The One Thing Kerry Said that Stuck With Me Today
For all of his eloquence, most of what Sen. Kerry said in the debate last night was just empty rhetoric. You may criticize Bush for sounding like a broken record, but at least I know where he stands and where he will stand tomorrow.
There was one thing, however, that Kerry said that caused me concern. It may be the most telling statement from Kerry in the whole campaign. It was his response to Lehrer on the question about their thoughts on the longstanding presidential authority to make preemptive military strikes.
Kerry said:
“But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you’re doing what you’re doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons.”
Essentially, what that means is that the United States cannot defend itself unless:
- We pass the “global test.” So we need the permission of other countries first?
- We prove to the world that we did it for “legitimate reasons.” So who makes that decision? If not the president, then Congress? If not our leaders, then the world leaders (i.e., the United Nations)?
This my friends, should give everyone a reason not to vote Kerry into office. I would rather have a patriotic liberal as president than someone who would serve up the sovereignty of the United States on a platter.
Funny you should hit on that, because I thought that was Bush\'s best answer of the night. He said (from memory), \"What is this global test? I don\'t know what you mean. The only test I know of is does is make the American people safer.\" That quote is far from exact, but it was the basic response, and a very good one (unfortunatly, one of the few). I found myself coming up with 3 or 4 responses every time Kerry said something. I guess it\'s a bit easier in the Lazy-Boy.