Bush’s Speech at the RNC
An Annotated Version
by Rahul Mahajan
As columnist David Saransohn of the Oregonian points out, there is a curious gap in all the talk at the Republican National Convention:
At this convention, you don’t hear much about Iraq.
That is, Iraq the country.
You hear constantly about Iraq the symbol, the demonstration of American resolve, the place that will be a beacon of democracy throughout the Middle East and the Muslim world. Speakers repeatedly invoke Iraq as a stage set for President Bush’s determination, a symbol of a rebuilding world. As he doesn’t point out, it’s also true that you hear almost nothing about Iraq the country from Democrats; for them, it’s at best a symbol of Bush’s lies, nothing more. For John Kerry, it’s just a distraction from the real issue: Vietnam.
Still, few Democrats can match the Republicans when it comes to dissociating from reality. George W. Bush’s performance last night was something to behold, a combination of rehashed non-arguments from the buildup to the war and hallucinatory rhetoric about what’s actually happening in Iraq and the Middle East today, building up to a grand, messianic finale in which he seemed at times to forget that he was a presidential candidate rather than Jesus on the Mount.
Below is an annotated response to the foreign policy portion of his speech.
by Rahul Mahajan
As columnist David Saransohn of the Oregonian points out, there is a curious gap in all the talk at the Republican National Convention:
At this convention, you don’t hear much about Iraq.
That is, Iraq the country.
You hear constantly about Iraq the symbol, the demonstration of American resolve, the place that will be a beacon of democracy throughout the Middle East and the Muslim world. Speakers repeatedly invoke Iraq as a stage set for President Bush’s determination, a symbol of a rebuilding world. As he doesn’t point out, it’s also true that you hear almost nothing about Iraq the country from Democrats; for them, it’s at best a symbol of Bush’s lies, nothing more. For John Kerry, it’s just a distraction from the real issue: Vietnam.
Still, few Democrats can match the Republicans when it comes to dissociating from reality. George W. Bush’s performance last night was something to behold, a combination of rehashed non-arguments from the buildup to the war and hallucinatory rhetoric about what’s actually happening in Iraq and the Middle East today, building up to a grand, messianic finale in which he seemed at times to forget that he was a presidential candidate rather than Jesus on the Mount.
Below is an annotated response to the foreign policy portion of his speech.
posted by Gary at 9:10 AM
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