"Kerry is everything George Bush is not"

Toronto Sun ^ | March 7, 2004 | Eric Margolis, Paleocon

[Frank T]

March 7, 2004 Kerry is everything George Bush is not By ERIC MARGOLIS -- Contributing Foreign Editor

MINNEAPOLIS -- Struggling to find the worst thing he could say about Sen. John Kerry, a senior member of the Bush administration proclaimed last year, "He looks so ... so ... French!"

By "French," the Bushite must have meant well educated, articulate, dignified, sophisticated, worldly - everything President George W. Bush, who likes to play tough Texas Ranger, is not.

However, being educated and sophisticated is not a political asset in America's heartland - parts of the midwest, mountain states, and south, where Bush is often venerated with the kind of mindless adulation North Koreans shower on their "Beloved Leader," Kim Jong-il.

The United States is unique among advanced nations in demanding wealthy career politicians running for high office pretend they are simple working-class fellows who drink beer and bowl.

Members of the Soviet ruling elite, who secretly lived like Turkish pashas, used to also claim they were simple factory workers fulfilling their civic duty to the Motherland.

Last week's "Super Tuesday" primaries here in Minnesota and nine other states, confirmed that this fall, the "Frenchman" will be the Democratic party candidate to oppose Bush, of Crawford, Texas.

From Buenos Aires to Beijing, people are asking, if Kerry were to win election, how would his foreign policies differ from that of the Bush administration, which, Kerry charges, "has run the most inept, reckless, arrogant and ideological foreign policy in the modern history of our country"?

Kerry is absolutely right. Remember, when Bush was running for president, he promised a "humble" foreign policy that would be "low-key" and avoid foreign entanglements. At the time, Bush showed himself shockingly ignorant of foreign affairs, and did not even know the name of Pakistan's leader.

But once in office, the Bush administration, even before 9/11, embarked on plans to invade Iraq and Afghanistan. It adopted a confrontational policy with Europe, a major arms buildup, and threw U.S. support behind Israel's right-wing leader, Ariel Sharon.

Cheney's no moderate

Vice President Dick Cheney, formerly viewed as a moderate, revealed himself to be an extreme rightist who packed the administration's security and foreign policy ranks with fellow ideologues.

Kerry may be counted on to return the U.S. to its pre-Bush foreign policy, beginning by improving relations with Europe's core nations, France and Germany. To the horror of many Bushites, whose preferred language appears to be speaking in tongues, the Boston senator reportedly speaks ... French.

Sen. Kerry calls for more co-operation with the UN and other world bodies. He vows to end the Bush administration's militarization of U.S. foreign policy and its aggressive behaviour toward nations that fail to comply with the White House's diktat.

Kerry supports the Kyoto environmental treaty, though Congress will be unlikely to ever accept it in its present form.

But if elected, Kerry will face powerful institutional forces opposed to any change in policy direction, particularly in the Mideast, Washington's biggest foreign policy headache.

Bush and his neo-con mentors blundered the U.S. into twin hornets' nests in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It's unlikely Washington will be able to fully impose its political will on either nation, given growing armed resistance and civil chaos. These neo-colonial misadventures are costing over $6 billion monthly and tie down almost half the U.S. Army.

Any efforts to withdraw from these fiascos will produce storms of protests about "loss of credibility" and "abetting terrorism." The military-industrial-petroleum complex, which benefits greatly from these wars and Bush's reckless military spending, will strain every sinew to keep U.S. forces engaged abroad.

Washington's pro-Israel lobby is already putting pressure on Kerry to agree to block any viable Palestinian state and he is being urged to appoint strongly pro-Israel Mideast advisers.

The only hopeful sign is that Kerry may bring back Clinton-era advisers aligned with Israel's moderate Labour Party - like Dennis Ross and Sandy Berger - to replace some of the Likud party's American supporters, notably Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, Richard Perle and Elliot Abrams, who now help to run U.S. Mideast policy.

Under Kerry, U.S. foreign policy may be less driven by the imperative to dominate oil, and more by traditional multilateralism. But the oil lobby has enormous influence over Congress and deep pockets. World oil reserves are depleting faster than expected.

If Canadians and non-Americans could vote in November, John Kerry would win in a landslide. George Bush is reviled around the world.

According to some polls, he is even regarded as a greater danger than Osama bin Laden. This is how low the U.S. has sunk in world esteem.

This makes many Americans shudder.

But Bush's heartland supporters couldn't care less about the rest of the world. To them, Bush is waging a holy war against Islamic terrorism, protecting civilization, and cutting taxes. They thrill to his flag-waving and ersatz patriotism.

Bush fans want a Texas Ranger as commander-in-chief, not a stuffy suit from Boston who doesn't even chew gum. That Kerry was a decorated veteran while Bush avoided service in Vietnam seems not to matter.

Besides, Kerry looks French.

Eric can be reached by e-mail at margolis@foreigncorrespondent.com

[Frank T]

And Margolis is a conservative? He's been on a Jihad against Bush and his administration for months.

The paleos have lost it if they've gone into LaRouche territory and embrace quasi-socialist Democrat leaders like John Kerry.

[finnman69]

However, being educated and sophisticated is not a political asset in America's heartland - parts of the midwest, mountain states, and south, where Bush is often venerated with the kind of mindless adulation North Koreans shower on their "Beloved Leader," Kim Jong-il.

Funny she should mention the NKs. They want Kerry to be president bad.

[AmericanVictory]

All who lave our country should be extremely glad that Bush is not anything that John Kerry is. Now, if we could just get Bush to be what he is and stnd away from the smug culture that surrounds him.

[TankerKC]

owever, being educated and sophisticated is not a political asset in America's heartland - parts of the midwest, mountain states, and south,...

Ultimate snobbery.

[ServesURight]

LOL. I don't even get mad over articles like these anymore. It's not worth it.

[ladyinred]

For Kerry to make such terrible remarks about the President's foreign policy during war is treasonous in my opinion. He can disagree with it, but the way he is running him down is just reprehensible, and hopefully the people of this nation will be turned off by it.

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

By "French," the Bushite must have meant well educated, articulate, dignified, sophisticated, worldly -

ROFLMAO!!! I don't think I've ever heard that word used in that context.

[Torie]

Bush and his neo-con mentors blundered the U.S. into twin hornets' nests in Afghanistan and Iraq

Whatever. "Blunder" is not the verb I would choose. "Everybody" except the terrorists supported the Afghan thing, and Iraq was a calulated risk taking operation, with high rewards if it works, and some payoff even if it does not. In any event, the latter was a great humaniarian gesture. And I support those kinds of "adventures." It is what makes this great land of ours so special and splendid.

[Frank_Discussion]

I think it is rather a mark of distinction that Dubya came away from Yale without sounding and acting like some effete pompous snob.

Everything Bush is not is EXACTLY right.

[nepdap]

"Kerry is everything George Bush is not"

True. But that's no compliment to Kerry.

[vetvetdoug]

This is the most erudite piece of sarcasm I have ever read. Nobody could ever really write by French, the "bushite" must have meant educated, articulate, dignified, sophisticated, worldly....with a straight face and mean it.

[StevieB]

But Bush's heartland supporters couldn't care less about the rest of the world.

Pretty much sums up the truth in this "article".

[Jorge]

By "French," the Bushite must have meant well educated, articulate, dignified, sophisticated, worldly - everything President George W. Bush, who likes to play tough Texas Ranger, is not.

The "French"? They are naive, cowardly, completely unable to acticulate a consistant argument other than surrender to anybody who threatens them.

Bush makes the French (by the way I am of French ancestry) look like the pretend intellectuals and genuine cowards they really are. They make me sick. I thank God every day that my ancestors escaped from France.

[CatoRenasci]

How about by "French" the Bushite must have meant Kerry was arrogant, devoid of principles or morals, self-agrandizing and thinks he's better than everyone else. A "stuck-up sticky beak" as Monty Python would say. All the faults of the Poofters and none of their occasional charm.

[arly]

owhhhh.... I taste bile!... sorry I allmost just hurled.

[longtermmemmory]

The author is under the mistaken impression that 1. canada is held in high regard ANYWHERE 2. the french actually matter.

Seriously, Canada's esteeme is based on their irrelevance. Canada has and is nothing more than a usa anex created to deposit the loosers of the revolution. They should just end the canadian experiment http://www.unitednorthamerica.org

Remember people, these are the same wackos who reviled Reagan as he lead the US to victory in the cold war. Reagan was visonary in not just containing the commies but wiping them out.

Bush has reshaped the middleeast and has done more for the reagon's potential for a peaceful future than any nation.

[Frank T]

What I don't get is why he's ragging on the midwest, mountain area, the South, etc. For supposedly original conservatives, wouldn't a paleocon be an advocate for traditionalists from those regions? It just underscores how phoney these "conservatives" are, and their lack of credibility when they use the ill-defined term neoconservative.

[pepsi_junkie]

I dont know how he considers himself conservative. Sounds like the typical liberal "The democrat is brilliant, wise, worldly, and sophisticated and the republican is just a big dummy who doesnt understand the world" stuff.

Remember, the press has said made out every republican since at least 1964 put to be either a complete idiot, or totally evil.
Barry Goldwater: Evil lunatic
Richard Nixon: Evil genius
Gerald Ford: Stumbling idiot
Ronald Reagan: B-movie actor idiot whos monkey costar was smarter
George HW Bush: Can Barely put to sentences together
Bob Dole: Boring old stiff who doesnt get it (i.e. neo-idiot)
George W. Bush: Amazingly, Idiot AND Evil Genius

[Ophiucus]

The title of the article is absolutely correct.

Kerry is:
an unashamed liberal
coward
anti-American
pro-Communist
liar
crook
makes more waffles than an IHOP
terrorist appeaser
hates the military
loves the UN
anti-capitalism and staunchly pro-socialism
never met a tax he didn't like
never met a dictator he didn't like
despises the need to defend freedom
a strong, principled leader in a time of war

Feel free to add to the list - but in fact, Kerry is everything that Bush is not.

[boris]

...a coward.

[Ophiucus]

hatesa strong, principled leader in a time of war

< ooops

[VRWC For Truth]

Yup, Kerry is a Clymer.

[WestTexasWend]

By "French," the Bushite must have meant well educated, articulate, dignified, sophisticated, worldly -

OR unkempt, unfriendly, unable, unwilling, unappreciative -and unairconditoned.

[longtermmemmory]

Kerry is the man you point a shotgun to his head and say "son, no you may NOT date my daugher".

I thought I would work in the redneck imagry this "author" was so trying for.

Seriously, I think the world fears Bush because he is doing the job well and they like Kerry because he is a true incompetent and believes his own PR.

[Frank T]

Apparently Margolis is an American, right? He's a foreign correspondant for the Toronto Sun. I tried checking out some bio info through Yahoo, and this one site mentions he covered the Afghan war with the Soviets, back in the day. Probably has Stockholm Syndrome:

http://www.pakistan-facts.com/staticpages/index.php/20030822135359177

One of the first articles of his I read a few years back, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, he outlined a vast conspiracy to overthrow governments like the Taliban since they're weren't useful in allowing oil pipelines to be set up through their country.

As far as Canada amalgamating with the US, as a Canadian, I sure as hell hope not. Then people like Kerry will be elected into office, guaranteed. The demographics are against Republicans, as we have acquiested to the social and foreign policy standards of our European overlords. Can you imagine a Quebecer in the Senate? It's easier, instead, for like minded Canadians to move south of the border, like so many have before.

[God luvs America]

Struggling to find the worst thing he could say about Sen. John Kerry, a senior member of the Bush administration proclaimed last year, "He looks so ... so ... French!" By "French," the Bushite must have meant well educated, articulate, dignified, sophisticated, worldly - everything President George W. Bush, who likes to play tough Texas Ranger, is not.

Not he meant spineless, wavering, capitulating liberbal that does all he can to appease everyone and has no guts to take a stand on anything...like the french! And unlike President Bush!

[Laserman]

This article is one of the best arguements for supporting Bush I have read. The last thing I want is a snobbish, "internationalist", elitist, French looking flip-flopper like Kerry!

Thank God Bush is everything Kerry is NOT!

[Redcoat LI]

"By "French," the Bushite must have meant well educated, articulate, dignified, sophisticated, worldly"

No actually we meant stubbornly ignorant,arrogant,craven half-witted sissy-boys.

[Thoro]

To them, Bush is waging a holy war against Islamic terrorism, protecting civilization, and cutting taxes.

And that's a bad thing?

[longtermmemmory]

actually, the western provinces would be more conservative and Qubec would insist on being its own country, perhaps with otowa joining them.

The site give independed provicial choice in deciding their fate.

It may not be so far off, canada has no functional military and there was a meeting about four years back of about 200 canadian "experts" in canada who said amalgamation was inevitable and about 100 years off. It may be sooner than later.

[LadyDoc]

According to some polls, he is even regarded as a greater danger than Osama bin Laden. This is how low the U.S. has sunk in world esteem.

This reminds me of the line in the movie "Naked Gun" where all the world's terrorists are meeting discussing the great satan, and the Gorbechev actor confides: in their polls, I am even more popular than their president (meaning president Reagan)....

Then Frank Drebin kicked their posteriors

And in hindsight, not much has changed....I lived overseas during Reagan's administration, and he was considered the great satan by europe, the most dangerous person in the world, and a fool for insisting that the USSR was an evil empire...

[Wolverine]

This jerk only gets paid 70 cents on a dollar to write this kind of biased crap!

[bayourod]

"That Kerry was a decorated veteran while Bush avoided service in Vietnam seems not to matter"

Kerry tried to avoid service in Viet Nam by requesting a one year deferment and then by joining the Navy to avoid being drafted into the Army.

[BenLurkin]

Bush is NOT a Surrender Monkey:

[Frank T]

"I dont know how he considers himself conservative. Sounds like the typical liberal"

Much like how we can see leftists in Europe and campuses in North America turn noticeably more anti-Jew before our eyes in a relative short span of time (a few years), these wars against the Taliban and Saddam's Baathists have really polarized that segment of conservative thought. The new contrast seems to be pushing them leftwards, of all things.

I'm more of a small government and socially laizzai-fair kind of guy, not enamored of the big state concept, but I have boosted these kinds of wars. The opinions of most Canadians tend to run contrary.

Having said that, I don't understand the strong anti-war feeling of some people who call themselves libertarians, and those who call themselves paleoconservatives.

For the former, why is there a contradiction between a strong foreign policy, and a small domestic federal government. To read what some of these people try to say, it's as if we're doomed if the federal government is allowed to exert itself overseas, and inevitably leads to big government.

For the latter, having read examples of their material, seen representatives like Buchanan and Margolis on television, am I wrong to say that they seem to talk one may, but really mean something different?

For example, I'm lead to believe that they consider themselves to be original conservatives, traditionalist in outlook. So why then, the facination with things racial, genetics, evolution... I thought real traditionalists didn't believe in evolution, but rather creation? And why search for moral insights from Nietzsche? Is this really conservatism, from an American context? Or is it really Old European conservatism?

And why would such different philosophies, libertarians and paleocons, have anything to do with each other?

Another example with paleocons saying one thing, but meaning another - the critique of neocons as really being liberals, but occupying spots in a conservative party, cementing the domestic status quo. As if people who are primarily interested in strong foreign policy had anthing to do with the steadily increasing welfare state? Monumental events such as the New Deals in the 30s and the Great Society preceded the emergence of the so-called neoconservatives, and, indeed, conservatism as a self-aware movement itself.

And what's really hypocritical about this type of critique is that apparently the paleoconservatives aren't concerned about large and instrusive government, as such. Either it's ignorance or deliberate mis-direction. Big government, when it is oblidged to recognize separation of church and state, as it is in modern times, is inherantly non-traditional, intrusive, and comes up with things like the neo-segregationist policy of "multiculturalism". If paleos want to critique the status quo domestically, it has NOTHING to do with neocons.

[HIDEK6]

Kerry is:

an unashamed liberal

coward

anti-American

pro-Communist

liar

crook

makes more waffles than an IHOP

terrorist appeaser

hates the military

loves the UN

anti-capitalism and staunchly pro-socialism

never met a tax he didn't like

never met a dictator he didn't like

despises the need to defend freedom

a strong, principled leader in a time of war (Where did this one come from?)

Feel free to add to the list - but in fact, Kerry is everything that Bush is not.

Nixon had it right. "Phony."

[isom35]

Kerry is everything George Bush is not"...the skull & bones alumni association would disagree...

[Jaysun]

ROFLMAO!!! I don't think I've ever heard that word used in that context.

Nor have I. I've always envisioned a slouched homosexual weakling that has a hatred for cleanliness and that uses a water fountain in lieu of toilet tissue.

[moonhawk]

My reply to the writer:

Indeed:

Snotty, arrogant, condescending, rude, self-righteous, mean-spirited, back-stabbing, haughty, effeminate, appeasing, smug, self-implicated accessory to war crimes, gigolo, liar, prone to fantasies about imaginary friends, tax raising, dissembler, pedantic, boring, self-absorbed, wishy-washy, two-faced, both sides of every issue dullard.

Did I forget anything?

No wonder the long face.

[moonhawk]

Great pic!

You should make that a poster (or bumper sticker) with the caption: "We Surrender!"

Probably get rich....

Wait...T-SHIRT!!!!...I can actually print my own....

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

ROFLMAO!!! I don't think I've ever heard that word used in that context.

Nor have I. I've always envisioned a slouched homosexual weakling that has a hatred for cleanliness and that uses a water fountain in lieu of toilet tissue.

If I am ever unfortunate to find myself in Frogland, I'm going to make sure I never, ever drink from a water fountain over there!

[moni kerr]

United North America? Hmmm. I like it!! :)

[Moonmad27]

I used to find pictures of Clinton (either one) disgusting. Kerry is way, way more ridiculous in any photo than Bill (or Hillary) ever was. He is so completely fake in whatever pose he tries (especially any picture of him with a football or trying to look casual). I still predict that he will be a laughingstock in a few weeks when people see more of him.

[nickcarraway]

"Kerry is everything George Bush is not"

Okay, I get it. This article is trying to get me to vote for Bush.

[Ophiucus]

a strong, principled leader in a time of war (Where did this one come from?)

typo - corrected in 22

Nixon had it right. "Phony."

Nixon was amazingly politically astute when analyzing other politicians. I remember watching one of his last interviews in January 1992. When asked of the upcoming Presidential campaigns, he said, "Clinton is a formidable candidate."

I thought to myself - uh oh, we're screwed. Sure enough, Nixon was right.

[longtermmemmory]

This is how low the U.S. has sunk in world esteem.

** ***** **

The new DNC talking point. (gravitas!)

[BenLurkin]

The good folks at Yahoo probably think they own that photo so . . .