I thought George W. Bush's acceptance speech was okay but about 48 months late. At times, he sounded like he was pledging to improve on the failed policies of the guy who's been in office the last four years. There was a lot of talk about being resolute, and I've always thought that determination, taken by itself, is a phony value. Is it admirable to be resolute when you're heading in the wrong direction? Isn't there a definition of "insanity" that has something to do with repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting the outcome to be different? I've been led into a lot of disasters by people who were absolutely certain they knew what they were doing…and when it didn't work out, they somehow became more certain.
The thing I don't get is the Republican reliance on really contrived Talking Points. Dick Cheney charged that Kerry only wants U.S. troops deployed with the consent of the United Nations. The proof of this? A quote from an interview Kerry gave the Harvard Crimson in 1970. (Kerry said the opposite in his acceptance speech a few weeks ago. I guess now they'll accuse him of flip-flopping.) Hey, I'm going to vote for Kerry and I could come up with better stuff to use against him than a 35 year old speech. Zell Miller accused Kerry of being weak on defense because he once wanted to scrap the F-14 and F-16 fighter jets…but Dick Cheney, when he was Secretary of Defense, had the same view, as did many Republicans. So what's the point here?