debate highlights

from the second presidential debate transcript

some of the thoughts going through my head during and after the debate

BUSH: I wasn't happy when we found out there wasn't weapons, and we've got an intelligence group together to figure out why.

wow... did he actually just say that?

BUSH: Saddam Hussein was a threat because he could have given weapons of mass destruction to terrorist enemies. Sanctions were not working. The United Nations was not effective at removing Saddam Hussein.

GIBSON: Senator?

KERRY: The goal of the sanctions was not to remove Saddam Hussein, it was to remove the weapons of mass destruction. And, Mr. President, just yesterday the Duelfer report told you and the whole world they worked. He didn't have weapons of mass destruction, Mr. President. That was the objective.

oh my fucking god was that perfect! i swear i almost came when he said that.

BUSH: I recognize that taking Saddam Hussein out was unpopular. But I made the decision because I thought it was in the right interests of our security.

um, what the fuck are you talking about? it was an EXTREMELY popular war, at least at its inception... you know, when the american public was told that saddam had WMDs and regular dinner parties with bin laden.

anyway, kerry is the one who does things that are unpopular... you're stealing his bit!

KERRY: The president stood right here in this hall four years ago, and he was asked a question by somebody just like you, “Under what circumstances would you send people to war?”

And his answer was, “With a viable exit strategy and only with enough forces to get the job done.”

damn... busted.

KERRY: The military's job is to win the war. A president's job is to win the peace.

oh yes, keep em comin' john!

BUSH: I hear there's rumors on the Internets that we're going to have a draft. We're not going to have a draft, period.

wow, are there more internets that we dont know about?

BUSH: In Europe, we have massed troops as if the Soviet Union existed and was going to invade into Europe, but those days are over with. And so we're moving troops out of Europe and replacing it with more effective equipment... there are some really interesting technologies.

"it?" and what are we replacing "it" with... robots? great idea... maybe we can get the governator.

wait a second... isnt this the guy who favors religion over science? why is he invoking science now? ooooh, right, its politically useful. and of course he's also a total hypocrite.

GIBSON: Mr. President, let's extend for a minute...

BUSH: Let me just—I've got to answer this.

GIBSON: Exactly. And with Reservists being held on duty...

(CROSSTALK)

BUSH: Let me answer what he just said, about around the world.

GIBSON: Well, I want to get into the issue of the back-door draft...

BUSH: You tell Tony Blair we're going alone. Tell Tony Blair we're going alone. Tell Silvio Berlusconi we're going alone. Tell Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland we're going alone.

i cannot believe that bush yelled at gibson like that, interrupted him and broke "the rule" (remember the chastising edwards received)... that was the WORST MOVE EVER. the media needs to pick that up and run with it! we'll see if they do...

BUSH: This war is a long, long war, and it requires steadfast determination and it requires a complete understanding that we not only chase down al Qaeda but we disrupt terrorist safe havens as well as people who could provide the terrorists with support.

a long, long war huh? THAT'S the way to inspire the american people... idiot.

BUSH: But yes, I'm worried. I'm worried. I'm worried about our country.

oh, well, that's a good one too, i guess...

BUSH: And what my worry is is that, you know, it looks like it's from Canada, and it might be from a third world.

lol... a THIRD world huh? i'm sorry, but the idea of alien medications just cracks me up.

BUSH: Now, he talks about Medicare. He's been in the United States Senate 20 years. Show me one accomplishment toward Medicare that he accomplished.

I've been in Washington, D.C., three and a half years and led the Congress to reform Medicare so our seniors have got a modern health care system. That's what leadership is all about.

KERRY: Actually, Mr. President, in 1997 we fixed Medicare, and I was one of the people involved in it.

We not only fixed Medicare and took it way out into the future, we did something that you don't know how to do: We balanced the budget... (Bush) has added more debt to the debt of the United States in four years than all the way from George Washington to Ronald Reagan put together. Go figure.

oh DAMN! no he DIDNT!

goddamn he's kicking ass.

BUSH: First, the National Journal named Senator Kennedy the most liberal senator of all. And that's saying something in that bunch. You might say that took a lot of hard work.

The reason I bring that up is because he's proposed $2.2 trillion in new spending, and he says he going to tax the rich to close the tax gap.

He can't. He's going to tax everybody here to fund his programs. That's just reality.

well, it's nice that bush acknowledges that a democratic senator can also do hard work (hard, hard, hard work)... too bad its the wrong senator

and... kerry's going to tax everyone in that audience? that's reality? has bush ever taken a 5th grade math class? silly question, i know...

KERRY: Do you know what he presented us with? A $25 billion giveaway to the biggest corporations in America, including a $254 million refund check to Enron.

oh yeah... that's right, bring up enron! bring it on!

careful with all the big numbers though, he's blinking a LOT... we don't want him to have a seizure or anything...

BUSH: Is my time up yet?

GIBSON: No, you can keep going.

damn straight your time is up! get the fuck out of there and go back to your goddamn ranch!

BUSH: Yes, I mean, he's got a record. It's been there for 20 years. You can run, but you can't hide.

does he think kerry is bin laden? wtf is that?

BUSH: (lying about his environmental policies, for which he will spend an eternity in the fires of hades) I've got a plan to increase the wetlands by 3 million.

3 million what? wetlands?

BUSH: We proposed and passed a healthy forest bill which was essential to working with—particularly in Western states—to make sure that our forests were protected.
What happens in those forests, because of lousy federal policy, is they grow to be—they are not—they're not harvested. They're not taken care of. And as a result, they're like tinderboxes. We've got a good, common-sense policy.

yeah, that's JUST what i was thinking. cutting down old-growth redwoods to "protect our forests" is really good common sense.

BUSH: I guess you'd say I'm a good steward of the land.

ok, i dont even believe in hell, but he is definitely going there.

KERRY: I'm going to be a president who believes in science.

oh, goddess, dare i hope?

KERRY: You can't stop all outsourcing, Charlie. I've never promised that. I'm not going to, because that would be pandering. You can't.

is it naive of me to think that this man actually has integrity?

BUSH: I own a timber company?

That's news to me.

Need some wood?

jesus christ... no, but i would like your head on a pike, you lying piece of shit.

BUSH: Let me make sure you understand my decision. Those stem- cells lines already existed. The embryo had already been destroyed prior to my decision.

I had to make the decision to destroy more life, so we continue to destroy life—I made the decision to balance science and ethics.

he so has no idea what the hell he's talking about. that makes no sense.

and he doesn't seem to have any problem with destroying iraqi lives.

and a balance of science and "ethics" (read: christianity) is really not what i think the founding fathers meant when they wrote a separation of church and state into the constitution...

BUSH: I wouldn't pick a judge who said that the Pledge of Allegiance couldn't be said in a school because it had the words “under God” in it. I think that's an example of a judge allowing personal opinion to enter into the decision-making process as opposed to a strict interpretation of the Constitution.

well, considering that "under god" wasnt IN the original pledge of allegiance, i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that using it is NOT actually a "strict interpretation of the constitution." in fact, it's the exact opposite.

BUSH: Another example would be the Dred Scott case, which is where judges, years ago, said that the Constitution allowed slavery because of personal property rights.

ok, so he wouldnt appoint anyone who believes in the legalization of slavery. phew! that's a relief. i'm really glad he delved into such a relevant current event.

KERRY: A few years ago when he came to office, the president said—these are his words—"What we need are some good conservative judges on the courts" ... Will we have equal opportunity? Will women's rights be protected? Will we have equal pay for women, which is going backwards? Will a woman's right to choose be protected?

i heart kerry

KERRY: But I can't take what is an article of faith for me and legislate it for someone who doesn't share that article of faith, whether they be agnostic, atheist, Jew, Protestant, whatever. I can't do that... as a president, I have to represent all the people in the nation.

gods, how long have i been waiting to hear a politician say that?! i dont think clinton even said anything like that!

KERRY: That's why I think it's important for the United States, for instance, not to have this rigid ideological restriction on helping families around the world to be able to make a smart decision about family planning.

You'll help prevent AIDS.

You'll help prevent unwanted children, unwanted pregnancies.

You'll actually do a better job, I think, of passing on the moral responsibility that is expressed in your question. And I truly respect it.

he's amazing, the way he was able to critique the religious right and their influence on this administration, yet still convey a message of true morality.

BUSH: I'm trying to decipher that.

no comment.

KERRY: Well, again, the president just said, categorically, my opponent is against this, my opponent is against that. You know, it's just not that simple. No, I'm not. I'm against the partial-birth abortion, but you've got to have an exception for the life of the mother and the health of the mother under the strictest test of bodily injury to the mother.

BUSH: Well, it's pretty simple when they say: Are you for a ban on partial birth abortion? Yes or no?

ok, so... he's just gonna skip over that whole "life of the mother" thing? that made him look SO BAD. like he truly doesnt care about women's lives.

goddamn he's stupid. or evil. or both.

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gibson sucks. he seems super conservative, and was favoring bush throughout that entire debate. not cool.

i loved the way kerry kept invoking mccain.

i'm feeling pretty optimistic right now *knock wood* i think i'm gonna sleep well tonight.