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Friday, October 08, 2004
Lee: Aftermath of the debate
By Kelvin King Lee
Babble On
'...a lot of these screw-ups happened under Bush's watch. In short, Bush has a horrendous track record as a president. He looks and sounds good, but his actions are another thing entirely.'
WELL. Some newspapers said that John Kerry won last week's U.S. Presidential debates. Others say it was a tie, with Kerry making a slightly better showing than George W. Bush. Either way, Bush didn't come out looking too good from that one. This doesn't bode well for him.
This could signal the start of a shift in the balance of power in America.
Bush's lead in the polls is said to have disappeared after the debate, with Kerry now possessing the lead, albeit only a slight one, for now. But a lead is a lead. And if this keeps up, Bush and his Republican cohorts, particularly his master strategist/political adviser Karl Rove, may start to panic. Of course, there are other debates coming up where Bush could attempt to recover, but Bush is no comeback kid, unlike Bill Clinton, who was a survivor no matter what was thrown at him. Even Bush's family history doesn't seem to bode well for him.
Remember that George Bush Senior had a grand victory over there in the Middle East during desert storm, yet he lost his reelection bid due to economic woes, and had to give up the presidency to the aforementioned comeback kid--Clinton and his "it's the economy, stupid!" tagline.
The current Bush, good old Dubya, has to deal with economic woes and a faltering military campaign, again in the Middle East. His foreign policy has been horrible, with America being tagged as "Fortress America", due to its "Go it alone" stand.
Credibility, the single greatest weapon used in international foreign policy, is sorely lacking from America's arsenal. There is a humanitarian crisis in Darfur, and America can't even seem to bring the world's attention to it. They don't have the credibility to do so. Everyone is still too focused on Iraq.
And a lot of these screw-ups happened under Bush's watch. In short, Bush has a horrendous track record as a president. He looks and sounds good, but his actions are another thing entirely. And now he just loused up the debate, or at least didn't come out smelling too good from that encounter with Kerry.
The current U.S. administration under Bush may suddenly decide that they need to up the ante and get some victories to improve Bush's image; increase his chances of reelection. This could mean blowing up a lot more stuff in Iraq. Or worse, another war somewhere else.
Of course, I am just speculating.
***
It is a hectic time for me so I must apologize for my frequent absences from this space. I must also apologize for my future absence, as I must take a short hiatus from column writing for around three weeks. The next time you will see me write should be around November.
Anyway, on the lighter side and on a more personal note, today is the birthday of a very close relative of mine. Happy birthday Keryl! May you have many, many more birthdays.
And speaking of the lighter side, my class won the debate last week--we received the Best Memorial, which means we wrote a very good position paper, and we also received Best Team. Congratulations Section 1 A!
(Email me at babbleon@atenista.net)
(October 8, 2004 issue)
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