8.31.2004
RNC Day One Recap
Just had to put something out there, in case someone was interested in commentary on what happened on Day one at the RNC. First of all, Austrailia's Sydney Morning Hearld posted a fair look at events of day one, specifically Former NY Mayor Rudolph Guilianni's speech:
Americans should put leadership at the core of their decision," said the former New York mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, as he launched a scathing attack on the Democratic presidential nominee.
Accusing Senator John Kerry of weakness and vacillation, Mr Giuliani described him as having no clear or consistent vision of how to fight the war on terrorism and ridiculed his nuanced stand on the Iraq war, saying he still had time to change his mind several more times before the election.
The harsh tone of the convention has dispelled any notion that September 11 will not be exploited by the Republicans for Mr Bush's re-election campaign. Against the backdrop of the New York skyline and the slogan "A Nation of Courage", Mr Giuliani repeatedly referred to the "horror" on September 11, including a gruesome description of a man plunging to his death from the World Trade Centre.
On that day, Mr Giuliani recollected, he turned to the New York Police Commissioner and said: "Thank God, George Bush is our President". And to the roar of the Republican delegates on Monday, he added: "I say it again tonight."
Shortly before Mr Giuliani spoke, three women, all relatives of September 11 victims, took the stage and urged Americans to take up the "fight" in the memory of their loved ones. While they did not overtly use the stage to publicly endorse President Bush they left little doubt that they supported his stand.
Real classy, Rudy. I used to think this guy had some class, but that was obviously a mistake. The Yankee's cap shoulda been a dead giveaway. The Herald also had an excellent point to make about the Bush campaigns goal at the convention:
The central role of the war on terrorism in the convention, and Mr Bush's re-election campaign, is designed to play to his strongest political asset, his 10-point lead over Senator Kerry for his handling of the terrorist threat.
But it is also designed to blur the war on terrorism with the war on Iraq where more than half the country is critical of Mr Bush's strategy.
Excellent read, and rather short, so you should check the whole thing out. A bit longer on details is this amazing recap by Anthony Wade of the website OpEdNews.com. Wade spoke at great length about the rhetoric and lies presented at the RNC, but here's a few key quotes:
[John McCain Speech Quote]“Whether Saddam had WMD or not, he would have acquired them again.”
Now, even if you want to forget that the president lied to start his war, this excuse from John McCain is quite lame. First of all, we only know that Saddam had the WMD at one point because we sold them to him in his war against Iran. So, unless we were going to sell them to him again, to say we had to remove him because he would have “acquired them again”, is quite ludicrous. Is that the “Bush Doctrine” that Guliani was trumpeting all night? That anyone who “may acquire” WMD needs to be removed and we need to go to war? Is that the type of “steady leadership” we want? The bottom line is that the administration’s official story on 911 is that al Qaeda and bin Laden were responsible and this President’s response was to blow up two countries that had very little to do with 911 itself. No, we do not have to fight these wars.
...Guliani was outright vicious in his unrelenting attack on John Kerry. He mocked Kerry on his stance on the Gulf War. He scorned him about his now infamous quote about voting for the 87 billion before voting against it. Then to show how low he can go, Rudy let loose with:
“With 64 days left before the election, he has time to change his position 4 or 5 more times! Maybe this explains John Edwards two Americas, one where Kerry can vote on one side and one for the other side. John Kerry has made it the rule to change his position, not the exception. He gives us no confidence.”
...The GOP cannot run on issues because they have none. They are reduced to spending their convention trying to tear down Kerry, as opposed to building Bush up. The bottom line is Kerry chose to go to Vietnam and Bush went AWOL. Kerry spent his adult life serving this country in the Senate while Bush was making money through insider trading and shadowy business ventures, some of which were funded by the Saudis. When you truly stand up the two candidates against each other, there is no comparison. So, they need to paint Kerry as a flip-flopper and Bush as unwavering. Please.
...John McCain – On the Iraq War, stated the war was “necessary, achievable, and noble”. I am sorry John but all three are lies. There was nothing necessary about the Iraq War. There were no WMD and Saddam had nothing to do with 911. This war is also not achievable. Even the newborn republican Ron Silver had to admit on MSNBC later that the handling of the Iraq War has been “wretched”. We were told that we would be in and out of Iraq and it would be paid for through their oil reserves. None of this has been true and we are going to be there for quite a long time according to experts. Lastly, there is nothing noble about this war. It has been brutal, oppressive and rife with problems. There is nothing noble about the deaths of 1000 American soldiers. There is nothing noble about the deaths of nearly 14,000 Iraqi civilians. There is nothing noble about the torture of men women and children. Nobility is not what jumps to mind when we hear about the rape of women and children in the Iraqi prisons by our troops or about hooking up electrodes to their genitals. Mr. McCain should know this as a former POW and I assume deep in his heart he must realize it. It is a shame that he has chosen to sell his soul to the man who represents everything he must despise. A man who would not stand up for his country and then went AWOL. A man who shouts “bring em on!” while troops are in harms way. A man who won’t go to one soldier’s funeral. I feel bad for McCain but he has chosen his path.
It's a thrilling but lengthy piece. I recommend you take the time to check it out. I'll also be checking out OpEd's site all this week to see what else they have to say about the convention. I'll post any important updates up here, as usual.
Americans should put leadership at the core of their decision," said the former New York mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, as he launched a scathing attack on the Democratic presidential nominee.
Accusing Senator John Kerry of weakness and vacillation, Mr Giuliani described him as having no clear or consistent vision of how to fight the war on terrorism and ridiculed his nuanced stand on the Iraq war, saying he still had time to change his mind several more times before the election.
The harsh tone of the convention has dispelled any notion that September 11 will not be exploited by the Republicans for Mr Bush's re-election campaign. Against the backdrop of the New York skyline and the slogan "A Nation of Courage", Mr Giuliani repeatedly referred to the "horror" on September 11, including a gruesome description of a man plunging to his death from the World Trade Centre.
On that day, Mr Giuliani recollected, he turned to the New York Police Commissioner and said: "Thank God, George Bush is our President". And to the roar of the Republican delegates on Monday, he added: "I say it again tonight."
Shortly before Mr Giuliani spoke, three women, all relatives of September 11 victims, took the stage and urged Americans to take up the "fight" in the memory of their loved ones. While they did not overtly use the stage to publicly endorse President Bush they left little doubt that they supported his stand.
Real classy, Rudy. I used to think this guy had some class, but that was obviously a mistake. The Yankee's cap shoulda been a dead giveaway. The Herald also had an excellent point to make about the Bush campaigns goal at the convention:
The central role of the war on terrorism in the convention, and Mr Bush's re-election campaign, is designed to play to his strongest political asset, his 10-point lead over Senator Kerry for his handling of the terrorist threat.
But it is also designed to blur the war on terrorism with the war on Iraq where more than half the country is critical of Mr Bush's strategy.
Excellent read, and rather short, so you should check the whole thing out. A bit longer on details is this amazing recap by Anthony Wade of the website OpEdNews.com. Wade spoke at great length about the rhetoric and lies presented at the RNC, but here's a few key quotes:
[John McCain Speech Quote]“Whether Saddam had WMD or not, he would have acquired them again.”
Now, even if you want to forget that the president lied to start his war, this excuse from John McCain is quite lame. First of all, we only know that Saddam had the WMD at one point because we sold them to him in his war against Iran. So, unless we were going to sell them to him again, to say we had to remove him because he would have “acquired them again”, is quite ludicrous. Is that the “Bush Doctrine” that Guliani was trumpeting all night? That anyone who “may acquire” WMD needs to be removed and we need to go to war? Is that the type of “steady leadership” we want? The bottom line is that the administration’s official story on 911 is that al Qaeda and bin Laden were responsible and this President’s response was to blow up two countries that had very little to do with 911 itself. No, we do not have to fight these wars.
...Guliani was outright vicious in his unrelenting attack on John Kerry. He mocked Kerry on his stance on the Gulf War. He scorned him about his now infamous quote about voting for the 87 billion before voting against it. Then to show how low he can go, Rudy let loose with:
“With 64 days left before the election, he has time to change his position 4 or 5 more times! Maybe this explains John Edwards two Americas, one where Kerry can vote on one side and one for the other side. John Kerry has made it the rule to change his position, not the exception. He gives us no confidence.”
...The GOP cannot run on issues because they have none. They are reduced to spending their convention trying to tear down Kerry, as opposed to building Bush up. The bottom line is Kerry chose to go to Vietnam and Bush went AWOL. Kerry spent his adult life serving this country in the Senate while Bush was making money through insider trading and shadowy business ventures, some of which were funded by the Saudis. When you truly stand up the two candidates against each other, there is no comparison. So, they need to paint Kerry as a flip-flopper and Bush as unwavering. Please.
...John McCain – On the Iraq War, stated the war was “necessary, achievable, and noble”. I am sorry John but all three are lies. There was nothing necessary about the Iraq War. There were no WMD and Saddam had nothing to do with 911. This war is also not achievable. Even the newborn republican Ron Silver had to admit on MSNBC later that the handling of the Iraq War has been “wretched”. We were told that we would be in and out of Iraq and it would be paid for through their oil reserves. None of this has been true and we are going to be there for quite a long time according to experts. Lastly, there is nothing noble about this war. It has been brutal, oppressive and rife with problems. There is nothing noble about the deaths of 1000 American soldiers. There is nothing noble about the deaths of nearly 14,000 Iraqi civilians. There is nothing noble about the torture of men women and children. Nobility is not what jumps to mind when we hear about the rape of women and children in the Iraqi prisons by our troops or about hooking up electrodes to their genitals. Mr. McCain should know this as a former POW and I assume deep in his heart he must realize it. It is a shame that he has chosen to sell his soul to the man who represents everything he must despise. A man who would not stand up for his country and then went AWOL. A man who shouts “bring em on!” while troops are in harms way. A man who won’t go to one soldier’s funeral. I feel bad for McCain but he has chosen his path.
It's a thrilling but lengthy piece. I recommend you take the time to check it out. I'll also be checking out OpEd's site all this week to see what else they have to say about the convention. I'll post any important updates up here, as usual.
