Kerry blames Bush for world's problems

Senator John F. Kerry thinks you're stupid.

In his second face-off against President George Bush, Kerry blamed Bush for the fact that American troops in Iraq are in need of better weaponry and supplies. He promised that, if elected, he will ensure that our troops have everything they need. Yet the senator made a rare appearance in the Senate to vote against a bill which would have provided an additional $87 billion for those very supplies.

We know that presidents have no power to override congressional decisions. So why does Kerry, the man who was voted the most liberal senator by the National Journal, continue to make such accusations? He truly believes the majority of American voters are too dense to notice his innumerable inconsistencies.

Kerry also blames Bush for the faulty intelligence stating there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, calling Bush's campaign a "weapon of mass deception." Clearly, Bush made a mistake in trusting this intelligence. He has admitted this. However, Congress made the decision to go to war based on the same faulty intelligence, and Kerry backed that decision. Both men were victims of the same untruths.

Both candidates claim to be against the draft. Bush said, "We're not going to have a draft. Period," promising that no draft will be instituted as long as he remains in the oval office. Kerry responded, "I don't support a draft," but went on to say that he plans to add 40,000 active duty forces to the military because American forces are currently overextended. He neglected to inform us how he plans to add these forces without instigating a draft.

The Tehran Times, a newspaper for terror-central Iran, said, "Kerry is exactly what the U.S. needs right now." I'd rather vote against the man terrorists want in office.

Bush touted the addition of 1.9 million jobs during the last 13 months after Kerry criticized his economic policy, adding that he believed his tax cuts would rejuvenate the U.S. economy (they did). Kerry plans to repeal a large portion of these cuts, but promised not to repeal cuts for citizens with an income of under $200,000. Bush retaliated, reminding voters that 70 percent of new jobs are created by small businesses – businesses that will be able to employ fewer people when forced to pay the extra taxes Kerry wants to impose on them.

Kerry later did his best to sidestep one issue that most Americans have strong opinions on: abortion. A citizen asked what Kerry would tell a pro-life voter who doesn't want his or her tax money spent to support a procedure that he or she is strongly against. After claiming that, as a Catholic, he respects and understands this belief, he said that part of the president's job is "making certain that you don't deny a poor person the right to be able to have whatever the Constitution affords them if they can't afford it otherwise." In other words, if you're against abortion — or if you simply think there are better ways to spend your tax dollars than on abortions for the poor — tough. He's going to do it anyway.

Bush was criticized for an impassioned reply in which he spoke over the moderator. But it is exactly that passion for our country and strong belief in one's policies that will lead us to a better nation.

As for Kerry, the latest in his series of "I have a plan" speeches was less than impressive. I'm still waiting to hear what his plans are.

Chenin Simi is a first year public relations and Spanish major.