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A Proud Member of the Reality-Based Community
About Me :
I'm a grownup nerd living in the Boston burbs. I write computer programs for a living and plays for fun.
I'm married to a wonderful woman, and we share a nice little house with our daughter and our cats.
I'm a humanist, a technologist, an artist, and an idealist. I believe in reason, freedom, love, equality,
and democracy. (Did I mention that I'm
an idealist? I did, OK.)
I'm also a pragmatist and an empiricist. I reject ideology and dogma, especially when they conflict with
practical facts (i.e., pretty much always). I particularly hate willful ignorance, which tends to go hand-in-hand
with ideology and dogma.
Like the alignment of the planets, this blog gets updated as I have the time, inspiration, and inclination to do so.
Like the alignment of the planets, this blog gets updated as I have the time, inspiration, and inclination to do so.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Just Watched the First Debate
It's about time somebody was allowed to ask George W. Bush questions about Iraq. It's about time.
After delivering perfunctory thanks to the hosts of the debate, what were the first words out of George W. Bush's mouth? "September 11th." Should that have been a surprise? Right there, the magic words, the words that justify any excess, any bad policy, any lie. "September 11th." See him repeat it like a mantra, about 200 billion more times (one for each dollar wasted in Iraq) between now and the election.
Bush's single talking point: you shouldn't send "mixed signals." Whatever that means. When he doesn't have his handlers surrounding him and managing him, Bush doesn't seem capable of being coherent. He can't think on his feet. Kerry, by contrast, demonstrated that he was prepared, he had a command of the facts.
Twice, Bush asserted that A.Q. Khan has been "brought to justice." Twice! Khan has exported nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea, and Libya. His network was penetrated and has at least gone underground, but a lot of damage has been done. Has A.Q. Khan been brought to justice? Not really. He was pardoned by Pervez Musharraf, the President of Pakistan. This is what Bush considers "justice"? It might have been better for Bush not to have mentioned A.Q. Khan; most Americans have no idea who A.Q. Khan is. On the other hand, most won't bother to find out, so maybe that's a wash for Bush.
It was absolutely incumbent upon Bush to explain how he's going to win in Iraq and get us out of there. Does Bush have any idea how to get us out of Iraq? Does Bush have a clue about how to get us out of Iraq?
0 comments
It's about time somebody was allowed to ask George W. Bush questions about Iraq. It's about time.
After delivering perfunctory thanks to the hosts of the debate, what were the first words out of George W. Bush's mouth? "September 11th." Should that have been a surprise? Right there, the magic words, the words that justify any excess, any bad policy, any lie. "September 11th." See him repeat it like a mantra, about 200 billion more times (one for each dollar wasted in Iraq) between now and the election.
Bush's single talking point: you shouldn't send "mixed signals." Whatever that means. When he doesn't have his handlers surrounding him and managing him, Bush doesn't seem capable of being coherent. He can't think on his feet. Kerry, by contrast, demonstrated that he was prepared, he had a command of the facts.
Twice, Bush asserted that A.Q. Khan has been "brought to justice." Twice! Khan has exported nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea, and Libya. His network was penetrated and has at least gone underground, but a lot of damage has been done. Has A.Q. Khan been brought to justice? Not really. He was pardoned by Pervez Musharraf, the President of Pakistan. This is what Bush considers "justice"? It might have been better for Bush not to have mentioned A.Q. Khan; most Americans have no idea who A.Q. Khan is. On the other hand, most won't bother to find out, so maybe that's a wash for Bush.
It was absolutely incumbent upon Bush to explain how he's going to win in Iraq and get us out of there. Does Bush have any idea how to get us out of Iraq? Does Bush have a clue about how to get us out of Iraq?