A One-Line Summation of Kerry's Position on Chimp's Iraq F-Up

[jefferson_dem]

Josh at TPM is looking for input, a one-liner that could sum up Kerry's Iraq policy.

"Kerry needs a catch phrase or catch question about the Iraq war, one that provides offense against President Bush's oft-stated, extremely lame, but also somewhat effective line that the world is safer with Saddam Hussein out of power.

In political rhetoric, coherence and clarity almost always trumps substance. So substance must be rendered very coherent and very clear.

There's a pretty obvious response to the Bush line: Yeah, Saddam sucked. It's great that we're rid of him. But at what cost? A thousand American lives, upwards of half a trillion dollars and blowing up the whole world order?'

<SNIP>

The essence of it is, "Do you think Iraq has made us safer or less safe?" ... "If you had to do it over again, would you trust George W. Bush to get this right?"

Neither of those quite cut it. And I'm thinking aloud here. But I'd like to throw it open for suggestions. What should Kerry's version Reagan line from 1980?"

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/

[Mr_Spock]

1. Anybody could have taken out Saddam, but it took real genius to

turn Iraq into another Vietnam.

[Blue_Roses]

2. How do you sum up an utter failure in one line?

n/t

[A_Possum]

3. Kerry to *--"Looks like I gave you enough rope to hang yourself"

[demon67]

4. Hard to sum up Kerry's Iraq position in one line

because -- flame away -- I still do not know what it is. I understand that he suggests he can get France and Germany to participate with troops and money, which seems optimistic. Assuming these countries do not do a 180 and bail us out, I honestly do not know what Kerry plans to do. Two years from now, is it his plan that we will still be fighting there? With more troops or less troops? With more funding or less funding for the troops? Should we have gone there in the first place or not? Should Saddam have been deposed or just contained? I am not wanting to sound negative, but I follow this stuff every day and I don't know the answers to these questions. Consider others who pay a lot less attention and have their opinions shaped by ads and the media. Nonetheless, if I could propose one phrase it would be this -- Winning a war requires three things: Strength. Strategy. And friends. With W, we are going 0 for 3.

[kentuck]

5. "Never thought I'd see the day a CinC did not deserve the authority ...

to lead us in time of war".

[blondeatlast]

6. DING! DING! DING! nt

[bagnana]

12. like it! but what about

"did not deserve the country's trust to lead it in a time of war"

[JohnnyCougar]

15. that's a WINNER in my book

[KittyWampus]

7. Kerry Will Use Diplomacy And Confer With Experts- Not Idealogues

Yes-men and foreign lobbyists.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

8. Strength is a quality- not a quantity.

A litle too obtuse? Please feel free to finesse it.

[troublemaker]

9. Got it. What's next?

By every possible measurement--lives, money, influence, credibility, stability in Iraq, stability in the region-- by every measure we are losing ground in Iraq but President Bush doesn't seem to have a clue. If we are going to turn this mess in Iraq around the first step is to get a commander in chief who understands there's even a problem.

[PurityOfEssence]

10. "For every complex problem, there is a simple solution, which is wrong."

H.L. Mencken said it best.

George Bush appeals to the fantasy and fear of people: he dispels their fear of the unknown by telling them that it's all very simple, and he delights their fantasy by tying all their frustrations up into one tidy unified-field enemy.

Kerry should seriously use this line, over and over and over.

On edit: upon further research, the line is probably: "... For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong."

Unfortunately, there are other versions of it, too...

[RevCheesehead]

11. Pictures are worth a thousand words (or lives, for that matter)

[wiggs]

13. It's time....

....It's time to show the world what America can do, instead of showing the world what America can't do.

[antigone382]

14. "In removing one Saddam Hussein...

...Bush has helped create thousands of Muhammad Atta's."

[Spazito]

16. I like what Clark said at John Hopkins...

"Congress didn't mislead the President into war, the President misled Congress and went to war."