Live from the Nuke Free Zone

This will seem a bit like rambling… I’m musing over the speech as I remember it. I had friends over during the speech, attempting to hold a Convention party, which meant I was trying to recruit volunteers and ask for contributions to the DNC while trying to listen to the speech on an engaged level, and both tasks suffered. (However, if you’ve an insatiable hankering for leftover French fries, I’m your go-to guy.)

I heard a lot of things I liked. And you know, I can’t recall hearing a single thing I didn’t. That might be a memory block, but until I’m challenged on something specific I’m content with that.

He finally said something I’ve been wanting to hear him say for a long time: being capable of stringing together a coherent thought of length greater than one clause is not a sign of weakness, contradiction, unprincipledness, or pandering. A politican ought to be able to change his position based on new facts without being ridiculed — especially when he’s not being told the whole truth by those responsible for informing him. I want a smart President. I’ve been getting them, too. Then suddenly George W. Bush comes along and people think any idiot can do the job. That’s not true. The bar has been lowered for the convenience of the slow kid, and this is unacceptable in the Presidency.

That’s the case for a lot of obvious statements. That they need repetition and renewed attention is a function of the disregard shown by the current Administration as well as the blind acceptance it cultivates among its followers. “We should know what we’re doing before we go to war.” “Because of this, no one should strike first except on direst, surest information.” “Smarts are an asset to a President.” “Adaptability, not obstinance, is a requirement in a changing world.” “The default should be extension of rights, not denial.” “Offering the dollar as well as the sword makes both stronger.” “Don’t spend more money than you take in.” (Okay, that one’s been a problem since before Bush. Well, before Clinton at any rate.)

He mentioned civil liberties, something I want to see a lot more of (in case you haven’t noticed from my particular concentration in previous articles). When the current President’s respect for the Bill of Rights is limited to the Second Amendment, somebody needs to take him on, and John Kerry has.

The foreign policy section is so obvious to me, and of such long standing, that it’s hard to articulate exactly why I liked it. No person and no nation is too powerful to need friends, and Bush has not only forgotten this but actively worked against it. A new President will negate a lot of ill-feeling automatically, while good-will will still take work to restore.

Heard an avowedly conservative guest on CNN say that the President has a row to hoe to beat this. And from now until the Republican convention, he’ll have a pretty free reign to do it. (Will John Kerry’s call for civility be answered? Given the ads Bush has been running so far, I doubt it. Despite saying the election is about Bush, the President’s ad campaign so far has been unrelentingly negative.) Guess I’d better get hoeing myself to make that job a bit harder.