Mark Steyn has Senator Kerry pegged:

Kerry now says that Bush “misled” him on Iraq. But, if he was that easily suckered by a renowned moron, how much more susceptible would he be to such wily operators as Chirac. They would speak French to each other, and Jacques would blow soothingly in his ear, and Kerry would look flattered, and there’d be lots of resolutions and joint declarations, and nothing would happen. We’d be fighting the war on terror through the self-admiring inertia of windbag multilateralism.

As for the home front, Kerry says: “As President, I will not evade or equivocate; I will immediately implement the recommendations of that [the 9/11] commission.” Whoa, hold on there. There’s a ton of recommendations, and some of us don’t like the part about concentrating all US intelligence under one cabinet secretary who serves not at the President’s pleasure but for a fixed term. That effectively institutionalises the groupthink resistance to alternative ideas that led to the 9/11 failures. Leadership is about hearing different viewpoints and reaching a judgment. But Kerry gives the impression that, as long as he enjoys the perks of the top job, he’s happy to subcontract his judgment to others.

He moans endlessly about the “outsourcing” of American jobs but, when it comes to his own job, he’s willing to outsource American foreign policy to the mushy transnational talk-shops and to outsource homeland security to some dubious intelligence tsar. There’s no sense of any strategic vision, no sense that he’s thought about Iran or North Korea or any of the other powder kegs about to blow. I tried to ask him about some of these matters during the New Hampshire primary and he intoned in response, “Sometimes truly courageous leadership means having the courage not to show any leadership.” (I quote from memory.)

The whole thing is like that. You know what to do.

Of course, he finished with a flourish:

…After an eternity, an aide stepped out from behind him and said, “The Senator needs you to move.”

“Well, why couldn’t he have said that?” muttered one of the old coots, as Kerry swept past us.

That’s how I felt after the Convention: all week Senators Biden, Lieberman and Edwards made the case that the Democrats were credible on national security. Why couldn’t Kerry have said that?

Because in the end he’s running for President because he feels he ought to be President. That’s his message to George W Bush: “The Senator needs you to move.” And even then everyone else says it better.

Mark Steyn has Senator Kerry pegged:

Kerry now says that Bush “misled” him on Iraq. But, if he was that easily suckered by a renowned moron, how much more susceptible would he be to such wily operators as Chirac. They would speak French to each other, and Jacques would blow soothingly in his ear, and Kerry would look flattered, and there’d be lots of resolutions and joint declarations, and nothing would happen. We’d be fighting the war on terror through the self-admiring inertia of windbag multilateralism.

As for the home front, Kerry says: “As President, I will not evade or equivocate; I will immediately implement the recommendations of that [the 9/11] commission.” Whoa, hold on there. There’s a ton of recommendations, and some of us don’t like the part about concentrating all US intelligence under one cabinet secretary who serves not at the President’s pleasure but for a fixed term. That effectively institutionalises the groupthink resistance to alternative ideas that led to the 9/11 failures. Leadership is about hearing different viewpoints and reaching a judgment. But Kerry gives the impression that, as long as he enjoys the perks of the top job, he’s happy to subcontract his judgment to others.

He moans endlessly about the “outsourcing” of American jobs but, when it comes to his own job, he’s willing to outsource American foreign policy to the mushy transnational talk-shops and to outsource homeland security to some dubious intelligence tsar. There’s no sense of any strategic vision, no sense that he’s thought about Iran or North Korea or any of the other powder kegs about to blow. I tried to ask him about some of these matters during the New Hampshire primary and he intoned in response, “Sometimes truly courageous leadership means having the courage not to show any leadership.” (I quote from memory.)

The whole thing is like that. You know what to do.

Of course, he finished with a flourish:

…After an eternity, an aide stepped out from behind him and said, “The Senator needs you to move.”

“Well, why couldn’t he have said that?” muttered one of the old coots, as Kerry swept past us.

That’s how I felt after the Convention: all week Senators Biden, Lieberman and Edwards made the case that the Democrats were credible on national security. Why couldn’t Kerry have said that?

Because in the end he’s running for President because he feels he ought to be President. That’s his message to George W Bush: “The Senator needs you to move.” And even then everyone else says it better.

Mark Steyn has Senator Kerry pegged:

Kerry now says that Bush “misled” him on Iraq. But, if he was that easily suckered by a renowned moron, how much more susceptible would he be to such wily operators as Chirac. They would speak French to each other, and Jacques would blow soothingly in his ear, and Kerry would look flattered, and there’d be lots of resolutions and joint declarations, and nothing would happen. We’d be fighting the war on terror through the self-admiring inertia of windbag multilateralism.

As for the home front, Kerry says: “As President, I will not evade or equivocate; I will immediately implement the recommendations of that [the 9/11] commission.” Whoa, hold on there. There’s a ton of recommendations, and some of us don’t like the part about concentrating all US intelligence under one cabinet secretary who serves not at the President’s pleasure but for a fixed term. That effectively institutionalises the groupthink resistance to alternative ideas that led to the 9/11 failures. Leadership is about hearing different viewpoints and reaching a judgment. But Kerry gives the impression that, as long as he enjoys the perks of the top job, he’s happy to subcontract his judgment to others.

He moans endlessly about the “outsourcing” of American jobs but, when it comes to his own job, he’s willing to outsource American foreign policy to the mushy transnational talk-shops and to outsource homeland security to some dubious intelligence tsar. There’s no sense of any strategic vision, no sense that he’s thought about Iran or North Korea or any of the other powder kegs about to blow. I tried to ask him about some of these matters during the New Hampshire primary and he intoned in response, “Sometimes truly courageous leadership means having the courage not to show any leadership.” (I quote from memory.)

The whole thing is like that. You know what to do.

Of course, he finished with a flourish:

…After an eternity, an aide stepped out from behind him and said, “The Senator needs you to move.”

“Well, why couldn’t he have said that?” muttered one of the old coots, as Kerry swept past us.

That’s how I felt after the Convention: all week Senators Biden, Lieberman and Edwards made the case that the Democrats were credible on national security. Why couldn’t Kerry have said that?

Because in the end he’s running for President because he feels he ought to be President. That’s his message to George W Bush: “The Senator needs you to move.” And even then everyone else says it better.

The Warsaw Uprising began sixty years ago. Not the ghetto uprising–the other one that essentially destroyed the city as the Nazi regime was entering its death throes. It was a true display of the evil of both Hitler and Stalin.

By the way, I happened to watch “The Pianist” last night, and I was amazed at the level of destruction shown in the movie, and was wondering how accurate it was.

I heard Kerry dredge up another old socialist chestnut today, when he was talking about health care. “I’m going to give every citizen the same health care that senators give themselves.”

That kind of demogoguery is just as nonsensical now as it is when the senator’s portly colleague, the senior senator from Massachussetts, used it over two decades ago.

Does he propose to provide every American citizen with a Senator’s salary? With other senatorial perks and benefits, such as free haircuts and subsidized meals? Free gym memberships?

Secret Service security details? I’ll bet a lot of people in the inner cities would like that one.

How about a generous pension?

No?

Then what’s his point? Why should they get senatorial health care?

Just heard a clip of Bush on his new tour (as in the title of this post)–a dig at Kerry’s comment that the heart and soul of America was represented by Whoopie Goldberg & Co. He said “Springfield, Missoura.” I wonder if that’s a natural Texan pronunciation, or if he knows it’s what the natives (outside of St. Louis) call it?

Just heard a clip of Bush on his new tour (as in the title of this post)–a dig at Kerry’s comment that the heart and soul of America was represented by Whoopie Goldberg & Co. He said “Springfield, Missoura.” I wonder if that’s a natural Texan pronunciation, or if he knows it’s what the natives (outside of St. Louis) call it?