axis of evil? yes/no/maybe
last night, zell miller said this:
zell miller, september 2, 2004 at the republican national conventionGeorge W. Bush wants to grab terrorists by the throat and not let them go to get a better grip.
From John Kerry, they get a “yes/no/maybe” bowl of mush that can only encourage our enemies and confuse our friends.
i’m going to make just a little leap from “terrorists” to “evildoers” and put this on the record for a little chuckle:
President George Bush, State of the Union Address, January 29, 2002Our second goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction. Some of these regimes have been pretty quiet since September the 11th. But we know their true nature. North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens.
Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people’s hope for freedom.
Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and nuclear weapons for over a decade. This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens — leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections — then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world.
States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.
now, for a quick review the scorecard on the axis of evil:
weapons of mass destruction: iraq (no), north korea (yes), iran (maybe)
military intervention by the united states: iraq (yes), north korea (no), iran (maybe).
from george w. bush, we get a yes/no/maybe track record to compare with our “bowl of mush” from john kerry. oh, and by the way, it seems like we have more enemies (having been ‘encouraged’) and fewer friends (having been ‘confused’) over the past few years, but that’s a topic for another day.
the tactic i see from the republican party, over and over again, is one that a blogspammer used on me once, and it’s particularly uncomfortable in politics where there’s actually real stakes: accuse your opponent of whatever it is you think you might be vulnerable on. do it first, do it hard, and keep them explaining, that way they’re losing.