ArchPundit

Rockford Register Star

ArchPundit October 25, 2004 1 Comment

Endorses Kerry

The president does not seem to learn from experience. He has shown himself to be a man who cannot admit error, and, therefore, cannot change course even in the face of disaster. He will not listen to advice he doesn’t want to hear, and he will not absorb facts that lead logically to conclusions he doesn’t want to acknowledge.

Incredibly, he still insists that the war in Iraq is going well. He vows to persevere on the same disastrous track. He will not concede that his rationale for going to war was mistaken, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary. Instead, he keeps shifting the rationale to justify the war.

HE WILL NOT HOLD people accountable for a poorly planned occupation and poorly managed war. The troops — too few in number from the beginning — were not properly equipped for the mission. The situation grows more perilous and the death toll of American soldiers rises almost daily.

Now This is a Surpise

ArchPundit October 25, 2004 3 Comments

I didn’t expect the Sun-Times to endorse Kerry. But they did.

The president’s handling of the past year in Iraq — his dismissal of those who warned him about the difficulty of reorganizing the country, his neglect of deep problems that are costing American lives there — made us doubt his ability to bring our involvement there to a successful conclusion. And we became concerned by the secrecy of his subordinates such as Dick Cheney and John Ashcroft, coupled with an unnecessary disregard for some of our most cherished civil liberties.

If only their were More Chapmans

ArchPundit October 25, 2004 2 Comments

Chapman is in full riff why he’ll vote for Kerry

At the age of 50, I get few chances to try something entirely new. Come Nov. 2, I plan to take one of those rare opportunities. I’m going to vote for a Democrat for president.

I’ve never done it before, and I hope I never have to do it again. But President Bush has made an irresistible case against his own re-election. His first term has been one of the most dismal and costly failures of any presidency. His second promises to be even worse.

Funny enough–I had no idea Chapman is pro-life. Maybe I missed it, but his columns are pretty tight so all of his views don’t come out–and I’ve been reading him for 16 years probably.

I’ll take it

Kerry, it’s true, is worse than Bush on some issues. But he can probably pass a test that Bush has failed, namely, avoiding catastrophe.His presidency would also restore something valuable: divided government. Unlike Bush, Kerry would face a Congress dominated by the opposition party. As Cato Institute Executive Vice President David Boaz puts it, “Republicans wouldn’t give Kerry every bad thing he wants, and they do give Bush every bad thing he wants.”

Bad things have been the hallmark of the Bush presidency, from either a conservative or a liberal perspective. On Nov. 2, we can let him expand the grave damage he has done to the national interest–or we can hold him accountable. I’ll vote for John Kerry without high hopes or enthusiasm, but vote for him I will.