Month: September 2004

Reactions

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1). No slam dunk. Neither Kerry nor Bush screwed up especially, except in that they were both a little slow to hit really hard, at least by the hyper-vendetta standards of the blogosphere. I would’ve drilled down on Bush’s evasion of the Putin question, myself – and I’m voting for the guy in November. Likewise, … Read more

Sudan and Iran

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Well, I brought one clear idea away from the debate. Neither candidate is anywhere near the realm of reality in formulating how they want to deal with genocide in the Sudan or nuclear ambitions in Iran. Both want to ‘give support’ to the African Union in dealing with the genocide in the Sudan? Hello! The … Read more

Debate Open Thread

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Complex and tricky negotiations are taking place even as we speak for your Humble Essayist to be able to liveblog the debates – but I cannot promise anything, so here’s an open thread to comment in anyway.

Still, I have my beer, my popcorn and my Robotic Right-Wing Talking Points ready and at hand, so let the debates begin! Dance, candidates! Dance for Moe Lane! Dance noooowwww…. sorry; was channelling Giblets for a moment, there. Either that, or Flying Dog beer’s stronger than advertised. (Shrug) Heck, I’ve got tomorrow off…

UPDATE: I’ve retreated upstairs. Reactions”

ME: Interesting.

FIANCEE: Dear God, that was pointless.

And there you have it, America.

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Shameless proxy bragging.

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A WaPo link. Sure, it wasn’t me (I’m quite the inconsequential blogger, these days), and sure, the post was originally a forward from somebody on her own hiatus (who can come back any time she likes), and sure, the author of the article apparently thinks that Obsidian Wings is the name of the blogger, not … Read more

What Would You Ask?

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The NYTimes printed questions for the President (from Albright, Clarke, and Schlesinger) and Senator Kerry (from Kristol, Wedgwood, and Davis Hanson). If you could ask one question of either candidate (on the evening’s topic of national security [JRQ]*), what would it be? Mine, to President Bush, would be: You’ve repeatedly said that if your generals … Read more

Republicans Must Not Support Torture

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I generally support the 9/11 Commission Bill (which is more formally known as H.R. 10). However, Sections 3032 and 3033 are very disturbing. They make it very easy for the US to move terrorist suspects into the custody of other countries in order to allow such suspects to be tortured in that country. I strongly … Read more

Bush’s Support Explained At Last

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For those of you who have been wondering, as I have, how anyone can support a President as disastrous as George W. Bush, a report from the Program on International Policy Attitudes explains it for us: his supporters have no idea what he stands for. Via Kos:

“As the nation prepares to watch the presidential candidates debate foreign policy issues, a new PIPA-Knowledge Networks poll finds that Americans who plan to vote for President Bush have many incorrect assumptions about his foreign policy positions. Kerry supporters, on the other hand, are largely accurate in their assessments. The uncommitted also tend to misperceive Bush’s positions, though to a smaller extent than Bush supporters, and to perceive Kerry’s positions correctly. Steven Kull, director of PIPA, comments: “What is striking is that even after nearly four years President Bush’s foreign policy positions are so widely misread, while Senator Kerry, who is relatively new to the public and reputed to be unclear about his positions, is read correctly.””

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An Alternate, Mutually Exclusive, Superior Hypothesis

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Via rc3.org
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Someone has finally found the words to explain something that’s been bugging me. William Saletan explains that President Bush frequently justifies his decisions on unfalsifiable hypotheses. And as one who insists the US base policy on “sound science,” he should really know better.

In 1999, George W. Bush said we needed to cut taxes because the economy was doing so well that the U.S. Treasury was taking in too much money, and we could afford to give some back to the people who earned it. In 2001, Bush said we needed the same tax cuts because the economy was doing poorly, and we had to return the money so that people would spend and invest it.

Bush’s arguments made the wisdom of cutting taxes unfalsifiable. In good times, tax cuts were affordable. In bad times, they were necessary. Whatever happened proved that tax cuts were good policy. When Congress approved the tax cuts, Bush said they would revive the economy. You’d know that the tax cuts had worked, because more people would be working. Three years later, more people aren’t working. But in Bush’s view, that, too, proves he was right. If more people aren’t working, we just need more tax cuts.

Now Bush is playing the same game in postwar Iraq. When violence there was subsiding, he said it proved he was on the right track. Now violence is increasing, and Bush says this, too, proves he’s on the right track.

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My Passed-Out Friend Here is Buying…Here’s His Arm

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Imagine you’re out for a night of drinking. Somewhere between breakdancing in the Irish dive and being kicked out of the uppity martini lounge, you realize you’ve lost your wallet. No more cash, not even an ATM card…your night is over. &-( Fear no more, my sobrietyphobic friends; science has come to the rescue: Imagine … Read more

Debate Rules…

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Like Pejmanesque, I heartily approve of these debate rules, although speaking solely in terms of aesthetics I prefer Rule 42 to Rule 98. And I hope to God nobody takes advantage of the final sentence of Rule 2. What bipartisan (which is to say, stuff that’s equally annoying from both sides) rules would you folks … Read more