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Monday, December 15, 2003
Memecheese Free advice for Howard Dean and/or Wesley Clark: Everything Bush does should be called "simple." The approach to Iraq? "On any given issue, you're with us, or you're against us. Every deviation from the will of the commander will be treated as if it were a failure to follow orders on the battlefield." Simplistic. The economy? "[see Reaganomics]" Simplistic. The environment? "It'll take care of itself or corporations will." Simplistic. There isn't a lot of sophistication in Bush's public statements. He talks in front of curtains(?) emblazoned with repeating two- or three-word slogans that are merely cosmetic, and which claim results yet to be achieved. Simplistic. He doesn't avoid details and working knowledge of the world for political reasons; he avoids them because he doesn't understand them. The strategy of pawning off heavy-thinkin' stuff to brainy subordinates, as recent administration infighting and disarray have shown, won't run an airline. We don't want to call him "stupid," but questions about his mental acuity and attention span are widespread, buried in the back of everyone's mind. If they can be linked to specific statements, policies, and results, the bubble of his credibility could be reduced to nothing in short order. Watching the first debate, I thought Gephardt's "miserable failure" was kind of pathetic (if true) and, well, simple. But it caught on. If "simple" doesn't strike the right note, there are plenty of synonyms that would do in its place. |