[Rhodes22-list] Style vs. Substance

[brad haslett]

Bill,

My position on eliminating Saddam Hussein hasn't
changed since 1991. He needed to go.  Bush 41 did no
planning beyond expelling him from Kuwait and had no
concensus from the coalition beyond that, much to the
dissapointment of Swartzkopf.  Clinton clearly stated
Saddam needed to go and Kerry enthusastically seconded
that view.

Bush 43 sought authority  to expell him and Kerry
voted in favor of it. As a member of the Senate
Intellignece Committee, Kerry had access to the same
data and was privy to its collection methods. He
didn't make a case against the war and took his
current position only when it became politicaly
expedient to do so. The need to take military action
was "sold" on WMD and with the benefit of hindsight,
was "oversold" on WMD.  If Bush 43 had the political
skills of Clinton he could have made just as
persuasive a case on other reasons. 

Saddam needed to go.  He needed to go in 1991. He
needed to go in 2003.  He doesn't need to be brought
back to power in 2004 just in the interest of
stability in Iraq.  That was, is, and will always be
my position.

Now concerning your PS, this is becoming a one issue
election for me;  Who best recognizes the long term
threats the US faces and is best prepared to do
something about it?  For me the answer is simple, W. 
I could just as easily home in on another single
issue, labor for example, and follow the advice of the
Air Line Pilots Association, of which I am a proud
member, and vote Kerry.  As a fiscal conservative, I
have big time problems with Bush 43 - he's way to
eager to spend money on social programs for my tastes.
 But like Ed Koch, I believe if we don't succeed
against our current enemy, domestic programs, anyone's
domestic programs, don't matter.

Drinking?  I vote Yeah!

Brad Haslett
"CoraShen"


--- Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:

> Brad,
> 
> As I remember it, both Stan and I argued against the
> war in the Fall of 2002.  I thought we had plenty of
> passion, although one can always criticize style. 
> I'm pretty sure a number of other people also argued
> against it at that time.  What was your position?
> 
> Are you saying the current mess is our fault because
> we didn't fight the current policy hard enough? 
> 
> Confused in Greenwich, 
> Bill Effros
> 
> PS -- The Republicans have spent $100 million
> telling us how ineffective Kerry has been in the
> Senate for the past 20 years.  Now, suddenly, he is
> able to take on the "master of low expectations"
> owing to the skills he has honed in the "debate
> society"?
> 
> I think this election is going to be won on
> substance, not style, and I think that is very good
> for this country no matter who wins.  At the end of
> the day I think we will all believe that the
> policies of our leaders reflect the policy choices
> of the electorate. 
> 
> I must confess some more confusion about the
> position you seem to be taking which is that you are
> going to vote for Bush even though you don't think
> his policy reflects your position.  Are you trying
> to win some drinking bet at the expense of what you
> know to be the best interests of your country?
> 
> B.
>                                
>       
> 
> 
> To download a free copy of the electronic book
> "Quote Without Comment"
> 
> Click on or copy this address and load it into your
> web browser:
>
http://www.quotewithoutcomment.com/qwc.cgim?template=FreeBook
> 
> Want to see more quotes?
> http://www.QuoteWithoutComment.com
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: brad haslett 
> To: The Rhodes 22 mail list 
> Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2004 12:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Politics - chiaroscuro
> 
> 
> Dear G,
> 
> Please give me a link to your Fouad Ajami reference
> if
> you have it.  I have read his article in the Jan/Feb
> 2003 Foreign Affairs magazine and a few others but
> nothing recent.  
> 
> We agree on this, the ultimate fate of Iraq belongs
> to
> the Iraq's.  Regardless of how one feels about the
> justifications for the current occupation of Iraq,
> we
> are there and to pull out now or announce a date
> specific pull out would only encourage the
> insurgents
> to wait us out, just as in Vietnam.  There is no
> shortage of current literature critical of the
> occupation including a lengthy article by James
> Fallows in this months Atlantic Monthly.  In fact,
> if
> you read the transcript of Kerry's Iraq positions
> during the debate, you will notice Kerry neatly
> mirrows Fallows, which more than one blogger in
> cyberspace has noticed as well.
> 
> So, our choice is between one leader who doggedly
> remains on course,  versus another who follows the
> latest read of yesterdays "game tape"  I personally
> would feel more confident of a critic if he had made
> an impassioned plea against the war in advance.  
> 
> Kerry won the debate on style, expected when you
> consider his 20 years of practice in the debate
> society we call the Senate.  For those opposed to
> our
> current engagement it is indeed unfortunate that
> this
> style and passion was missing in the Fall of 2002.
> 
> We ARE all wearing the blue dress now, though I
> prefer
> that it be a red one on November 2.
> 
> Brad Haslett
> "CoraShen"
> --- Grayson/Ena Lynn <agl2001 at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> > Phyllis wrote:
> > 
> > > I respect a person who can think through,
> analyze
> > a situation, and when
> > > presented with corrective information, i.e. the
> > intelligence was wrong...
> > then
> > > formulates a new position and advocate it.
> > 
> > > That is leadership to me, not someone who is so
> > dogmatic, one-sighted and
> > > unwilling to do anything differently than follow
> > the misguided pals around
> > > him...
> > 
> > Spot on!
> > 
> > Add to that Fouad Ajami's observation that Bush
> > cannot win the war, Kerry
> > cannot win the war, UBL cannot win the war,
> America
> > cannot win the war.
> > Only Iraqis can win the war.
> > 
> > Case closed.
> > 
> > The true flip-flop, or bi-stable latch circuit,
> was
> > invented by Eccles and
> > Jordan in 1919 and became the fundamental building
> > block of the computer
> > world.  Without the flip-flop and it's cousins
> AND,
> > OR and NOT, "digital"
> > would not exist, cell phones would not work, and
> > rock music synthesizers
> > would be silent (a silver lining to every cloud).
> > 
> >
>
http://pt.withy.org/ptalk/archives/thought_for_the_day/
> > 
> > Like the bumper sticker said, we're all wearing
> the
> > blue dress now.
> > 
> > <G>
> > 
> > __________________________________________________
> > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help?
> > www.rhodes22.org/list
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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