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![]() Just Above Sunset
October 3, 2004 - Why Bush Will (eventually) Win the Debates
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William Saletan is at the
top of his game. Check this out. In 1999, George W. Bush said we needed to cut taxes because the economy was doing so well that
the U.S. Treasury was taking in too much money, and we could afford to give some back to the people who earned it. In 2001,
Bush said we needed the same tax cuts because the economy was doing poorly, and we had to return the money so that people
would spend and invest it. So how do you counter this
kind of logic? Is it possible? When
you are proved wrong that only proves you were really right. Do you just heave
a sigh of exasperation, as Gore did in the presidential debates four years ago, and thus come off as a pretentious and condescending
intellectual snob and alienate everyone by making fun of a simple man with a clear vision. On July 23, 2003, three months into the occupation, Bush scoffed that Iraqi insurgents were confined
to "a few areas of the country. And wherever they operate, they are being hunted, and they will be defeated. ... Now, more
than ever, all Iraqis can know that the former regime is gone and will not be coming back." A week later, he assured reporters,
"Conditions in most of Iraq are growing more peaceful. ... As the blanket of fear is lifted, as Iraqis gain confidence
that the former regime is gone forever, we will gain more cooperation." Bush warned that failure to stick with his policies
"would only invite further and bolder attacks." Well, that didn’t
work out. Fallujah, and the Sadr City portion of Baghdad, and so many other places
are now “no go zones” where our troops will not operate (see this from September 14 in the New York Times and a discussion here in these pages) – and the elections scheduled for January are in question, and so on and so forth. We turned over sovereignty in June, and things went sour. If the situation in Iraq improves in the coming weeks, Bush will take credit. If it deteriorates,
he'll take credit for that, too. "Terrorist violence may well escalate as the January elections draw near," he warned
Thursday. "The terrorists know that events in Iraq are reaching a decisive moment. If elections go forward, democracy in
Iraq will put down permanent roots, and terrorists will suffer a dramatic defeat." So take heart. We've got 'em right
where we want 'em. We do? |
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This issue updated and published on...
Paris readers add nine hours....
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