Posted on 08/08/2004 9:08:31 AM PDT by laurenmarlowe
Posted on Sun, Aug. 08, 2004
The Bush reaction that really matters
By Mark Davis
Special to the Star-Telegram
If his Vietnam veteran critics' stories develop any legs, we may soon spend some time assessing whether John Kerry is blowing huge clouds of smoke our way about his Vietnam service.
A group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, asserts that Kerry's medals are phony, as are his stories of valor and honorable service in his four months in a combat zone.
I have no idea what to think of these accusations. I would neither embrace nor dismiss them without further examination.
But there is one Kerry behavioral issue that arose again last week and requires no extended perusal. That is the degree to which the candidate will stoop to score a dirty political hit.
Kerry may blister President Bush all he wishes on any issue -- the economy, the war, anything. If it is an earnestly held view, the worst I'll say is that he's wrong -- OK, dangerously wrong when the stakes are this high.
But his profound wrongness does not make him a bad guy. It just makes him a bad choice for president.
But there are things that candidates can do that are so cheaply over the top that they are a window to the soul. Such things do not have to be particularly loud, long or attention-grabbing. They can be as routine as a sentence spoken in answer to a question.
Speaking to a group of minority journalists last week, Kerry chose to second-guess the first few shattering minutes of Bush's awareness that the 9-11 attacks were under way.
In the aftermath of that day, no significant attention was brought to bear on why Bush remained where he sat, in front of a Florida classroom full of kids, for about seven minutes after chief of staff Andrew Card whispered to him that the second plane had hit the World Trade Center, removing all doubt that America was under attack.
That's because most people understood that under such horrific circumstances, a series of events kick in that a government can plan for but never experience until the unspeakable happens.
That morning, it happened. In retrospect, there is an understandable period of discomfort captured on video, featuring Bush sitting in front of that class, crafting the first thoughts of what would become America's response to one of its worst days ever.
If crazies like Michael Moore wish to pervert those moments into fantasy for political gain, that's one thing. For a candidate to do so is another.
As the Secret Service assessed the situation and mobilized to get Bush out of that school and out of the state, it created a period of time that Moore uses as a blank slate to portray Bush as a corrupt idiot, not knowing what to do, wondering if the jig was up for his entire sweetheart relationship with the Saudis.
The idiocy of Fahrenheit 9/11 apparently fills a muse role for Kerry now. On Thursday in Missouri, Kerry had the raw audacity to cast aspersions on the passage of those few minutes before Bush was in the parking lot.
"I would have told those kids very politely and nicely that the president of the United States had something that he needed to attend to, and I would have attended to it."
And been tackled at the knees by the Secret Service.
If it takes seven minutes to establish the safety and efficacy of getting the president out of a building in unexpected haste because the country is under attack, that's what it takes.
My favorite quote on this comes from someone who knows a little something about responding to a terror attack:
"John Kerry must be frustrated in his campaign if he is armchair quarterbacking based on cues from Michael Moore. John Kerry is an indecisive candidate who has demonstrated an inconsistent position in the war on terror."
Those are the words of Rudy Giuliani.
For Kerry to make an issue of whether Bush should have left that classroom at 9:06 or 9:13 a.m. is obscene. The first three years after the attacks make the difference -- not the first minutes.
Bush has spent those years mounting a war that has seen al Qaeda on the run, a terror-friendly dictator deposed in Iraq, the seeds of democracy planted in his place, and no further attacks on our own soil. Kerry would not have fought this war in this way, no matter when his rear end would have left that classroom seat.
And that is what will matter on Nov. 2.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark Davis is a talk-show host on WBAP/820 AM. mdavis@wbap.com
Awesome editorial! The window to Kerry's soul is a clear view of a livelong opportunist. By the time the election is here, the American public will be overtly laughing at the mention of his name. The Kerry surrogates who have attacked Bush and the Swift Boat Veterans for truth will be known for their smear campaign and taps will sound for the democRAT party for good!
Thank you for your comments Chieftain. We all have to try to make things right for our country and our veterans, in many ways. I will keep up with Mr. Davis and his continued efforts on this subject. Kerry is a liar and a traitor to our country.
Kerry is one of those individuals whose insatiable desire for the power and prestige of the presidency leads him to almost say or do anything, however low, stupid or traitorous. History has proven beyond all shadow of a doubt that such men are very dangerous.
Thank you for your comments. Very dangerous indeed, Kerry and his whole party.
There's a difference between being foolish and being evil. McGovern was foolish. The K-flopper is evil...
Point taken. Thanks.
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