8pov

The world can certainly do better than this. Here's why.

Thursday, November 17

Global Test

... I know its over, but it pissed me off at the time. Here, let's hop into the ol' Way Back Machine.

Maybe I should redate this post, but that wouldn't be any good either... rewritining history like that. Anywhoo...

The words heard, and ridiculed, 'round the world were spoken by John F. Kerry during the first of three presidential debates in 2004. Kerry, when questioned about the US pre-emptive strikes, he referred to "a global test."

Here's the quote from http://www.debates.org/

"LEHRER:

"New question. Two minutes, Senator Kerry. What is your position on the whole concept of preemptive war?

"KERRY:

"The president always has the right, and always has had the right, for preemptive strike. That was a great doctrine throughout the Cold War. And it was always one of the things we argued about with respect to arms control.

"No president, through all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America.

"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."

Interestingly enough, for the rest of the election campaign, Bush and his team twisted this quote, undermining the rest of Kerry's campaign. They reconstrued it to make the American people believe that he, Kerry, would cede control of all American Foreign policy to the UN, or other exterior entities. Basically, Bush used the third grade understanding of the word "global" against Kerry, knowing full well that the lowest common denominator theory of media play would work in his favor.

Kerry proposed a global test among Americans in the same sentance. "[T]he global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing[.]" The gaffe of including proving it to the rest of the world was probably what did Kerry in, but I understood what he was going after. Interestingly enough, the Democrats and the rest of the "democratically" elected senate, and most of the rest of the world, are asking questions about the pre-emptive strike against Iraq: questioning the Bush administration, really, about "why you're doing what you're doing[.]"

The moral of the story, don't provide answers on 30 September 2004, to questions that will be asked in October 2005. It will not get you elected, or even noticed. It will have you ridiculed.

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