Posted 1:05 a.m. Oct. 1, 2004.
I have long waited for the Kerry campaign to utilize my favorite Ralph Waldo Emerson quotation that "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." In somewhat of a paraphrase, Senator Kerry declared that President Bush's platform in the election could be summed up in four words: "More of the same."
So while Bush trumpeted his consistency and his certainty in his policies, particularly on the War in Iraq, Kerry keenly pointed out that, "You can be certain and be wrong." Kerry also remarked upon Bush's errors in judgment, if not outright misleading of the American and global public. Truth is what good policy and good leadership is based on, according to Kerry's speech, and as far as he's concerned, the United States has a lot of "earning back" to do, in terms of both trust and respect at home and abroad. I could not agree more.
Moving on to a subject closer to my heart: Darfur. I felt encouraged by Kerry's firm statement that "Darfur has a genocide." There was no hesitation in his voice, and he set forth a clear, comprehensive plan for both the U.S. and the world's role in resolving the situation. He expressed the proper urgency and imperative in not allowing Sudan to become another Rwanda. It is time the United States starts keeping its promises, abiding by its moral obligations, and respecting all of its responsibilities. Kerry vowed to do just that by intensifying diplomacy, bringing the world to the table, and most of all, helping the African Union to cope with the Darfur situation. This willingness to utilize the African Union as a resource, and bolster its mission with all the support the U.S. has to offer, was truly inspired. President Bush added a lukewarm second to Kerry's call.
Finally, President Bush expressed his pride in two things of which I distinctly disapprove. First, he hailed the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" Act (better known as the USA PATRIOT Act), as "vital" to national security. For all his stressing of liberty in Iraq and abroad, Bush has shown little compunction in narrowing civil liberties at home. Second, he boasted about refusing the International Criminal Court. Although the original charter had flaws, rather than working to improve and clarify it, the president instead chose to completely abandon it, and therefore inform the world that the United States is not interested in seeing a fair and universal system for bringing war criminals to justice.
To his credit, Bush did manage a signature number of long pauses and confused looks. He stuck strictly to his usual rhetoric of "flip flop" and the politics of fear. Bush said that the American public knows what he believes, and that's true. We also know he's wrong.
