And that's why I as a hypothetical network head would not run it (ABC obviously disagrees). No questions + no major initiatives or policy changes = no interest from me, save the masochistic desire to annoy myself.
Posted by norbizness at June 28, 2005 08:53 AMBush of course is appearing before a friendly crowd that is guaranteed to not raise a ruckus and to cheer loudly on cue.
I think "guaranteed" is a little strong. The 82d has taken its share of abuse at the hands of these pinheads too.
Posted by Matt Davis at June 28, 2005 09:00 AMNot THE John Kerry????? Not the John Kerry who is on the floor of the Senate every day screaming at the top of his lungs for investigations into the war, the price of gas, the coming bird flu epidemic, ANWR, the deficit.....oh no wait, it can't be that John Kerry, because that John Kerry doesn't exist! Too bad actually...
Posted by AbbeyX at June 28, 2005 09:12 AMJohn F. Kerry is a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, whom we righteously screwed in the last election.
Posted by Flamethrower at June 28, 2005 09:21 AMTonight, President Bush will give a speech in which, despite the chaos and car bombs and rising daily attacks by insurgents, he'll argue that everything is going well in Iraq and we should stay the course. It's clear that the president is out of touch with reality—as Republican Senator Chuck Hagel said, "It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."
We believe that it's time to stand up to him and demand that Congress begin bringing our troops home, while doing what we can to support a stable Iraq. We got into this war the wrong way, and it's time to get out the right way.
But we want to know where you stand. Should we work together in a major campaign to get Democrats and Republicans in Congress on board with a responsible exit plan? Or should we focus on other issues, either in Iraq or here at home?
Moveon wants the President to have a detailed plan and to start bringing troops home October 1, 2006. Their poll revealed that 83.7 agree with the withdrawn by October 1, while 16.3 want Moveon to focus on other issues. 144,299 votes counted to date. The movement against the War is picking up steam.
Posted by Judith at June 28, 2005 10:05 AMThis article by Kerry just makes him look like a loser. Or maybe he really thinks he has a prayer in 2008 and he wants to appear to be a party leader (Was he really a leader before he won the nomination?). I think it will be pretty humiliating if he tries it in 08 and gets blown out in the primaries.
Posted by Tex at June 28, 2005 10:10 AMIf Bush was smart........LOL!!.........whew!! I was crying on that one...... anyway,as I was saying. If Bush was smart he would give us a detailed military plan on how they plan on stopping the insurgency. Not enough detail to hurt our military mind you. Just a summary of what the hell he plans on doing. This, "it takes time" B.S. is getting old and it's the main reason his approval ratings are down.
I want to hear a) How many Iraqis are trained and combat ready and how many it will take before we are ready to leave? b) What is being done to stop the insurgents from crossing the border and why it's not working? c) Why we never had enough combat troops to deal with this problem? d) What is being done to create jobs in Iraq? e) Why the oil pipe lines, Iraq's main source of money, are wide open to attack? f) Why the infrastructure is not up and running yet? g)Will the Iraq government ask for U.N. troops since we can't handle it? h) If they do get U.N. troops can they get a different color than baby blue!? That baby blue just says shoot me all over it! The list goes on and on....
Posted by Centrist at June 28, 2005 11:26 AMI plan on hitting the HBO On-Demand tonight as I formally gave up on listening to anything Bush says or does about two years ago.
Though I'll be keeping a keen eye on those polls after the speech. I think we can make the conclusion that if he does not improve over 50% in the category of handling of Iraq AND that his overall approval rating does not go up...then Bu$hCo are truly in a world of s**t.
Posted by Jason at June 28, 2005 11:48 AMI want to hear a) How many Iraqis are trained and combat ready and how many it will take before we are ready to leave?
Alot! Problem is we don't have a clue how many are infiltrators sympathetic to the insurgency?
b) What is being done to stop the insurgents from crossing the border and why it's not working?
Not enough is being done because we don't have enough personel to cover all of it all the time.
c) Why we never had enough combat troops to deal with this problem?
Why'd ya ask b) if you knew we already didn't have enough troops?
There was a little thing about being greeted with flowers (what ever happened to Paul Wolfowitz? I gotta give that guy a medal.) Oh yeah and we couldn't spare anymore troops and still be safe everywhere else.
d) What is being done to create jobs in Iraq?
We're doing our best to develop the bomb-crater-repair sector, the bullet-riddled-wall-patching sector and the mortuary-arts sector, that's a big one, mortuary-arts. There are plenty of jobs in all those sectors.
e) Why the oil pipe lines, Iraq's main source of money, are wide open to attack?
Well we'd like to protect those obviously but the problem is we can't get close enough to 'em cause they keep blowing up.
f) Why the infrastructure is not up and running yet?
Look we have blackouts here in the States. It's a complicated system. A lotta wires.
g)Will the Iraq government ask for U.N. troops since we can't handle it?
We can handle the U.N.! Who said we can't handle the U.N.?
h) If they do get U.N. troops can they get a different color than baby blue!? That baby blue just says shoot me all over it!
Here's the problem with the blue, and I understand it. The blue makes the Islamists think that the troops are Israelis. That's the confusion so yeah that's a good suggestion. I'll look into that.
Posted by G Dub at June 28, 2005 11:49 AMI think you did a really good job of noting Kerry's piece without actually giving him credit for anything. Keep up the good work.
Posted by Typical lefty at June 28, 2005 11:51 AMI plan on hitting the HBO On-Demand tonight as I formally gave up on listening to anything Bush says or does about two years ago.
Though I'll be keeping a keen eye on those polls after the speech. I think we can make the conclusion that if he does not improve over 50% in the category of handling of Iraq AND that his overall approval rating does not go up...then Bu$hCo are truly in a world of s**t.
Posted by Jason at June 28, 2005 11:51 AMCentrist,
Don't hold your breath on getting any of those answers. They've been asked many times before and no answers have been forthcoming yet.
It just occurred to me that the setting for tonight's speech makes Bush look really, really weak. This is neither a celebratory moment nor a turning-point moment. There is, in other words, no reason for Bush to be at a military base. Conclusion: he, alone in the White House, is simply incapable of speaking directly and credibly to the American people. He needs help, lots of help -- and his handlers know it.
Posted by Chris at June 28, 2005 12:19 PMHe's a war prseident!
Still!
Posted by muckcat at June 28, 2005 12:21 PMCasualties unknown.
More bleak news as a prelude to Bush's speech.
Posted by at June 28, 2005 12:50 PMI think "guaranteed" is a little strong. The 82d has taken its share of abuse at the hands of these pinheads too.
Are you hoping for some mass defections in the crowd over TV?
I'd love to see it, but I can't imagine it happening. Between a group of troops whom are sworn and disciplined to protect and obey, the president's handlers repeatedly drilling the cues for the audience, and both political and security agents carefully screening the crowd for non-stepford activity, you're lookin' at 10,000 to 1 odds.
Posted by idiosynchronic at June 28, 2005 12:56 PMMore bleak news as a prelude to Bush's speech.
...the Taliban downed the aircraft with a rocket
Bush: My first duty as President....
Aide: (whisper) ahh Mr. President...you've been President for a long time now.
Bush: OH! yea right.... My first dootie this week will be to blow up all Rocket factories in the world.... (sinker) I said dootie on TV...he he he
The closing line of Kerry's piece--that our troops deserve "leadership equal to their sacrifices"--is a powerful thought, and should become a Democratic mantra.
Without sounding preachy or self-righteous, it both honors our soldiers and points out how shamefully they have been served by this administration.
Maybe it's because we don't want to be seen as parroting a Bushevik tactic, but Democrats seem to be afraid of or unwilling to hammer home simple and memorable lines like this.
But we should get into the habit, and this would be a good place to start.
Repeat after me:
"Leadership worthy of their sacrifices."
Will the Democrats have a response to Bush's message tonight? Speaking of which, in the Op/Ed piece that Kerry wrote today in the N.Y. Times, he said that Bush should concentrate upon strategies of success in Iraq, without mentioning the words exit strategy. Until Kerry and the other Democrats mention how and when the troops should come home, they will continue to come across as GOP lite.
Posted by Erroll at June 28, 2005 02:32 PMI want to hear ...
Centrist asked some pertinent questions above, and it was my impressions that while Bu$h touched on the topics in his speech, he didn't answer the questions.
He did, however, tell us that he needs soldiers through his promotion of a military career. Add this to Rumsfeld's comment about it taking twelve years to complete the conquest of Iraq, and it's going to be a long hard road if we let King George continue to pretend he's a leader.
Posted by pessimist at June 28, 2005 06:59 PM