Pretty much everyone who reads the LIB with any regularity has a take on last nights debate. For that reason, we will not dwell on any of the specifics here.
I will say however, that I was particularly impressed by the honesty and candor of both John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich.
After eighth years of the Bush juggernaut with its shady collection of thugs, liars and petty criminals, honesty is a refreshing change.
In my opinion, either of these men would make a fine next president. Even better than either of the two would be if they and their advisors could work out a way for them to join together with Edwards in first position, and Kucinich as the morally conscious number two.
For the past six years, we have heard morality and other religious concepts consistently bandied about. Sadly, most of the time this was by political charlatans, men and women, who on a good day, might have had the loftiest of plans, but when the rubber hit the road, more often than not, buckled to the country’s major financial interests. Unfortunately, this was most often at the expense of everyday Americans like you and I.
For this reason almost 50 million Americans lack health care. Record numbers are forced to work at brainless menial jobs, when they are available, as so many of the better paying positions have moved to parts of the world where business has little interference from pesky laws designed to protect employees from unscrupulous employers.
And I could go on and on, but I would be preaching to the choir.
Suffice it to say, we need change, and we need it now. For that reason it is every American’s duty to familiarize themselves with the candidates and to throw their support behind the one or who will stand strong and help to usher in lifesaving change.
But I am just rambling here, as it is hard to make any selection without knowing what part, if any, will be played by former Vice President and current Green God, Al Gore.
So while we wait for in again, not in again, Mr. Gore, and for the benefit of those who missed this all important program, here is the transcript of the evenings festivities.
-ADMIN
RELATED STORIES: See Dennis Kucinich on Real Time With Bill Maher
THE DEBATE
MR. WILLIAMS: And let’s now begin the questioning. Senator Clinton, your party’s leader in the United States Senate, Harry Reid, recently said, “The war in Iraq is lost.” A letter to today’s USA Today calls his comments “treasonous,” and says, “If General Patton were alive today, Patton would wipe his boots with Senator Reid.” Do you agree with the position of your leader in the Senate?
SEN. CLINTON: Well, Brian, at the outset let me say that the American people have spoken, the Congress has voted, as of today, to end this war. And now we can only hope that the president will listen. I’m very proud of the Congress, under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid, for putting together a piece of legislation which says we will fund our troops and protect them, we will limit the number of days that they can be deployed, and we will start to bring them home. And I think that is exactly what the American people want. This is not America’s war to win or lose. We have given the Iraqi people the chance to have freedom, to have their own country. It is up to them to decide whether or not they’re going to take that chance. And it is past time for them to demonstrate that they are willing to make the sacrifice, the compromise that is necessary to put together a unified government and provide security and stability without our young men and women in the middle of their sectarian war.
MR. WILLIAMS: Senator, time. Thank you very much.
Senator Biden, same question to you, which is, do you agree with Senator Reid that the war is lost?
SEN. BIDEN: Look, Brian, this is not a game show. You know, this is not a football game. This is not win or lose. The fact of the matter is that the president has a fundamentally flawed policy. It’s based upon the notion to be able to set up a strong central government in Baghdad that will be democratic. And the real question is, are we going to be able to leave Iraq, get our troops out and leave behind something other than chaos? In order to do that, the president should start off by not vetoing the language which — which we just — he says he’s going to veto — we just passed today, saying begin to draw down American troops right now, and move toward a political solution. Look, there’s only one way. You got to change the fundamental premise of this engagement, and that is, you got to decentralize Iraq, you got to give the regions control over their own destiny, give them control over their own police forces, their own identity, and have a limited central government and share their oil wealth.The president better get on the game plan here, or he is just going to drag this out to the point where we’re — it’s not recognizable.
Read On….
