY through SATURDAY, October 25 through November 6, 2004

"Guilty...with an explanation."  This long interruption in the flow of "Rapid Response" was the result of our desire to get "down and dirty" in the election process.  Our son David, a tax attorney in Denver, Colorado, was running for the Colorado House of Representatives from a combined Denver - Arapahoe district (District 3).  We spent the last week in Denver, sending out thousands of mailings, making hundreds of phone calls, walking miles to make neighborhood literature drops, and sometimes freezing on busy street corners to "troop the colors"; ie. wave David's campaign signs.  (During two days there we had 8 inches of snow and below-20 degree wind-chill temperatures).  Result: the short version is that he lost.  The more complete version is that, while the rest of the country provided the Republicans with the Presidency and with a stronger hold on both houses of Congress, the Colorado Republican Party sustained its worst loss ever since 1960, losing both houses of the Colorado Legislature.  "Why", you say?  Dave had complained throughout the compaign that he and other candidates were getting little or no support from the State Party.  It now appears clear that the Colorado State Republican leadership was "out to lunch".  And so, they may be had for lunch in the coming months.  Meanwhile, Dave did better as a Republican in Arapahoe county than nearly all the other Republican candidates (except President Bush), even better than the losing U.S. Senatorial candidate, Pete Coors.  Win or lose, great experience.  You should try it sometime, especially running for office at least once.  I ran four times, and served three times.

The national election results were gratifying, and a great relief.  Lots of thoughts...but they must wait for another day, after I catch up with my real life.

But there is one thing that can't wait.  After presiding over one of the greatest frauds in world history, the U.N. "Oil for Food Program", Secretary-General Kofi Annan had the gall yesterday to suggest to leaders Bush, Blair and Allawi that an attack on Fallujah - that den of domestic and foreign vipers - would diminish the legitimacy of the coming Iraqi elections in January.  (See "Saddam's U.N. Payroll", WSJ Editorial Thursday, Oct. 28, 2004, pA14).  Mr. Annan, Please Shut Up!   In fact, now is about the time for the U.S. to deport the entire United Nations from our shores to Old Europe, a venue much more suited to its members' gross hypocracy, cynicism and impotence.

GS

FRIDAY through SUNDAY, October 22 through 24, 2004

Yes, this election is one of the most important in recent memory - but not for the reasons touted by both sides.  Despite red-hot invective (as occurred in the first national elections of this nation over 200 years ago), and despite the regular but localized voting frauds (as in the South for 100 years after the Civil War and in Chicago in 1960), Americans could always look forward to a sense of election fairness...and especially to a certainty of closure.  Enter the presidential election of 2000, and we saw hanging chads, a Florida judge-vote counter looking befuddled at a vote card, and an all-out challenge to the result by the Gore camp, leading to the a political decision being made by a Court.  We have had previous deferrals like that on vital issues made to the wrong decision-maker (ie., the Dred Scot decision, leading to the Civil War, and the Roe v. Wade decision, leading to a non-violent but corrosive war over abortion that has distorted American politics ever since 1954).
This year, the unwise choices made by both State and Federal officials regarding "new ideas" about the national electoral process (ie. "provisional voting", potentially defective electronic voting without paper backup, un-franchised felons at the voting booths,etc.) risks producing a chaotic situation where there may be neither fairness nor closure.  See the article by George Will entitled "Bush v. Gore, Tickibng Bomb", Newsweek Oct. 25, 2004, p114.  See also the NYTimes editorial today on the same subject.  That's why it will be vital to give President Bush a clear victory on November 2.  John Kerry can never achieve that...but the President could, if most Americans realize that the one overriding issue this time around is nothing less than our national and our individual personal security.

GS

THURSDAY, October 21, 2004

More facts, before another conclusion.

• Regarding whether Saddam Hussein and his Iraq should have been considered a focus of the war on world terrorism and on our national security, see "Saddam's Specialty Was Terror Weapons", by George Melloan (WSJ Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2004, Opinion, pA19).  This refers to other parts of the Duelfer report, carefully ignored by the liberal press and the Kerry compaign, findings of Richard Spertzel, a member of the Duelfer study team.  "He noted the report's disclosure of plans to produce and weaponize nitrogen mustard in rifle grenades and to bottle sarin and sulfur mustard in perfume sprayers and medicine bottles for shipment to the U.S. and Europe...In other words, while Saddam was playing hide-and-seek with the U.N.over whether he had WMD's, his stealthy little spooks were focusing their efforts on weapons specifically designed for use by terrorists."  Senator Kerry, why don't you come clean with this information?  Your silence says a lot about you.
• Regarding a draft, both the Senate bill (S89) and the House bill (HR163) proposing reinstitution were submitted by Democrats (Sen. Hollings and Rep. Charles Rangel).  So, what else coming out of the Kerry compaign is not to be believed?
• The NYTimes endorsement of John Kerry for President last Sunday (a real "dog bites man" story) reads like a screed "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".
• Quote of the day, by Israel Justice Minister Josef Lapid, referring to the rightist extremists in that country: "History has seen more crimes committed in the name of sanctity than in the name of sin"  (by Dan Williams, Reuters, today).

So, any doubt as to whom I'm voting for, and why?  The "why" is the important part.

GS

MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, October 18 through 20, 2004

More concluding statements on issues and choices for this election.

• Regarding our relationship with other nations.  It is assumed by all that national self-interest, enlightened when possible, is the main engine driving international relationships.  To think otherwise is foolish and even dangerous, since wrong signals could be otherwise be sent.  And there is nothing wrong with that constant, except when hypocracy and cynicism is substituted for honesty in the matter...as occurred since the winter of 2003 by France, Germany and the United Nations.  John Kerry has been too enamored of his childhood memories in Southern France to appreciate that point.  Russia, of course, is a special case with special demands, given its history and power.
• Regarding the environment, I must express disappointment with this administration, until I remember the Preservation / Conservation debate which has been going on since the late 19th century.  Where does preservation blend into adaptive reuse...and then slip into despoilation of our national resources.  In this question, our governmental separation of powers has worked well to maintain a balance - with the cooperation of, or despite any single administration.
• The draft.  I have clearly expressed my opinion in favor of a reinstituted fair draft as a boon to our young people as a much - needed post-graduate course following high school.  We certainly should not continue to abuse our National Guard and Reserves.  But the Military prefers a volunteer force: more reliable; less baby-sitting or re-teaching the three R's.  General George Washington and Alexander Hamilton certainly agreed with this goal after the miserable defeat in New York City at the outset of the American Revolution.  "In pleading with Congress for a permanent army, (Washington) voiced arguments that were echoed by Hamilton and that united the two men in future years: 'To place any dependence opon militia is assuredly resting on a broken staff'".  (in Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow, the Penguin Press, 2004, p81).  And that's what either presidential will give them.
• Social Security.  Remember three things: 1) the SS fund is used like a big slush fund by our legislators, year after year; 2) only a small part of a person's contribution is proposed to be independently invested...and at a much higher return on average than the government's Trust Fund has ever been able to achieve; and 3) many elderly citizens are finding, and will continue to find, that complete retirement at "retirement age" is not feasible and/or unwise...thus continuing to pay SS taxes.  These points are never mentioned by the scare-mongers.

GS

SUNDAY, October 17, 2004

The final stretch in this long presidential campaign.  It's time to arrive at some concluding statements regarding the issues and choices facing the American people.  Between now and November 2, these statements will comprise some or all of the content of Rapid Response.  These statements will stand alone without documentation, of which there has been plenty in this section over the last two years.

• We are now at a choice between two living human beings, not the caricatures painted originally by each side.  The debates settled that.  John Kerry could be imagined in the White House, much more easily than the robotic Algore.  And George W. Bush is clearly a "mensch", a colorful man of conviction who leads from the front, and about whom the comment "Anybody but Bush" is clearly stupid.
• Despite the ample amount of pork and pigs of both parties inhabiting our nation's Capitol, this is clearly a choice between big mamma government sucking up the nation's resources in taxes and returning them in haphazard and partisan fashion, and smaller government that let's Americans be Americans, in the fashion that has made this country the greatest in the world and in history.
• Yes, we have lost many jobs...and we have created many jobs.  The jobs lost have been lost unavoidably as a price for a global economy, the alternative being world depression and possibly WW III.  The jobs created have been created through the stimulus of that same global economy, of greater productivity resulting from global competition, and from a fiscal policy that keeps money in the hands of the workers, of the job creators, and of those Americans smart enough to know when they must get smarter and re-tool.  America has never been a zero-sum, constant-pie game, but rather a land of growing opportunity.  The Democrats and John Kerry would rather panic you into thinking otherwise as they play their class and race games.
• A legitimate government must be moral, not amoral; and this administration has taken every opportunity to point out the differences.
• We have too many poor people.  We have too many people without health insurance and other safeguards to personal growth.  But that has never been a matter of public policy of one administration or of another.  It has been in spite of the public policies of different administrations...some deluded and some, like the present administration, based upon individual choice and individual responsibility.
• For the Really Big problems, we need not the supposed leaders like the waffling John Kerry, but leaders who get the available facts and the best available counsel...and then act resolutely toward the defined goal - like President Bush.
• The greatest example of this difference is the handling of the aftermath of 9/11.  While some, like John Kerry in his current iteration and Richard A.Clark - he of the late epiphany - fail to see the forest (world terrorists and their national sponsors) for the trees (Osama bin Laden and al Qaida), others like the Bush administration undertook a comprehensive plan to deal with the forest...of which Iraq and al Qaida are but a part.  It hasn't been easy and it hasn't been pretty, especially with some serious mis-calculations by our Defense establishment.  But it is a light (security and liberty) that is worth the candle in the long run for America and for its "coalition of the willing".  Even the cynical unwilling will benefit.

GS

SATURDAY, October 16, 2004

Regarding the Flu season this year, and the current mess with the flu vaccine, try to get the vaccine, perhaps with a note from your personal physician if you fall into one of the priority categories.  In any case, please see the section on this web site entitled: "The Uncommon Cold".  Rest, fluids and chicken soup won't hurt, either.

GS

THURSDAY and FRIDAY, October 14 and 15, 2004

I firmly believe in and live the saying: "If you like what you do, you never have to work a day in your life".  But something is getting in the way of this "rapid response".  Here's some catch-up.

• The last presidential debate.  With the same scoring system as used in prior debates, I scored President Bush 19 positives to Senator Kerry's 11 positives.  I scored 2 negatives for Bush and 2 for Kerry.  In fact, Kerry deserved double negatives for his totally inappropriate reference (totally gratuitous after Senator Edward's remark earlier) to Dick Cheney's daughter.  Poor form...and poor politics.  Add to that Kerry's continued distortion of the Bush record and his continued un-keepable promises, and you have today's Reuters/Zogby poll giving President Bush a four-point lead over Kerry.  That goes a long way to explaining the non-stop spin flooding the liberal airwaves, from the monologue between Katie Couric and Tim Russert on Today the morning after the debate to NPR's offerings in recent days.  I must admit, though, that among Katie Cutie, Diane Saccharine and Paula Perky, I can't resist Katie's grin and giggle.
• Talk about spin.  Please see two articles in the WSJ yesterday for the facts(Opinion, pA18): "Have War Critics Even Read The Duelfer Report?", by Richard Spertzel; and "Tora Bora Baloney", by Melanie Kirkpatrick.  You might even want to read something from the NYTimes (Sunday, Oct. 10, 2004, Editorials/Letters, Wk p10) entitled "How To Rescue Education Reform: Despite its difficulties, the No Childl Left Behind Act is potentially the most important education reform since the nation embraced mandatory schooling".
• As always, Thomas L. Friedman had something positive to contribute to the Iraq affair ("The Other Intelligence Failure", NYTimes, Op-Ed Sunday, Oct. 10, 2004, Wk p11).  But when he refers to Islam in Iraq, he should include the facts as described by Kenneth Woodward of Newsweek three years ago ("The Story Of Islam: A Peaceful Faith, A Fanatic Few", in The Day September 21, 2001, America On Guard, pB16).
• Here's a sobering insight regarding the Economy: "Scares Ahead", Editorial, The Economist Oct. 2, 2004, p11).  Look out for :"higher oil prices, a slump in America's consumer spending, a global house-price bust, and a hard landing in China.  None of those concerns is outlandish...and a confluence of them could produce a world-wide "perfect storm".  Together with the tenuous situation in the Middle East and with the war on global and domestic terrorism, this is not the time to change leadership, and to change it to a much more regulatory, tax-and-spend, "we know best" governmental philosophy of a Massachusetts Democrat.

WEDNESDAY, October 13, 2004

Tonight, the final presidential debate.  Perhaps we should refer to some facts before they get fractured by both participants.

• Regarding the Economy, see "America's New Jingoes", by George Gilder, WSJ Friday, Oct 8, 2004, Opinion, pA16.  Surprisingly and persuasively, the author is referring to Senator Kerry and his economic supporters.  See also "The Changing Face Of Poverty", by Robert J. Samuelson, Newsweek, Oct. 18, 2004, p50.  The middle class is not "losing". It is being diluted by massive immigration, which neither side in the debates wants to address.
• Regarding Health Care, see two good articles in the WSJ Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2004, Opinion, pA22.  A hint: "HSA Man vs. Healthzilla".  See also Holman W. Jenkins Jr. offering in the WSJ Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2004, Opinion, pA17.  And for some insight into the medical malpractice conundrum, see the article by Zimmerman and Hallinan in the WSJ Friday, Oct 8, 2004, pA1.
• Regarding Social Services, Defense, and more on the Economy, see the remainder of a series of Day editorials (theday.com), Oct. 11, 12, 13, 2004.  These have a distinct Kerryesque flavor.  But they are informative.

GS

TUESDAY, October 12, 2004

In recent days we have had the opportunity to witness three "profiles in courage": President Karzai of Afganistan and Mr. Allawi of Iraq, each under constant threat of assassination.  And now Christopher Reeve, a Superman of a man in his years-long battle with quadriplegia, who died yesterday.  Each has been a source of inspiration in an otherwise cynical and self-centered world.
However, it would be unfortunate, in the case of Mr. Reeve, if his main legacy was one of representing only one polarized side in a vital human debate: the stem-cell issue.  I addressed this scientific and moral issue in a commentary published in The Day (theday.com) on Sunday, July 29, 2001, entitled "Stem Cell Issues Need More Debate: It's Abortion Wearing A Pretty Face" (Voices and Views).  (Please see also the other offerings on this web site, under "The Involved Citizen - Abortion").  In that statement I offered a compromise that I believed - and believe - addresses both the scientific and moral imperatives involved.  But that is currently another victim of this electoral season, which has not been conducive to substantive changes in policies or positions by any side.  Much awaits the end of this election process...and I can hardly wait!

GS

MONDAY, October 11, 2004

• Columbus Day.   This should be a day of celebration for all Americans.  See my offering on the subject on this website, under The Involved Citizen...Miscellaneous Topics..."Christopher Columbus and the Indians".
• Now some random responses:
• "In a democracy, the people always get what they deserve".
• I've heard Kerry compared to Hamlet.  More to the point, a "President Kerry" would be a repeat of the Carter presidency.  And we can't afford that.
• Deficits: as a father who has put five children and their parents through various graduate schools...and having had to pay seven tuitions per year for three of the years...I know something about deficits.  They are sometimes absolutely necessary to maintain and progress the health and welfare of an organization.  I also know about growing out of deficits. "I fight poverty; I work!
• Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was in Iraq yesterday, and also met with the Ministers of 18 coalition and NATO countries.  According to one report, he was there to "inform and dazzle".  For God's sake, forget the "shock and awe"...and JUST WIN!
• President Bush is taking flak in Kerry quarters for his "sharp attacks".  What could be more sharp than to be constantly accused of "lies", "deceptions" and "distortions", with absolutely no proof of such intent?  But things were much worse in the "tone" department during this country's first few presidential campaigns after the terms of President George Washington.

GS

SUNDAY, October 10, 2004

So much to write about...so little time.

• First, I consider myself very fortunate to have highly intelligent and informed friends who comprise the Editorial Board of The Day, one of the best of New England's newspapers, with whom to test wits and opinions.  As has been obvious from many past offerings in this section, we view the current challenges to America's people and leaders differently.  "Vive la difference".  Here come some more comments, at least partially critical of their current positions.
• The second of the current series of editorials on major issues is entitled "Making Schools Work".  I know something about this, as a perpetual student, a former member and President of the Board of Education in New London, Ct., the father of five great children who attended public schools for a few years, and as a long-time observer of the public education scene.  Please see my personal and other offerings on this web site under "The Involved Citizen...Public Education Politics."  The editorial (Saturday Oct. 9, 2004, Opinion, pA6) takes the right "history and physical findings", generally comes up with the right diagnosis, and then equivocates on the obvious treatment.  This is no time to be politically correct.  The un-educable "educators" and the teachers unions are the problem.  Choice and competition are the treatments.  Anything less is simply rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.  However, I agree entirely with the final sentence: "President Bush is discovering the hard way that it's impossible to fight a war well on the cheap.  The same holds true for being the education president".
• The third editorial in the series, appearing today, is entitled "Bush, The Polluter's Friend".   Except for the reference about the Iraq war, the writer has it just right...sad to say.  There has been a constant tension, since the later 19th century, between "conservationists" and "preservationists" in this country.  But what is currently going on reminds me of the days of James Watts in the early 1980's..and I can't figure out why President Bush seems to have such a tin ear for this issue.  That has been a disappointment.
• How many inane cartoons about Dick Cheney do we have to see printed in The Day?  We know that you're for Kerry, and that you're not about to give equal time.  Enough, already.
• And what was the purpose of printing that stupid article today by Gwynne Dyer, whoever she is, entitled "The Ugly American"? (Voices and Views, pC3)

SATURDAY, October 9, 2004

• The debate.  President Bush was effective.  Senator Kerry was, within a half-hour, defensive.  My "poll" gave neither party negatives for form-style, 16 points to Bush for substance, vs.8 points to Kerry for substance.  If their respective messages had to be summarized, Kerry's would be: "President Bush lied to you", an unsupported slander that only politicians can get away with, and "coalition, coalition, coalition...."   Bush"s would be: We are at war...stay on the offensive, with a coalition of the willing", and "the ultimate weapon against world-wide terrorism is freedom and democracy, which we are achieving in Afganistan (the Afgans have voted!) and which we will achieve in Iraq in January (good news coming out of Sadr City, Falluja, and a stubborn Secretary Rumsfeld regardiing coming Iraqi and U.S. troop strengths planned to protect the election process - see latest Reuters reports today).  Last night, after a while watching Kerry again, a Western saying came to mind: "ALL HAT AND NO CATTLE".
• The final debate, on Wednesday, will be restricted to domestic issues. Don't expect too much from that one, which will be a Dueling Domestic Data Distortion debate.  But the great differences in policy between the two candidates are already clear enough.
• Yesterday we read the first of a series of Day editorials (theday.com) "examining the views on major issues" of the candidates.  I had to read the first, entitled "Limits of American Power", twice before I figured out what was bothering me: the opinions reflect a 9/10/2001 mind-set.  The change that occurred on 9/11 was as momentous for us and for the world as was the first use of the atomic bomb in 1945.  Old solutions for such new problems just won't work.  The following is a quotation from the book entitled "Against All Enemies", written by Richard A. Clark, for decades an expert on world terrorism under several Presidents: "Little noticed by most Americans, including those in its government, a new international movement began growing during the last two decades.  It does not just seek terror for its own sake; that international movement's goal is the creation of a network of governments, imposing on their citizens a minority interpretation of Islam.  Some in the movement call for the scope of their campaign to be global domination.  The 'Caliphate' they seek to create would be a severe and repressive fourteenth-century literalist theocracy.  They pursue its creation with gruesome violence and fear".  (Free Press, 2004, p35).

FRIDAY, October 8, 2004

• We read today about the pending establishment of the "Progressive Muslim Union of North America" by mainly young Muslims who object to some of the tenets of Islam.  Good.  Christianity and Judaism did that long ago.  What really needs to come about ASAP among most Muslims is that their religion has been hijacked by a variety of very bad guys in the name of "Fundamentalism"...and must be taken back.  In this new world scene, we need Western culture and Islam against world terrorism.
• More spin on the WMD report.  Has anyone actually read it?  At least one report is worth reading, if you ignore the headline, very likely not created by the author (see "Report...", by Douglas Jehl, New York Times News Service, in The Day, yesterday, pA1).
• On NPR today we heard a book review about advertising directly to kids, very young kids, to tap into the "nag factor" and "pester power".  Two areas of particular concern relate to huckstering junk foods to kids in the last serveral years, resulting in an estimated 50% of children's food intake consisting of junk foods, in school and at home.  Parents and teachers: "Is anybody there? Does anybody care?"
• The Flu Vaccine...What a Mess.  But even here we may be able to make lemonade out of lemons, by demonstrating how the average American, still possessed of common sense and fair play, can accept rational rationing and prioritization.  This will be news to our fearless leaders, who have avoided this concept like the plague in dealing with our options for providing needed (vs desired) health care delivery in this country.
• A first...in 5000 years: Afganistan will hold its first direct election for head of state.  Now "it's a good thing".  The next good thing will occur in Iraq, as the terrorists and their supporters well know.  Even Kerry and Edwards know that it will happen; but their candidacies would dissolve if they admitted it.
• "Mr. Kerry's Diplomacy" (in WSJ, yesterday, Opinion, pA18') reveals that already his "plans" regarding both Iran and North Korea have laid an egg.
• And then there's tonight's presidential debate.  See you there...

THURSDAY, October 7, 2004

• The latest WMD Report, over 900 pages long, by Charles Duelfer, special advisor to the CIA for WMD.  Did you tune in on Mr. Duelfer, on CSPAN last evening, reading verbatim from his report, and then answering questions from Senator Warner?  Or did you just see the report on the Today show, with a clip of Senator Carl Levin asking his "yes or no" question?  Two totally different messages, as befits the ever-accelerating spin produced by the liberal press.  Although Mr. Duelfer found no evidence of WMD's now in Iraq, his report documents all kinds of history, potential, intent and likely deception by one of his main sources...Saddam Hussein!  And he agreed with Senator Warner that the Hussein regime was a great danger that we are best off without.  He also made note of the many thousands of regime documents which have been recently uncovered and which his group has had no time to review at all.  So, this is far from a final report on the subject of WMD's.  And it is certainly not relevant to the issue of decision-making with information and analyses then available, both from our CIA and from the British counterparts, in the fall of 2002 and the early winter of 2003.  Of course, none of these facts, and the full contents of the Duelfer report, will prevent the Democratic "dissembling miscreants" from another month of distortions.  Just beware!
• Meanwhile, some bureaucrats in this administration are beginning to go into CYA mode.  Secretary Rumsfeld, he of the gross miscalculations regarding troop level needs that he palmed off on the generals, is becoming more equivocal and "nuanced" in his answers to basic questions about the decision to go to war in Iraq.  And Ambassador Bremer, the former czar of post-war Iraq for 14 months, is now coming out with a revisionist history of his tenure for his own benefit.  The facts are set out clearly in the WSJ editorial yesterday (Opinion, A18).  Forget loyalty...even truth evidently has its practical limits - and not only for Democrats.
• On a lighter side, Martha Stewart is reported to have described her coming residence during the next few months as a "gated community".  Nice touch, as always, Martha.  Howard Stern has just announced that he will be going on satellite radio soon.  Not far enough, Howard.  How about Outer Space?   And Rodney Dangerfield, despite his recent death, can't help making us laugh: "When I was born, I was so ugly...the doctor slapped my mother!"

MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, October 4 through 6, 2004

The vice-presidential debate: the heavyweight vs. the lightweight.   In my un-scientific poll of one, these are the results: Substance positives,  Cheney 12, Edwards 5; Form or Style negatives, Cheney 0, Edwards 4.   You decide:
 

• Edwards:  "Still not telling the truth; these distortions....; tell the Americans the truth; John Kerry and I have no global test for America's self-defense; we have a plan for Iraq (?); It's not true!; Halliburton, like Enron and Ken Lay; regarding medical mal-practice, we have a plan (?); we were attacked by bin Laden, not by Hussein; the bright light of America is flickering out...."  Several times, Edwards did not answer the question posed, but simply addressed what he wanted to address.
• Cheney:  "Their judgment is flawed; look at Kerry's Senate record of 30 years: no conviction, so many inconsistencies; our most important allies are the Iraqi people and Mr. Allawi; you demean the sacrifices of our allies, and then expect to get and retain their support; Iran has so far not violated 12 years of U.N. Security Council Resolutions, as Iraq had done; Halliburton is a smoke screen to confuse the voters, see factcheck.com [should be factcheck.org]; you missed a lot of votes, and have the worst attendance record in the Senate; Kerry voted 98 times for tax increases, high even for somone from Massachusetts; I've worked for four Presidents and watched two others up close; we need a Commander-In-Chief who will aggressively go after world terrorists and who will spread powerful democratic goals...."  Regarding the "no-bid" contracts let to Halliburton, that was because there was no other corporation in the world that could do the job at the time, no one who could meet the needed specifications.

GS

SUNDAY, October 3, 2004

• Here come the next debates.  First, the vice-presidential debate on Tuesday evening.  Each candidate will be trying to shine the image of his respective presidential candidate.  But I hope people will ask themselves this question also: Who would make the better President and Commander-In-Chief?  That scenario has occurred too many times in the last century for us to forget it.
• Next, the second prersidential debate, on Friday, Oct. 8.  In the first debate, Kerry's handlers seem to have given him his head, while President Bush's handlers held him in tight rein, perhaps to avoid a gaffe.  That didn't work for the President in terms of form or style, although the substance was there.  This time they should "let Bush be Bush".  On Iraq, someone (Donald Rumsfeld?) seems to have come to his senses at long last.  American forces are now reported to have orders to greatly weaken the "insurgency" before the January, 2005 Iraq elections.  And despite the depressed outlook expressed by Thomas Friedman, on the basis of generally accurate facts, in today's N.Y.Times, they can pull it off.  They appear to be succeeding in Afganistan, which holds elections this week.  Of course, Kerry's domestic policy points will be the "same ol', same ol', approaches which have regularly won for him the highest ultra-liberal marks in the Senate; "tax reductions for the rich" should read "tax reductions for those who pay the most taxes, the alternative being nothing other than "wealth re-distribution", an old favorite of socialists; "jobs lost in America" should read "the price we pay, to be offset by re-training,  for a global economy that enables other countries to finance the massive debt that our profligate way of life piles on ourselves;  "social security is dying" should read "social security will do well as more and more seniors, despite taking their benefits, continue to work for years beyond "retirement"...and continue to pay social security taxes into the system"; "re-build the broken health care system" should read "follow the broken and cynical system of our "allies" into socialized medicine; and on, and on.
• Based on present evidence, President Bush doesn't deserve to lose this election, having been right on the issues vital to America.  Senator Kerry doesn't deserve to win this election, being wrong on all the vital issues...especially on wanting to give the "international community" the power to "advise and consent" on our most vital decisions.  The ones who would deserve to lose...and lose big...would be the "conservative base" if, for any petulant and short-sighted reason, they "just stayed home".  THIS ELECTION IS IMPORTANT, FOLKS.

SATURDAY, October 2, 2004

Three more debates to go: two Presidential and one Vice-Presidential.  Meanwhile, let's keep our eyes on the facts.  The Wednesday, Sept. 29 issue of the WSJ was as usual full of them, facts you are not likely to see in the liberal press (Opinion, pA18). Did you know:

• Senator Kerry's claims regarding the VA health care system are wrong.  The system has been the beneficiary of a $22 billion increase in the last four years.  Do you think he doesn't know this?
• We have seen five 9/11 widows supporting Kerry on the stump, despite their criticism of President Bush for "using" that great tragedy.  Now we read an article by one of 150 family members supporting the President ("Right War, Right Place, Right Time").
• The recent concerted attack on charter schools has been orchestrated by the American Federation of Teachers.  I'm shocked, shocked!  And their data comparing charter school and public school student test results are trumped up.
• The upper management of the CIA has been engaging in a political disinformation compaign against President Bush in order to undercut his efforts at reform of the intelligence structure of this country.

GS

FRIDAY, October 1, 2004

The first debate: form and substance.  Have you ever watched, while flying somewhere, a movie without the sound?  It is a good way to evaluate the talent of the actors, unencumbered by plot, music, etc.  And have you heard of at least one journalistic study of past presidential debates wherein it was found that an audience  came to the same conclusion in a televised debate...with or without the sound on?  That's very telling, and very relevant to last night's debate.  With the sound off, and just watching the candidates, especially the silent one, Kerry beat President Bush by 4 to 1 in form, according to my personal poll of one.  Bush does not have a poker face; Kerry does.
But then, you listen to what they had to say, and a totally different picture emerges.  Try reading the debate transcript, or try listening even to excerpts on the radio, however cherry-picked, and President Bush is the clear winner, 9 to 3.  That's substance, folks.  Some examples:

• Kerry: "Reach out to other nations; form alliances; bring allies to our side; the U.N.; alliances, diplomacy; war as a last resort; summits; alliances; pre-emptive war must pass the global test; international treaties...."  "I have a plan (fill in the blank)".
• Bush: "A commander-in-chiet cannot display uncertainty and weakness, especially with troops in the field...and he must not denigrate our allies; build our defenses, with continuation of an all-volunteer army; stay on the offensive, so that we will not have to fight terrorists in our own streets; build alliances, but never turn over our defense to others; the transformational power of liberty...a free Iraq and Afganistan will be a powerful example to the people of the Mid-East; mixed messages give the wrong signal: to our troops, to our allies, and to our enemies; a commander-in-chief must be consistent, steadfast, resolute...he must mean what he says and must speak clearly".

GS