How did the standards for our president get so poorly calibrated? The bar for his performance is so low, that, like the Stonehenge monument in This Is Spinal Tap, it’s in danger of being crushed by a dwarf.
The president should be well read, thoroughly versed in the specifics of domestic and foreign policy, and articulate. So why is it that that everyone applauds if he is able to get through 90 minutes without drooling on himself? Nearly every poll I’ve seen has Kerry as the decisive winner in the debate, yet every pundit and anchor I saw last night seemed intent of declaring the Bush campaign back on track.
It’s truly sad that the media feel so compelled to make excuses for him. They say he’s not good at debates. He’s not good at speaking off the cuff. He’s not good at pronouncing the names of foreign countries or leaders. He’s not good at pretending to know what he’s talking about. He’s not good at understanding, setting, or implementing policy. What is he good at? Winking. Golfing. Vacationing. Smirking. I feel safer already!
If the press spent half the amount of energy they spent on Clinton’s personal life investigating Bush’s actions and policies, he’d be out on the street already. The 9/11 Commission, the Duelfer report, the jobs report released yesterday, and all the recent books published by his former Administration officials attest to the fact that the man cannot lead truthfully or competently. As a consequence the nation is less safe and less prosperous.
A brief summary of his accomplishments: Biggest deficit ever. Increasing violence and instability in Iraq. First net job loss since Hoover. Billions in tax breaks and no-bid deals given to corporate cronies. Deteriorating health care and education. And yet, in the midst of all this failure, he finds hundreds of days to vacation.
It’s almost as if the press is afraid to point it all out, because they don’t want to be accused of being liberal. And so they clap because he didn’t look quite as stupid this time. Argh.
Posted by Mr. Perkins at October 9, 2004 09:21 AM Unfortunately, the problem is not that the press is afraid of appearing liberal, but rather that the majority of our media sources are being run by pro-monkey conglomerates. ( http://la.indymedia.org/news/2003/04/47530.php ) In other words while most Americans in Smalltown USA think they are watching an objective news channel, they are simply being fed what the corporate executives would like them to hear. More information on that can be found by watching “The Corporation”
( http://www.thecorporation.com/about/ ), which shows that it is not illegal for news agencies to lie ( http://www.foxbghsuit.com/ ).
So, with less than a month before the election, the news gets even better: the Sinclaire media group will be airing a BS film stating that Kerry’s activism against the Vietnam war was treason. The film will conveniently be aired in swing states and has the potential to reach about a quarter of US households.
(http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B3DBE3AB8-41B6-488E-9294-D23A2037FA6B%7D&siteid=google&dist=google)
The theocrats are just as psyched about the latest brainwashing efforts as the fatcats are- for more fun, check out Pat Robertson’s website:
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/040909b.asp
While it is apparently acceptable to exploit the painful memories of Vietnam Vets, the same media group refused to show a reading of the names of those killed in Iraq, because it was supposedly “against the public interest.” After all, it’s unpatriotic to think that our troops should not be unnecessarily slaughtered.
As a slight aside, one particular comment from Kerry caught my eye in the last debate.
So here's a proposal for a new Kerry poster...
JOHN KERRY
(Pic of Kerry's patrician visage)
BELIEVES IN SCIENCE
Posted by: Andy on October 11, 2004 08:35 PM