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In this thread, post your ideas for what you’d lik to see in a Kerry speech. By that, I mean actually write either a phrase, a sentence, a paragraph or a whole damn speech as you’d like to hear it on the campaign trail.
If all you want to do is say “I wish he’d talk about this more” or “I wish he’d take a different tone” please take it to a different thread.
Of course there’s very little chance anyone at the campaign will any see any of this, but it’s still a great brainstorm and WE can use the better points people come up with.
This is what I would love to see in a Kerry “war on terror” speech.
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This administration has, for some reason, made their efforts in the war on terror the central platform of their campaign to be re-elected. This has me a little confused. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because I don’t understand why the war on terror is an important issue in this campaign… no, what I can’t understand is why they would want to call attention to their record in that war.
That record can be summed up best with a single word.
<flash the ‘W’ sign, not in some big overemphasized gesture, just hold it up about shoulder high with a straight face>
Wrong. <Said in a plain, firm, matter of fact tone. No insider joke grin… and especially no chimpy smirk. Every time. It’s not a grand proclamation. He’s not saying it just to get in a zinger.It’s just a statement of simple fact>
They diverted troops from the efforts against Al Qaeda to focus on Iraq, which had nothing to do with the attacks on our country.
<flash the ‘W’> Wrong.
But they insisted Saddam had to be dealt with, so we voted and authorized that IF it became necessary as a last resort force could be used to disarm Iraq. Instead, when UN weapons inspectors were already in the country conducting inspections this administration forced them to leave by launching an ill-timed, ill-conceived invasion which was not in keeping with the conditions we voted for when we authorized that use of force. And that was…
<flash the ‘W’> Wrong.
They said they knew Iraq had WMDs and they knew where they were. If that was true they could have directed the inspectors to them but they chose to take a different path.
<flash the ‘W’> Wrong.
They ignored the words of warning of our president’s own father, who said years ago that an invasion of Iraq would result in the U.S. becoming an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land.
<flash the ‘W’> Wrong.
They said if we invaded Iraq we’d be met with open arms by the Iraqi people.
<flash the ‘W’> Wrong.
They had no clear plan to establish security and stability at all after the invasion was complete aside from
<flash the ‘W’> Wrong.
And so the insurgency formed. And it grew. And they said if we just got the interim government in place the Iraqi’s would be ruling themselves and the insurgency would decrease and in the meantime we would just maintain order with the military.
<flash the ‘W’> Wrong.
And now that insurgency has raised the death toll among our troops to over a thousand American soldiers and that number is growing every day. And in recent days, it’s been growing faster. All because this administration is… over, and over, and over again….
<flash the ‘W’> Wrong.
And yet somehow they’re out here trying to convince the American people that they’re the ones for the job. Well let me tell you something, there is a reason this administration’s record on the war on terror can be summed up by that one single word, and the reason is that when it comes to fighting the war on terror George W Bush is a one trick pony.
He can throw soldiers at the problem.
That pretty much sums up the bulk of my opponent’s anti-terror policy over the last 4 years. First he sent soldiers into Afghanistan, which was actually the right thing to do. That’s where Al-Qaeda was after all. That’s where Osama was. And that’s where the soldiers should have STAYED until the job was done.
But then when most of the major fighting was over and it was time to see to securing, rebuilding and stabilizing the country so that it would not once again become a haven for terrorists all of a sudden this administration looked lost. It didn’t know what to do. They were running out of things to throw soldiers at and that’s really the only plan they had… and instead of properly finishing the job in Afghanistan they went and found a new target.
And that was
<flash the ‘W’, hopefully sometime along this progression the audience will use it as a queue to cough up the “wrong” on their own and he won’t even have to say it>
And so we found ourselves building up to an invasion of Iraq while just one year after swearing to the entire country that he would catch Bin Laden no matter what the president now told the country he really didn’t spend that much time on Bin Laden and didn’t care where he was.
And then Iraq was invaded, even though we had been assured when we voted to authorize use of force that it would be used only as a last resort and UN inspectors were in the country and doing their job making an invasion anything BUT the last resort. And again the only plan the administration appeared to have was to throw soldiers at the problem.
And so the Iraqis, whom we were told for months were a grave threat to the United States, were overrun in a couple of weeks by our amazing men and women in the armed forces, without a single WMD ever being seen… and the administration started looking lost again. They had no clear post war plan. They had no idea how to keep the country stable.
<flash the ‘W’>
They were running out of things to throw soldiers at again.
Then the insurgency began. And they threw more soldiers at that.
And the insurgency grew. So of course they threw more soldiers at it.
And then they started to run out of soldiers to send… so they started calling up the Reserves and the National Guard in a backdoor draft. More soldiers to throw at the problem since that was obviously working so well to this point.
And that in a nutshell, ladies and gentlemen, is how we find ourselves where we are today. Over 1000 dead American soldiers with more dying everyday. The Iraqi insurgency showing no signs of weakening and many signs of spreading. Afghanistan still in turmoil. Al-Qaeda, by most estimates, less some old fighters and leaders but bigger than ever… with the losses more than made up by the recruiting of new fighters and leaders made possible in large part by the climate this administration has created in the Muslim world.
And this is the record the administration is telling you makes them the best choice to make the world a safe place for Americans.
Well let me tell you something. When your one trick pony’s only trick isn’t swimming and he’s pulling you down with him, you DO change horses mid stream. And maybe you can even rescue that drowning pony in the process.
And then he launches into his qualifications for the job, hammering heavily his work on BCCI and what he would do to fight terrorism besides throwing troops at it.
Alright folks, toss in your comments and your speech ideas.
-Grant (Who’s kind of proud of the “one trick pony”line)
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