Kerry: "None of your business!"

[angus]

Whoa!  I hadn't noticed this bit of news.  Thanks for posting it jmfcst.  Not sure how it'll affect him, but as someone who has voted for Kerry in the past I honestly say that I'm very disappointed.  That's locker-room talk, and whether its true or not, if you're running for US President you don't tell how you get together with foreign leaders to affect change here at home.  Especially in this time of heightened anxieties.  He's looking a little more like his former Governor every day.  Watch the polls:  Kerry may have just pissed off one too many undecided voters.

[angus]

Ever notice how just a few word changes affect the mood of a story?  The NYT spin is a bit more Kerry-friendly:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/politics/campaign/15TRAI.html

At lunch I'll pick up the WSJ and see how they're telling it.  Wapo seems pretty neutral http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58666-2004Mar14.html

[angus]

I had a chance to look fairly closely at the important parts of the Wall Street Journal today, and couldn't find anything about Kerry's statement.  But most of the other news in there looks pretty bleak, I'm sorry to say.  They're spinning the Aznar defeat as a major rebuke of the US State Department.

[angus]

yes, statesrights, Kennedy was quite the conservative.

HoopsCubs, yes it is not surprising that most foreigners support the Democrats.  We discussed this to death on another thread.  What was inappropriate, im my opinion, was how Kerry played it.  It stinks!  And it embarasses me.

[angus]

Agcat, where are you, if you don't mind my asking.  I was born in John Sealy Hospital on Galveston Island.

[angus]

long story.  My folks are from Northern Minnesota.  I'm from all over.  I have been a registered voter in CA, FL, MA, MN, and TX though.  Small world.  

[angus]

Agcat.  You're a polysci major.  That's why I have trouble keeping up.  I have been through Seabrook, not sure where Plant City is, though.  I lived in Orange County, FLA when I lived in florida, statesrights.  That's probably far away.

M, I did not go to Ball HS.  Went to three high schools, none of which were in Galveston.  I am a 1990 graduate of UT.  Hook 'em Horns!

My father designed offshore drilling rigs, that's what brought my folks to the Gulf Coast.  I went to 13 schools in 7 states and 2 countries between K and 12th grade.

[angus]

Jeb's a UT graduate, you know.  

George is a Yalie.  I think we went over this before.

[angus]

You'll have to define that Statesrights and HoopsCubs.  California has about 36 million people, 12.5% of the national population.  Actually, only 10.2% of the electoral votes, but yes, it is possible that one region may be of greater electoral (or other) import.  sure.  How do you define an ambiguous 'north'.  Let's say Southern New England, the Middle Atlantic, and the Upper Midwest.  Roughly 140 million people.  Lot's of votes.  Yeah, that's quite a bit, depending on exactly which states' votes you'd choose to count.  Enough for 200, I suspect.

[angus]

Its not the same kind of liberalism you guys!  Then it was Liberalism - what we call Conservatism now.  In otherwords individualism and capitalism.  Not the semi-socialism of modern 'liberalism'.

essentially correct.

[angus]

It's not the socialism that really grates me, as much as that distinct anti-patriotism, uncomfortableness with too much Flag, quickness to blame our country for problems overseas, and so forth.

Agreed.  That's the difference!  This is an occassionally recurring theme, that we can have differences in how we collect and distribute, and how much, but the distinct anti-patriotism gives me a very bad vibe.  That's all I was trying to say.  Thank you.

[angus]

interesting that some say mother country, some say fatherland.  Like usa, england, etc.  But in Spain, Mexico...  And in Germany, Russia, but then Saudia Arabia.  It's all different.  You do not choose these things.

The point here is that at some point people can determine whether they can accept that this is none of their business.  It will become part of the continuum of ideas out there.  There is only one poll that matters.

[angus]

It would be a GOP wet-dream for the leaders of France and Germany to endorse Kerry, adding to his list of foreign endorsements which include NKorea !!!

Foreigners prefer Democrats to Republicans.  Always.  They preferred Carter to Reagan, Gore to Bush, and France&Germany&England cheered when the Army of Northern Virginia deafeated the Army of the Potomac.  It should not be surprising that Kerry has the support of foreign leaders.  But, I agree that if foreigners start to actually meddle around in what is an internal matter, it will cost Kerry points of every US national.  Kerry has lost sight of that.  He's becoming sloppy.

[angus]

Nice, where did you see/read that?

[angus]

I also notice from the photo slide show on that same page that Kerry is getting a little better at retracting the finger.  In some of them he has clinched fists.  All this puts whoever said they support him in a dicey position.  Suppose Paul Martin says to Kerry privately, "Yeah, us cannucks are hoping you'll win and end the reign of King George II"  And Kerry says, "Well, can I get an endorsement?"  And Martin says, "Of course I can't make that comment publicly.  What if Bush wins?  I'll have egg on my face."  You see Kerry's problem.  Now, Kerry knew he couldn't give up the names of his foreign supporters, so he shouldn't have brought it up to the firemen in the first place.  The Bush people sense a weakness, and they pounce on it like a lion after the oldest, slowest antelope in a herd.  So Kerry tries to change the subject, ever so slightly, "I stand by my statement. The point is not the leaders. What's important is that this administration's foreign policy is not making us as safe as we can be in the world."  He's a lawyer.  Bush is a businessman.  It'll get more interesting I suspect, as the press will follow this story.

[angus]

Hi Brambilla, yes I live in Livermore!  We like hanging out in your side of the Bay sometimes.  Parking is a bitch in SF, so it's best to take the train into the city from the Dublin/Pleasanton stop, which is a few miles away.  

[angus]

Questions about how foreign leaders would vote in November election--if they could--have become prominent.  Some might even like it if we just go to the United Nations and ask for a show of hands.  With all the glee among Democrats about how foreign leaders fear/loathe Bush and want Kerry to win, it seems important to remind ourselves of Jan Peter Balkenende.

It is not surprising that the Dutchman is more conservative-friendly.  The low countries have always been a place where you could go to speak and think freely.  Voltaire may have been claimed by France, for example, but he did most of his thinking in the Netherlands.  And Amsterdam is headquarters for more american business than any other city in the region, with good reason.  Unlike most of its neighbors, the Dutch are much more conservative.  The most objective measure of how 'liberal' a country is, in my opinion, is what fraction of a nation's GDP is government.  In France, this number is about 53%.  In North Korea, it's officially 100%.  By comparison, that of the US (and UK as well) is something like 30%.  Holland's is a respectable 40%.  Spain?  38%.  Evidence of the true conservativism of the Dutch-Flemish is suggested in many ways.  The legalization of prostitution, for example.  It's a business, why let the leftist/moralists run them out of town?  Legalize it, regulate it, let it become part of the GDP.  Similarly, tolerance for cannabis suggests real respect for the conservatism I like to think describes my own conservatism.  I lived and worked in Amsterdam back in 2002, and enjoyed my stay immensely, for many reasons.  One reason was the willingness of the Dutch people to discuss politics openly.  No apologies.  No silly white-man's guilt.  Bring up that the Dutch transported 2.7 million Africans to the Americas (far more than any other nation) and they'll say, "Ja, wat ist de probleem?"  Yes, what's the big deal?  But if you bring up Jean-Marie LePen to a Frenchman he'll say he's humiliated to be French quicker than a Massachusetts Moralist would disown George Bush.

Bush meets today in the Oval Office with the Dutch prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, whose country has contributed 1,100 troops to the occupation of Iraq.  John Hassell of the Newark Star-Ledger writes that Balkenende said yesterday that "more cooperation between Europe and the United States -- not less -- is necessary to defeat al Qaeda, which is suspected of mounting the deadly attacks in Madrid last week."  Daniel Williams reports in The Washington Post that Britain, Italy, Poland -- and yes, the Netherlands -- are among the European countries remaining steadfast with Bush on Iraq.

Naar voren brengen!  (Bring it on!)

[angus]

...I find the statement, at the very least, a little presumptuous (except in the case of NKorea) ...

ROFL.  

[angus]

jmfcst,
Can you give a link to this story?
Thanks.

[angus]

I don't think it's the fact that he took his time getting to this position that has people flummoxed.  Maybe it's the fact that he would even consider allowing such outside intervention, especially in our time of war and paranoia, but at any time really, that seems so irresponsible.  Zapatero is in the news all the time lately, like Michael Jackson's nose and the space shuttle Challenger once apon a time, but I don't know much about Mahathir Mohammed, though.  

[angus]

Everyone knows that plutocratic Jews control both parties.  It's a win-win situation.  Sorry, bad joke.  Here's the official party line:
http://asem.inter.net.th/asem-info/malaysia/leader.html
Here's some editorial:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2059518.stm
It seems Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad is pretty nasty old fart.

 Remember Goliad

[angus]

He who laughs, lasts.  Shalom.  The world could be a lot worse.  I suppose that Kerry's 'endorsements' will be at least  as big a problem as a benefit.  Still, it's no secret that anyone who wraps themselves up in the flag is a Republican.  That's the tie that binds.  And that's why Kerry won't win this time.

[angus]

Howard Dean is on Hannity and Colmes just now and says, "Maybe it's time for a Democrat in the white house.  Who cares if they're a liberal?  If he can get us out of Iraq, if he can balance the budget, then it's time for a liberal in the white house."  You can add that to the list of leaders endorsing Kerry.  (I'm counting a former Governor of Vermont as a World Leader)  He goes on to say, "...I have no idea if I'll run for office again.  It's too early to ask."

We report.  You decide.