Friday, September 03, 2004

What Now? Bush didn't take my advice. I didn't watch the speech, but from what I've read, it appears Bush decided to propose a laundry list of lofty promises, providing few specifics on how to make them happen and no mention on how to pay for them, given our skyrocketing deficit. He's at his best when he's focused and specific. Instead he gave us broad and vague.

For the War on Terrorism, we seem to be planning to take a more mellow approach. That would be just fine if it weren't for the excess scrutiny critics have heaped onto the invasion of Iraq. Otherwise, we could use that war as an example to other nations that harbor terrorists and hide WMD. But now our enemies can openly question whether we have the balls to conduct that sort of operation again. The nitpicking by political opponents has severely weakened our ability to threaten our enemies without resorting to military conflict.

But this is the situation, and the president has to live with it. Now, judging on their recent speeches, there doesn't seem to be that much of a difference between Bush and Kerry in terms of willingness to use force. Since neither man has articulated a specific plan of attack, the question remains, Who would you rather have sitting in the Oval Office when the next crisis emerges? I'm willing to bet the American people are split on that decision.