Americans love humility. They love it when great people are humble. Part of what got W. as far as he has is his self-effacing, aw-shucks act.
At tonight’s carefully staged news conference (if I read between the lines correctly, he had a list of reporters, knew the questions they were going to ask, and had answers prepared…like “Hollywood Squares”), one of the last questions he got (and one which I think he didn’t know ahead of time) was that, in 2000, he said the biggest mistake he ever made was trading Sammy Sosa. But now, post 9/11…what would he say was his biggest mistake?
He couldn’t come up with one.
There was so many things he could have said that would have played well, cost him very little politically, and would perhaps have gone a ways to portray him as someone who learns from his miscalculations. Because it’s the lack of learning curve displayed by this administration that is its most alarming tendency.
He could have said, “I made a mistake in underestimating the levels of evil that a bin Laden would sink to. I pledge to my fellow Americans, I will never make that mistake again.”
Or, “I made a mistake in saying that the mission was accomplished. It’s not yet, but we have to finish it.”
Or, “I made a mistake in my estimation as to the intensity of fighting that continued in Iraq, but we have brave soldiers in the field and we will support them.”
Or, “I made a mistake in giving the country the impression for months on end that I was stonewalling the 9/11 commission.”
Something. Anything. In the words of Doctor Evil, throw us a frickin’ bone.
Nothing. Hundreds of Americans, thousands of Iraqis dead, WMDs still MIA, no clean exit strategy, no clear idea who runs Iraq after June 30, intelligence lapses being investigated…
…and he can’t think of anything in three years that falls under the category of, “Ooops. My bad.”
Whatever happened to the buck stopping at the desk where he sits? Or does that buck permanently rest on the Clinton desk, since Clinton continues to be blamed for whatever’s gone wrong in the past few years.
PAD
• 
I am voting for Kerry.
Whenever there is a presidential election, I look at the two candidates, and their positions on the issues. And I vote for the one who agrees with me most often. I have no difficulty identifying that as Kerry.
All politicians are deceptive. The last President who told us the truth all the time was Jimmy Carter. (Not that that made him a good President – but I do believe he was honest, moral, and upright. painfully so.)
Voting for me gets down to the issues. If I seriously believed that there was no quantifiable difference in the beliefs of the two major candidates, I would consider voting for a third party.
PAD
I think he meant the top half. 😉
And with regard to the Bush/Cheney testimony –
will Kathleen be selling the Bush puppets before or after the testimony?
Not that I am happy with everything that Tony Blair says and does but Mr. Bush could learn a lot from him just by watching the weekly Prime Minister question time as well as the monthly press conference where journalists can ask Blair whatever they want. Of course Mr. Blair is prepared, sometimes it is really not difficult to guess what questions will be asked. It can happen that he doesn`t want to answer a question for whatever reason or evades it but he is not hiding behind scripts and protocols. Journalists and members of parliament can keep drilling whenever they are not happy with a reply.
Sometimes, that takes guts but this is part of what a prime minister or the US president should be capable of. He is representing the country and the country in question, meaning the citizens, especially journalists, have a right to ask questions – and to get answers.
Not only are these staged question and answer sessions Bush gives boring (to me nearly everything he says about his war against terror sounds like a broken record), they often smell of cowardice. And after this, it is even more obvious how arrogant he is. Maybe this journalist didn`t hand in his question in advance, that this is necessary is bad enough. But what is even worse is that Bush obviously never thought about it what mistakes he made.
What is so funny is that everyone keeps giving the same answer to why they are voting for Kerry and that is that he is not Bush and when asked what other reasons are there, everyone just says that is the only reason and it is good enough.
How is that good enough? Kerry is worse. He waffles on every decision. His record shows that.
How is that “he is not Bush” a good enough reason to vote for him???
How is that good enough? Kerry is worse. He waffles on every decision. His record shows that.
No it doesn’t. That’s just another soundbite that the Bush campaign threw out there, hoping it would stick. If you actually look at any of the “waffles”, you’ll see that it is misrepresented by Bush’s ads. Luckily for Bush, most people don’t check up on hte accuracy of ads.
This site is so blatantly liberal. I didn’t say leftist, but blatantly liberal and anti Republican. This site is definitely partisan, Mr David. And thats ok because its your site. But I think we have to admit that this is a partisanly liberal site with mostly partisanly liberal people who respond to posts around here. Not always, just in general. So lets not pat ourselves on the back too much when we see SO MANY people on this site agreeing with us. Just a thought…
Kerry has built a campaign on his military record while his post-military record does show that he has voted many times for cutting the military’s budget.
The truth is that the ads can be checked and Kerry does have a record of changing his mind according to his needs or his financiers at the time.
I just read this entire thread and I have just one question to the poster directly above me:
Robert, what in the flying @#!% are you yammering about?
Who’s patting who on the what, where?
Liberals aren’t the only ones who were disappointed by the President’s performance/inability to thoughtfully answer questions last night… That I can 100% guarantee.
Kerry has built a campaign on his military record while his post-military record does show that he has voted many times for cutting the military’s budget.
His military ecord is excellent. There’s no real dispute over that.
His military voting record is vastly misrepresented by Bush’s campaign.
I urge anyone quoting sound bites about their candidate or the other guy’s candidate to check out:
http://www.factcheck.org
It’s a good place to check out the claims by the candidates. Bush’s claim that Kerry is a “flip flopper” is debunked there, as are some of Kerry’s barbs.
Just FYI. 🙂
This site is so blatantly liberal. I didn’t say leftist, but blatantly liberal and anti Republican. This site is definitely partisan, Mr David.
Aren’t you being disingenuous to those of us who aren’t Republican and who form our opinions based on our own abilities and interpretations rather than unthinking partisan reasons?
I detest Dubya and everything he does for concrete reasons rather than any support for a political party.
There is this sales guy at the office, who, with a little prepping, can talk and talk and talk about any subject, and can be ever so convincing. He’s great.
Elequent,
Confident,
Clear-speaking,
Would he be leadership material??
No.
No character.
If I was a Yank, I’d vote for Bush.
I think in the mistake section, he could have added, “I’m sorry I didn’t deploy the Troops along the Torra Borra region to cut off Bin Laden and the Taliban leadership.” Or, “Gee, I could have paid more attention to Richard Clark whne he talked about Bin Laden and not been so hard up for Iraq.” Or “Wow, I should have not gotten into Iraq while Al-Qadda is out there plaining more attacks. You just can’t win a two front war.” Or, “I really wish I hadn’t made people hate us so much.” J
Honestly Bush should have admitted his biggest mistake was having a press conference at all.This man has to be the worst public speaker in the
history of the presidency.
“Blah ,blah,not on my watch,freedom, freedom we will not stand by freedom ,change the world ,freedom.God bless you, freedom”
What was the question again?????????
It seemed to me that there were a lot of attempts by the reporters to get Bush to say he was sorry in someway for 9/11. I can not help but feel had he given into that, the morning headlines would have said something like, “Bush admits 9/11 was his fault!” He was in a political arena last night. Did Bush make mistakes? Sure. But does he deserve blame for 9/11? No way. There has to be a bigger agenda behind the reporters numerous question instead of wanting to see a humble President.
Frankly I think the focus is off. We should ask more questions about his decisions to go to war with Iraq. Our focus should be on the proper response to the attack, both short and long term.
I’ve watched the flash site someone posted, which shows the timeline on the Presidents response to the first minutes and hours of 9/11. The man is not evil and heartless. I have to agree with his statement that he would have moved heaven and earth to prevent that attack. So would have Gore, Clinton or Kerry. We are going to criticize him for not shooting down the plane! I can not even imagine having to make that kind of decision. I know that our President has to be able to make decisions like that. But whoever was President I would give them the broadest benefit of the doubt in such a situation. It is a shame that this point is becoming an issue. Again folks, wrong focus.
I saw some of Bush
A question I forgotto ask.
PAD, please name one mistake you have made in the past month, and name your greatest fault.
Could this turn out to be his Viet Nam?
The truth is that the ads can be checked and Kerry does have a record of changing his mind according to his needs or his financiers at the time.
The facts do not bear out this accusation.
“PAD, please name one mistake you have made in the past month, and name your greatest fault.”
Gentlemen of the press always give their full name and where they’re from when posing a question. It’s what’s done in polite society. And you are…?
PAD
Jeff Gillmer, ABC.
“PAD, please name one mistake you have made in the past month, and name your greatest fault.”
(Not seriously expecting an answer, but I do work for ABC and couldn’t resist. And no, I’m not a reporter, but I work on the technical side.)
The thing that has stuck out for me about the press conference ( and may of the administration sound bites of the last few weeks) was that Bush kept saying “If I had known that they were going to hijack planes and fly them into the World Trade Center towers, I’d have moved mountains..”. OK you had no idea they’d fly the planes into buildings but there was an elevated amount of chatter about terrorists hijacking planes yet it seems like no one took any steps to beef up security for flights around that time. Flying planes into buildings is horrific but hijacking panes is also a scary thing to have happen yet no one seemed to be alarmed about the possibility.
And for the people who feel that this is a liberal Bush-bashing haven let me give a little background about myself – I’m 31 and have been a registered Republican since I was 18; I switched to the Democratic party at the beginning of the year because there is nothing Republican about the current administration and I would vote for almost anyone over Bush because he has been a disastrous president and on his watch has ushered in an era where the socially intrusive, religious conservative wing of the party ( the wackjobs that used to cost the GOP elections) have now taken over. Add to it his disastrous economic policies and the fact that he spends money like a drunken sailor.
And for a guy that everyone likes to praise as a “man of great character” Bush has presided over the most secretive and divisive administration since Nixon. Maybe instead of pointing the finger at people who want Bush gone and accusing them of having some liberal bias it would do you some good to look inward and admit that the only reason you support Bush is because you want your side to win despite the fact that your candidate has shown himself to be the wrong man for the job.
Jeff from ABC ,You obviously are missing the point this is not about every one confessing mistakes and faults .Our elected officials and representatives should be held to a high standard and be willing to admit a mistake.Yes im sure you are going to pull a what about this (fill in the blank )’politician.they are all wrong and in this case since the man(Bush )claims to be so religious i would think honesty and integrity would go with lifestyle.
In the future if you want “fair and balanced “coverage ,meaning right wing ,pro republican you may want to consider your competitors at FOX news.:)
recently GW said that everyone deserves freedom, and blah blah , the usual crap that he says when it comes to iraq.
the fact is that i cant really say where i live is free in the truest of democratic sense. my country has the traditional military dictator backed up by your every day paper parliament, and the thing is i wouldnt mind a bit more freedom and accountability in the system. in fact, its just ripe and waiting for GW to come and bomb the hëll out of us.
Honestly speaking, I would rather shoot myself tha n have some american soldier come in out of nowhere and ‘liberate’ me. Let me work out my own problems, strenghten my own institutions instead of individuals , and let me and my people create freedom for ourselves.
i dont need george bush to come with his planes and bombs, and tell me what it is to be free.
Lee Houston, Junior;
No. It won’t turn out to be his Vietnam. You know why? Because we are fighting this war to win. Unlike LBJ – and to be fair, Nixon to an extent though not as great – Bush is determined to let our military personnel do what is necessary to protect themselves.
Oh, and we already won the war. We are now trying to win the peace.
What you must understand is that liberal politicians and the media love to constantly bring up Vietnam because it is the only war the United States ever lost. I mean, they were calling the war a “Quagmire” THREE DAYS after it started.
So if when we roll over Grenada, it will be called “not a real war” and we’ll be called a “bully”.
When we win the first Gulf War after only about 100 hours on the ground, we’ll again be called a bully, be accused of exaggerating the strength of the enemy and simultaneously excorciated for NOT GETTING SADDAM HUSSEIN!
No, Vietnam was a noble effort against Communism during the Cold War. History will show the way we handle Iraq to be possibly even more significant in world impact.
If we stay the course, which we are.
Because THIS President won’t let it become Vietnam.
A major reason why I’ll vote for him.
Any questions?
Highly recommended reading:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110004954
No. The “other half” were caualties during the conflict. Especially when the lines between civilian and attacker become as blurred as they have been. Unfortunate to say the least.
One of the comments above mentioned the “looting”, most of which was proven to be false and just incorrect. Including the major one of the museum where multiple artifacts were reported to have been stolen, only you would have to look far and wide for the article where we found out that the material was moved to a secure location before the war to prevent damage.
I’m still waiting for PAD’s response to his greatest mistake. Interestingly enough, none of the reporters during the press conference introduced themselves and what news service they were a part of. Granted, they were submitted before hand with identifying information, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been press conferences in the pass that have been done on-the-fly. If you want identificaiton, you get the email address (most of the time), when people post here.
If the exit strategy I presented isn’t accepted, then why isn’t the press screaming for the return of troops from Germany and Japan? They been there for how long, close to 60 years? It’s been a year, and the press was screaming for troops to come home after 6 months.
The fact of the matter is that the idea I presented for an exit strategy still works. Once they can control themselves, we will let them manage themselves. Of course we’ll set up a base there, but there’s a slight difference between running the place like we are now and setting up a military base.
Interesting thought about the pauses President Bush made at the press conference the other night: here is someone who does pause before answering questions, but if you wanted, you could look at it as determining the best answer to give the press. You may not agree with it, but it’s better than rapid fire answering and allowing a damaging sound bite to be used against you.
I myself still can’t figure out why anyone would vote for Kerry. His military record claims are being disputed by multiple sources, including one of his reasons for getting one of his purple hearts.
He’s stated multiple times that he would raise taxes on people making over $200k, proving that if elected I just will NOT try to increase the amount of money that I make to even close to that level. Why bother to try and make more money when more of it will be taken away from me.
He’s also voted against the troops and support for them because the wording in the bill didn’t have the removal of tax cuts for the “wealthiest” to pay for it.
Not to mention the fact that his speaking puts people to sleep. There’s no excitement for him, there’s nothing appealing about him, he’s just not Bush. That’s the only reason Democrats will flock to him.
I don’t see leadership when I look at Kerry. It just isn’t feasible.
Oh, Bush won’t let it become another Vietnam? Thank God, I was worried that he had planned to get us into a protracted guerrilla war from the start!
The fact is, good intentions aren’t enough. Johnson didn’t intend for Vietnam to become the quagmire that it was. This administration sailed into Iraq and easily deposed Hussein’s regime and then proceeded to pat themselves on the back, not realizing that they had just walked into a viper’s den. They were totally unprepared to “win the peace” and had no plans for how they were going to create a peaceful democracy in a country whose entire history is ethnic bloodshed and iron-fisted rule in just a year. They still don’t. More and more, I am convinced that the only thing we will end up creating in Iraq is another Shiite Iranian-style theocracy.
The sad thing is, while I can’t think of one good reason to vote for Kerry, I can think of dozens of reasons to vote against Bush.
What you must understand is that liberal politicians and the media love to constantly bring up Vietnam because it is the only war the United States ever lost.
“We did NOT lose Vietnam! It was a tie.”
— Otto, A Fish Called Wanda
Tim “don’t call me stupid” Lynch
“I myself still can’t figure out why anyone would vote for Kerry. His military record claims are being disputed by multiple sources, including one of his reasons for getting one of his purple hearts. “
I seriously doubt you can find a reputable source (newsmax.com doesn’t count) thats making those claims.
“He’s stated multiple times that he would raise taxes on people making over $200k, proving that if elected I just will NOT try to increase the amount of money that I make to even close to that level. Why bother to try and make more money when more of it will be taken away from me.”
While you are at it you can also cut off your nose to spite your face.
“He’s also voted against the troops and support for them because the wording in the bill didn’t have the removal of tax cuts for the “wealthiest” to pay for it.”
And how selfish is it to continue an unecessary tax cut while soldiers are at war? The same soldiers who Bush sent to war without efficient equipment long before Kerry voted no on the 87 billion.
“There’s no excitement for him, there’s nothing appealing about him, he’s just not Bush.”
And Bush is just a Republican and the resentment of 8 years out of the oval office and fear of another 4 is all that seems to be important to the GOP. Otherwise this wretched president with his laundry list of faults wouldn’t be held up as some paragon of leadership.
Re: Kerry’s Purple Heart
Here’s the *report* in the Boston Globe, which I *think* is a reputable newspaper. (I don’t live in Boston. 🙂 ) I emphasize report, because they’re not raising the claims, but rather reporting on them.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/04/14/kerry_faces_questions_over_purple_heart/
I think people like Jerome are really missing something here.
Attack me and take over my country and you see what I’ll do to you – using every gureilla tactic possible.
Put yourself in someone else’s shoes.
Saddam was one of the last of the twentieth century tyrants, but the US (and it’s ‘allies’)had and never will have any justification for attacking and taking over Iraq.
Given the economic state of the country right now, it’s youth are more prone to guerilla sentiment than any other right now.
You want democracy for Iraq. Let the Iraqis’ learn about democracy themselves. You cant just shove such things down a person’s throat and expect them to accept it because you (someone who is a million miles away) feels its right.
Such behaviour smacks of colonial hubris.
This made the news all the way over here in Australia. It was all the radio stations could talk about all afternoon.
Guys, he’s a laughing stock.
JB
I can’t believe people are scrapping about Kerry’s military record. Whatever you might think about it, it’s significantly more substantial than Dubya’s (and for the record I couldn’t care about either of theirs).
I’m actually going to vote FOR Kerry raising taxes on those earning more than $200K – just look at that number. We’re not talking $20K, we’re not even talking $50 or $100K, but $200 – the super wealthy need to be paying a greater share than they currently do. I fail to see why this is not common sense.
The money has to come from somewhere – Dubya’s military spending (unprecedented by any leadership of any country in the history of the world) is wrecking the foundation of the American economy and pushing it into a debt mountain which is crippling public services.
Dean,
I think you missed the point. I was being sarcastic towards PAD’s answer. I do work for ABC, but I don’t care about mistakes PAD might have made. Why? It’s none of my business and it won’t affect my respect for his work. If I were that shallow, I wouldn’t be here and wouldn’t support his work because of his political ideas. I was just making a funny due to his answer.
As for switching over to FOX, I’ll watch them (and I also watch CNN and occasionally some of the NBC Cable shows), but switching over there to work is currently out of the question. There are too many benefits being a Disney Castmember to give up. Especially when shopping for friends and family members around the holidays. : )
Oh, and to whomever was complaining that reporters at the press conference weren’t introducing themselves…
The President was calling on them by name anyway. Why should they reintroduce themselves?
I am neither Republican nor Democrat. I will vote for whoever the best candidate is regardless of party affiliation. I have noticed however that for all the supposed “bush bashing” that goes on in here, these people usually give solid reasons for hating Bush. Whereas the people who support Bush just say why Kerry would be bad and why Clinton was bad, and the only thing that comes close to an endorsement is talking about this stupid war where way too many of our casualties were caused by ourselves or our allies. Is there anything non-war related that Bush has done for our country that can be considered good? or even not bad? I am not picking on anyone here. This is a serious question that i would like an answer to.
>> While you are at it you can also cut off your nose to spite your face.
It’s a perfectly reasonable and valid argument. I’ve known people who stopped working past 40 hours a week because it didn’t make any financial sense for them to do so. About ten years ago, a pharmacist I worked with quit his second job, because the tax bite didn’t make it worth it.
Just this past week, a co-worker of mine got his paycheck from a two week period in which he worked 100 hours. The extra money he earned net was so little that he’s vowed to never bother doing it again.
That’s with the system we have in place now. Calling $200,000 rich in a major metro area like New York City is a joke. I’m not crying poverty for such people, mind you, but I do think it’s unreasonable to tax them like they’re in the uppermost tax bracket or are overachievers. I think that the tax code does punish achievement. I’ve seen it in action.
I would prefer a perfectly flat tax system, starting at something like $36,000 a year or so.
I am consistently amazed by posters who start off their posts by stating: “I didn’t watch the press conference” or “I only saw part of the press conference” and then begin to comment on the WHOLE event as if they were one of the reporters sitting in the room.
Just curious, but how many readers actually continue to read the rest of that person’s post (on this thread) if they start their post that way?
Not many, insideman… not many. 🙂
Ken (nfC): How is that good enough? Kerry is worse. He waffles on every decision. His record shows that.
On the contrary, that makes him more connected to voters: For the war? Kerry voted for it! Against the war? Kerry voted against it, too! No matter what your take on any particular issue, you can be sure that Kerry voted with your side at least once! Finally, a politician who’s not afraid to be with us *some* of the time!
(sarcasm off)
Seriously, though, in a world run by “the lesser of two evils” concept, John Kerry certainly seems the lesser. So the guy changes his mind a lot? Could that not be the mark of someone willing to change his position once he realizes he’s made a mistake? Granted, I haven’t made a thorough study of his voting record, so I can’t tell you if his waffling has any sort of consistency to it. Think of it more as a Devil’s Advocate kind of positing. Who’s more dangerous, the voting record waffler or the self-righteous zealot of ‘freedom’?
While we’re on the concept of freedom, let me posit you a scenario, unlikely as it seems. Imagine militant Muslims took over America… doesn’t matter how, really, but let’s say by military conquest. Now, our new Muslim leaders (because they’ve constructed an ‘interm government’ for us) tell us they’ve saved us from the Great White Devil Bush, and we are now free to experience the joys and benefits of their culture. Imagine middle American women in Ohio being forced to wear burkas, or having parts of their sexual anatomy removed. Imagine having the culture you were reared in excised, told “it can’t be that way anymore; that was the old way, you must embrace the new way.” Imagine the resentment you would feel toward others forcing their culture upon you. Imagine the confusion of trying to adapt away from American culture toward the Muslim tenets of faith, even if you wanted to. Seems a bit over the top, doesn’t it?
That’s exactly what we’re doing in Iraq: we may not be building Starbucks Coffees or cramming Big Macs down Iraqi throats, but we’re expecting an entire culture to switch from apples to oranges. Actually, it’s more like from apples to cucumbers… the difference between the two cultures –their expectations, mores, and styles of government– is so vast that to expect it to change overnight, or even to expect it to change out of sheer gratefulness over ousting their hated dictator Saddam, is to expect to much. Yes, many Iraqis are grateful they’re no longer under Saddam’s thumb… but I doubt that most Iraqis realized that the price of deposing Saddam would be a restructuring of their culture. It’s like going back in time to force democracy on the fuedal Middle Ages… the ‘democracy’ would exist, but the people just couldn’t wrap their minds around it: apples and cucumbers.
I’m not saying that the Iraqi people can or will never be democratic, or embrace a more free form of government than anarchy or theocracy or despotism. I’m saying the Bush administration’s hopes were too high and expectations unrealistic. I’m saying that to expect them to flock to democracy, to the ‘freedoms’ Bush thinks can be handed out like so much Monopoly money, is about as reasonable as expecting Ohio to welcome forced conversion to the Muslim faith. Ohio would rebel under such conditions… why are we then so surprised that the Iraqi people are being so ‘ungrateful’ toward their liberators?
tOjb
“PAD, please name one mistake you have made in the past month, and name your greatest fault.”
Very well, Mr. Gilmer: I could answer that very easily. I’ve been very open and honest about mistakes and faults of mine in the past.
But I will not answer that this time around, specifically to make a point.
I’m a private citizen.
I’m not the President of the United States. I did not ask the people of this country to vote for me, to believe that I was a compassionate conservative, a uniter and not a divider. I did not ask them to put into my keeping their own lives and the lives of their sons and daughters I’m sending off to war for reasons that still remain nebulous. I’m not a servant of the people, and I’m not held accountable to them beyond the strictures of the laws that apply to everyone. The President is paid his salary from our taxes. He has sworn to uphold the constitution, is the public face of the United States in terms of how we present ourselves to the rest of the world, and is answerable to the people of these United States as given voice by our elected officials and by the press.
My mistakes are no one’s dámņëd business but my own. The President’s mistakes are everyone’s business. They can cost jobs. They can cost money. They can cost lives. Hundreds of lives. Thousands of lives. And when the man who asked for our trust cannot think of a single thing in the past three and a half years that might be considered an error in judgment, that is–at the very least–cause for concern. Because humans make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone can think of things they’ve done wrong. Which means one of two things: Either George W. Bush thinks he’s free of human error, which shows arrogance on a monstrous scale. Or he’s so intellectually inept that he is incapable of self-analysis, even though the ability to analyze one’s own job performance for weaknesses is a trait that anyone at the most basic middle management job should possess, much less the Commander in Chief.
So am I saying that I’m holding George W. Bush to a higher standard than I hold myself? Yes. Of course. But the question shouldn’t be, why am I? The question should be, why isn’t every other voter in his country?
PAD
Posted by Derek at April 15, 2004 10:24 AM
“I myself still can’t figure out why anyone would vote for Kerry. His military record claims are being disputed by multiple sources, including one of his reasons for getting one of his purple hearts. “
I seriously doubt you can find a reputable source (newsmax.com doesn’t count) thats making those claims.
I count Newsmax, and I find them a bit more reputable than CNN at times.
And in case you missed it: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/04/14/kerry_faces_questions_over_purple_heart/
“…Why bother to try and make more money when more of it will be taken away from me.”
While you are at it you can also cut off your nose to spite your face.
I would, but there’s no logical reason for doing.
I don’t want to get taxed at a higher rate for EARNING more for WORKING HARDER, therefore if Kerry is elected, I will not try to work for that pay rate.
“He’s also voted against the troops and support for them because the wording in the bill didn’t have the removal of tax cuts for the “wealthiest” to pay for it.”
And how selfish is it to continue an unecessary tax cut while soldiers are at war? The same soldiers who Bush sent to war without efficient equipment long before Kerry voted no on the 87 billion.
Yes, and that tax cut had nothing to do with improving the economy like it did?
Production rates in factories not seen since the last tax cut.
Job creation in the hundreds of thousands.
It’s just a darn shame that tax cuts work every time they are tried.
“There’s no excitement for him, there’s nothing appealing about him, he’s just not Bush.”
And Bush is just a Republican and the resentment of 8 years out of the oval office and fear of another 4 is all that seems to be important to the GOP. Otherwise this wretched president with his laundry list of faults wouldn’t be held up as some paragon of leadership.
The biggest faults I’ve seen with him is letting Ted “Where’s my pants — and my car!” Kennedy write the education bill, signing Campaign finance reform, and this stupid immigration policy.
I find no fault with his landing on the aircraft carrier and having the “mission accomplished” banner behind him.
I find no fault with his 2 tax cuts that have lead and is leading to great economic prosperity for this country.
I find no fault with removing Saddam from power, a man who had and used WMD on HIS OWN PEOPLE, and could possibly use them against us in the future either himself or through terrorist groups like Al Qaeda.
I’m actually going to vote FOR Kerry raising taxes on those earning more than $200K – just look at that number. We’re not talking $20K, we’re not even talking $50 or $100K, but $200 – the super wealthy need to be paying a greater share than they currently do. I fail to see why this is not common sense.
Hmm. I seriously doubt you would be saying these words if you were actually making that amount.
This is also not common sense BECAUSE IT’S NOT THE GOVERNMENT’S MONEY! You do not go to work just to earn money to just give it to the government. THAT is common sense. Not this “oh, people who earn more than $200k should pay more in taxes.” They already do. They pay 20% more in taxes than someone earning $20k, does that really sound fair?
You want a different perspective? Fine. Say you start your own business, and it’s really successful to the point where you have the potential to take home more than $200k a the first year. Except that Kerry is president, and he will TAX YOU MORE because you had the desire to work create your own business to earn more money to take care of yourself and your family (and your children). You had the desire and the opportunity because of this great country you live in to create a better life for your family to create a business that has turned out to be successful. So successful that you have the potential to earn more than $200k, except that over I don’t know, 50%? maybe 60% will go to right back to the government. This is additional to all the fines, licenses, property or other taxes you have to pay for your business, not to mention what you pay at home in taxes.
You have to potential to succeed, and the sky is the limit.
Now we have someone who says that there is a limit, and if you go past that, half of what you earn because of your success will go automatically to the government.
No thanks.
jprill:
The Boston Globe article is reporting on the claims being raised not raising the claims itself and presenting facts to try and back them up. This attack on Kerry’s Purple Hearts is the latest in a string of incredibly slimy attempts to smear the man…most of which were started by the people with zero credibility like Ted Sampley.
And if you seriously consider newsmax.com to be a better ( or even equal) news source than CNN than I don’t think there is any reason to continue a dialogue with you.
Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Marvel Studios’ Avi Arad to get the lowdown on all the Marvel movies coming out in the near future. The story runs tomorrow. If anyone would like me to e-mail them the story and/or the ton of stuff I wasn’t able to include due to space, please e-mail me at: jeromemaida@hotmail.com.
I’ll be sure to get it to you.
Thanks.
On taxes:
Hmm. I seriously doubt you would be saying these words if you were actually making that amount.
While I can’t say I’m making $200K, my wife and I combined are making an income that, while of middle-class level in the SF Bay area, would be decidedly top-tier in more rural states.
I’ll go on record now as saying that I would have zero, repeat ZERO, objection to a higher tax burden provided that it was clear where the money was going.
This is also not common sense BECAUSE IT’S NOT THE GOVERNMENT’S MONEY
And this is perhaps the greatest bûllšhìŧ argument of the entire affair.
“It’s not the government’s money — it’s your money.”
Who the hëll is the government made of, if not people? If not us?
“Tax cuts”, while a nice sound bite, come down to two things:
Either we go into debt, or we cut the services that the Big Bad Government provides.
Ever driven on an interstate freeway? Your taxes paid for it.
Gone to public school, either K-12 or college? Your taxes paid for it.
Gotten student loans to help pay for college or advanced degrees? Taxes.
Used Medicare and Social Security, or had elderly relatives do so? Taxes.
Now, if you want to publicly and permanently forgo the use of all of these items (and insist that you’ll only eat food which wasn’t inspected by the FDA, among other matters), THEN you can argue that “it’s not the government’s money.”
Until then, you’re simply arguing on behalf of acting like a leech.
PAD,
We disagree on a lot. But your last post here was pretty good. You make an excellent point. We disagree on a lot – but on this I have to give you props.
I find no fault with his 2 tax cuts that have lead and is leading to great economic prosperity for this country.
We must be living in two different countries.
We recently laid a few people off where I work. We’ve sent some of our work to off shore.
The original dept I worked in for this company was elminated and the work moved off shore.
Yet, I don’t see companies cropping up with data entry positions on a daily basis to make up for these lost jobs.
Great economic propsperity? What friggin PLANET are you living on?
jprill,
The money we are taxed does not just “go to the government”. It goes for education, environment, law enforcement, etc. or it is supposed to. Things that keep us safe, educated, healthy. The money from taxes comes back to all of us, unless you cut taxes for the wealthy. Then they just keep it. Or invest it in the stock market. How is that helping. I can’t understand why everyone in this country who makes a decent living is so against giving some back to the rest of the country to help the quality of life. Are you people who make so much so selfish? The government is there to do the things we are unable to do for ourselves. Enforce laws, educate our kids, healthcare. Or do you hire private security to protect yourself? Have some firemen on staf in case of fire? Have a scientist on staff to test food to make sure it isn’t contaminated? Do you homeschool your children or send them to private school without the use of government vouchers? I could go on, but I hope you get the idea.
Tim Lynch,
Read your post after I wrote mine. I guess I repeated most of what you said. I just can’t understand why people are so greedy they can’t see that we need some government and it needs to be paid for.
“I find no fault with his 2 tax cuts that have lead and is leading to great economic prosperity for this country.”
What alternate universe is this guy living in? I want to go there! I have many friends across the U.S. who have been out of work for more than TWO YEARS, and I’m talking about skilled professionals with advanced degrees. If the unemployment rate has gone down, it’s simply because people have exhausted their claims–not because they have actually found jobs.