It Pays To Be Specific

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Rspaight
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It Pays To Be Specific

Postby Rspaight » Thu May 06, 2004 12:30 pm

From the Washington Post:

Much has been made of the fact that Bush is still using a line from his stump speech about how the torture chambers in Iraq are closed.

But here's something no one seems to have noticed: He has made a change. Now he's saying specifying whose torture chambers.

Up until lately, the line generally went "Because we acted, torture chambers are closed."

That was up until early Tuesday afternoon. See, for instance, his remarks in the Ohio towns of Lebanon or Maumes.

But since Tuesday night -- or by the time he got to Cincinnati -- he's been more specific. The exact words now: "Because our coalition acted, Saddam's torture chambers are closed."

And he's used that precise phrasing two more times since then, at a Sterling Heights, Mich., rally later Tuesday night, and at the Republican National Committee Gala in Washington last night, which raised a record $38.5 million for the Republican National Committee.


Now, I know I'm biased, but I really don't understand why the audience doesn't throw their rubber chicken at him when he says this. I have to imagine that there's at least uncomfortable shuffling around after that line, even among the faithful. Do Republicans really think that bragging about ending Saddam's abuse of prisoners is a good idea right now?

At the very least, it's wildly inconsistent: he's gone out of his way to denounce our treatment of Iraqi prisoners, so it's not like he's trying to make the talk-radio case that this is just "them-darn-kids" horsing around. Either it's deplorable or it isn't. If it isn't, don't posture about how awful you think it is. If it is, then don't brag about how Saddam doesn't do it anymore.

Christ. And they call Kerry a waffler.

Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney