Category: Political

I do believe that John Kerry was much more relaxed and confident during the debate. President Bush seemed very pressured at times, very uncomfortable with the venue. He stumbled quite a bit more than Kerry, though usually did recover himself.

(Kerry toasted Bush! On a scale of lightly browned to burnt, President Bush was too done to even feed the hogs.)

I especially appreciated Kerry’s nods when Bush was making statements about his voting records, as if to say, of course I vote that way–but that’s not the point, and this isn’t the issue. I think his point on the tax cuts was a very good one – they benefit people like him and Bush, not the rest of us.

(Yes sir, yes ma’am, he did. Kerry fried ‘em all up and served ‘em semi-sweet, dusted with confect’ner’s sugah! )

I believe that one of the more important points that Kerry made throughout was that when our attention should have been focused on Al Queda in Afghanistan, we misdirected our people to Iraq, and now we’re in the midst of difficult times in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Too much time has been spent on Iraq. And now we have no choice but to continue focusing on that country, to our detriment elsewhere.

(Toast! Toast! Toast! That man was toast! Toast! Toast! He’yah! Sing it out! Toast! Toast! Toast!)

I also believe that Kerry made a very good point about how Iraq is now taxing our resources dangerously, leaving us more vulnerable to terrorism rather than less. I also don’t believe that President Bush’ statement about the Patriot Act (though not specifically named) was a very persuasive counter-thrust.

(To-o-o-o-a-a-a-a-s-t!)

Towards the end President Bush hinted again about how ‘dangerous’ it could be to switch leaders now, about how it sends mixed signals. No, it does not. It sends a message to the world that in this country we can change leaders when we, the people, want, not when it suits them. That was probably the think that irritated me the most the last year in this election–the implication that we can’t change presidents now or something Bad will happen.

(Bad toast. Bad.)

I supported John Kerry before the debate, so I didn’t go into this undecided. However, I now feel that much more strongly about John Kerry as my choice for President.

(Toast.)

Okay, okay, let’s face facts: those who supported Kerry will see him as ‘the winner’ of the debate and those who supported Bush will see him as ‘the winner’; we haven’t heard from the undecided voter, and won’t until election night. But it was fun to let loose a purely partisan reaction. Let me hear you brothers, and sisters…toast!

The American people.

The Presidential debate tonight was one of the best political debates I’ve seen. Yes, there was time to bring in canned speech and talking points, but the moderator was exceptionally good at clarifying points, showing when both candidates were similar and both were different. More than that, I thought it was a class act to see the cordial nature of the two men following the debate, as well as the relatively civil discussion during the debate – and we owe much of this to PBS’ Jim Lehrer.

Not that he didn’t turn the heat up; he did. He directly addressed many of the topics and statements that have been tossed around in the back rooms and along the sidelines the last several months. But by doing so, he forced both men to make their statements directly in front of each other, when the other had a chance to immediately refute, or at times, concur with what was said. No more speculation, no more innuendo – what you saw was what you get.

As for which person won, Kerry or Bush – it really does break down into: which man proposed the course you most want to follow. Gone were the memos and the Swift veterans and all of the other folderol that has plagued this campaign. What we saw tonight was what Kerry would do, what Bush would do, their reactions to the questions, how they were different, and how they were the same.

These are the men in the light now. The election really does revolve on what they will do in the next four years if elected. All of those who have grabbed a bit of the light until now, gleefully following this rumor or that, dipping their toesies in the muck, guess what: Your ten minutes are up.

The earlier black & whites were from a roll of film that I found deep in my camera bag. They make a nice break from the color slides from the hot air balloon race.

This week has been a tough week, with the increased violence in Iraq, and the devestation that Hurricane Jeanne wrecked on Haiti. It looks like Florida will get hit. Again.

The political race is heating up, and today I filled out the rest of my profile as a volunteer to monitor the elections here in Missouri for TechWatch. Missouri was one of three states that had contested election results in the last election, and the race in this state grows closer with each passing day. Some pretty ugly campaigning here, too.

I am pleased from what I see of Kerry lately. There is a sureness to his speaking that’s hard to deny – a determination and a steadfast resolve to stay on the issues. We must not get sidetracked into defenses against outlandish claims; we must stick on issues, no matter how much this race gets focused into values .

There’s much at stake.

Warning: this political message contains no reference to Vietnam, lies, lies about lies, boats, planes, or typeface. It has not been screened by webloggers for accuracy, nor has it been endorsed by any political pundit currently appearing on the Technorati Top 100. View at your own risk.

Because agricultural inspection has been folded, along with most other domestic inspection services, into Homeland Security, there is now a shortage of inspectors, leading to the very real threat of the spread of disease that can destroy crops, contaminate livestock, and kill people:

The government has reduced the number of soldiers in the nation’s long-running battle against dangerous pests and food-borne diseases, as it focuses on stopping terrorists.
…
Recent discoveries demonstrate the unremitting threats: European cherries infested with insect eggs; fertilizer from Canada with ground-up cattle parts; grapevines hidden in a false-bottom suitcase; raw chicken parts arriving from a country inflicted with avian influenza; plants bagged with dirt containing unknown organisms; and even whole legs of cattle stuffed into a huge suitcase.
…
The problem in the Department of Homeland Security is both numbers and attitude, inspectors say. With fewer trained eyes, more pests and diseases are bound to enter via passengers and cargo.

Customs and immigration officers taking up the slack in screening are law enforcement officers, not biologists. They’re trained to intercept suspicious people and drugs, not suspicious bugs, and many of them view the agriculture specialists and their mission with disdain.

The number of people killed by terrorists annually is estimated to be about 600 people. The World Health Organization states that two million children die because of food and water contamination yearly. It also states that one out of three people suffer some form of foodborne disease annually.

Recently, uninspected seeds were released into the United States that could have contained disease that may have wiped out our corn crops. We lucked out and the recovered seed has not been so contaminated.

However, one container of the seed was never inspected.

Well, I feel safer thanks to the Department of Homeland Security. Don’t you?