Friday, September 03, 2004

If you’re not reading The Resplendent Mango, you must start. Katie is a very articulate lass with a snarky sense of humor and she loves Hugh Jackman. So you know that earns her bonus points with me. Some examples:

Her reaction to Bush’s speech:

Bush did indeed give the speech of a lifetime. He was warm, he was funny, he was as humble as the most powerful man in the world can be, and he made us remember who we are as Americans, where we’ve come from, and where we’ve been. American history for George W. Bush doesn’t begin and end in Vietnam, it begins with a bunch of courageous pilgrims on a little boat sailing thousands of miles across an ocean to an unknown and unforgiving land on a quest for freedom, and if it ends, well, it will end over his dead body. John Kerry gave nothing away in his speech—no tangible criticisms that could be criticized, no lofty platitudes, and none of his soul. I loved watching George W. Bush give his speech for the same reason I love watching Hugh Jackman act—because he lays it all out there, all of it, his whole soul, and you can take it or leave it. The amount of strength required for that amount of vulnerablity is something that is truly beautiful. The only way I can describe what came across at the end, when Bush began to break down, is love. Love for his country and love for the people he leads. It wasn’t a farewell address, but towards the end, it almost had that feel. The songs I’d compare it to would be, in no particular order, “Edelweiss” from The Sound of Music, “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” from Evita, and “Once Before I Go” from Boy from Oz and a lot of other songs that make me cry. Beautiful.

Her latest missive to Mary Beth Cahill:

Dear Friend,

I’d missed you, Mary Beth, I really had.

Tonight, immediately after one of the nastiest, most divisive conventions in history comes to a close, John Kerry will take the stage at a rally in Springfield, OH and lay out his plan for the future to strengthen this country and reverse the last four years. I want to give you—our online supporters—a preview of what John Kerry will say.

Yep, let’s reverse the last four years. That sounds like a great idea. Where would that put us? Well, let’s see. That would put the women of Afghanistan back in burqas. That would put all of Afghanistan back under Taliban rule, oppressing 25 million people, give or take a few. That would put Saddam Hussein back in power. That would put another 25 million people, roughly speaking, back under totalitarian rule. Pakistan would still have the Khan nuclear program ticking along, and Libya would still be cranking along on its WMDs. And we’d all be without our nifty tax cuts. We’d be starting a recession instead of ending one. The only thing that I think we all wish we could reverse from the last four years would be to see the towers standing again. And John Kerry can’t repeal September 11th. All in all, reversing the last four years seems like a pretty dumb idea to me.

She also fisks Kerry’s rally speech in that post. My favorite parts:

They didn’t attack your patriotism, and methinks that thou dost protest a wee bit too much on the patriotism… Now, considering that you’re running around saying that Bush is “unfit to be president,” it would seem that you feel declarations of the opponent’s fitness or lack thereof to be fair game. I mean, Bush isn’t saying you’re tall and haughty and only managed to get into Boston College. He’s saying that you, based on your record, probably shouldn’t be handed the keys to the country. You’re running for president. He’s supposed to say that. The political process has not broken down. Review your history. This is normal. How about instead of saying that you’re not going to have your record questioned, you come up with some answers for when it is questioned. That might be a little bit more useful, and also a lot less whiny.

[...]

I mean, John, c’mon here, do you honestly believe that the American public is going to vote against the most competent veep we’ve ever had and replace him with Captain Ken-doll because he got a deferment 30 years ago and you didn’t? And, let us recall, that’s not for lack of trying on your part. I’d lay off that line of argument if I were you.