President Bush, on the quality of the intelligence reports he receives:

July 14, 2003

Well, let me first say that — I think the intelligence I get is darn good intelligence. And the speeches I have given were backed by good intelligence.

September 21, 2004

The CIA laid out a — several scenarios that said, life could be lousy, like could be okay, life could be better. And they were just guessing as to what the conditions might be like. The Iraqi citizens are defying the pessimistic predictions.

When did our “darn good intelligence”–errrr–“guessing” turn “pessimistic”?

Whenever a candidate can’t make his case for himself based on facts, an easy out is to start distorting his opponent. Here’s what President Bush said yesterday:

We agree that the world is better off with Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison cell. And that stands in stark contrast to the statement my opponent made yesterday when he said that the world was better off with Saddam in power.

Wow. Who wants a president who supports brutal dictators ruling the world? Boo Kerry.
But wait a minute. Is that what Kerry really said? From his speech:

Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who deserves his own special place in hell. But that was not, in itself, a reason to go to war. The satisfaction we take in his downfall does not hide this fact: we have traded a dictator for a chaos that has left America less secure.

[Olliver Willis has this comparison in video format from ABC News.]
I don’t see anything there about the world being “better off” with Saddam. So where did that come from? Did Bush simply make it up?
What Kerry’s statement recognizes is the basic economics of foreign policy. Yes, there was a benefit in removing Saddam Hussein. But that’s only half the story. The benefit has come at a tremendous cost: thousands of people killed and maimed, hundreds of billions of dollars spend, and Middle East instability. In assessing a policy, you’ve got to weigh how the world is better off against how things are worse off. And in the judgment of many people, including Kerry, the benefit of removing Saddam hasn’t been worth the cost.
Sometime I’d like to see a reporter (with guts) ask President Bush if he thinks the world is better off with Kim Jong Il in power. Because I haven’t seen Bush lift a finger to remove the North Korean leader. And according to Bush’s twisted logic, if you don’t support the military ouster of a national leader, you must think the world is better off with that ruler in place.

President Bush yesterday:

In the words of the Burmese democracy advocate, Aung San Suu Kyi: “We do not accept the notion that democracy is a Western value. To the contrary; democracy simply means good government rooted in responsibility, transparency, and accountability.”

There’s classic irony for you. These are three of the last terms one would associate with this administration.

Kerry gets funny on The Late Show with David Letterman:

Kerry also poked fun at the tedious debate negotiations between the rival campaigns that ended in agreement Monday. Kerry said he wanted running mate John Edwards to stand in the vice presidential debate, but Cheney wanted to sit. “We compromised and now George Bush is going to sit on Dick Cheney’s lap,” he said.

And the Top Ten:

Kerry’s “Top 10 Bush Tax Proposals” are
10. No estate tax for families with at least two U.S. presidents.
9. W-2 Form is now Dubya-2 Form.
8. Under the simplified tax code, your refund check goes directly to Halliburton.
7. The reduced earned income tax credit is so unfair, it just makes me want to tear out my lustrous, finely groomed hair.
6. Attorney General (John) Ashcroft gets to write off the entire U.S. Constitution.
5. Texas Rangers can take a business loss for trading Sammy Sosa.
4. Eliminate all income taxes; just ask Teresa (Heinz Kerry) to cover the whole damn thing.
3. Cheney can claim Bush as a dependent.
2. Hundred-dollar penalty if you pronounce it “nuclear” instead of “nucular.”
1. George W. Bush gets a deduction for mortgaging our entire future.

Overall, Kerry appeared fairly relaxed and good humored (which appears to require some effort). The sad thing is that this appearance probably had a greater impact on undecided voters than his Iraq policy speech earlier in the day. But that’s the America we live in.
Kerry is currently having his first press conference sometime in over a month. Good. I don’t know why he’s been avoiding reporters recently.

I see the Kerry campaign has already set up a fund to pay the expenses associated with a potential election recount effort.
You’d like to think we won’t be going there again. But given all the controversy we’ve already seen over voting machines and the behavior of some electoral commissions, it wouldn’t come as a surprise.