certain slant of light

although i myself am torn about a lot of things, i thought George did a good job of sticking to his guns on NPR... he said he needs America to be positive and to display trust in the best intelligence in the world... I like how he emphasized the intelligence OVER himself. I am so bored with bashing him. instead of bashing, be positive, and instead of focusing on him, focus on the objectives of his advisers.

Tacy, I too am bored over Bush-bashing. People who constantly make ad hominem attacks on him are too lazy to make coherent arguments. In listening to Bush, I don't feel like i'm being lied to, or that he is unintelligent. However, his "true believer" stance can be unhelpful, I think. Members of Congress are now standing up to him, including some Republicans, and they have good arguments, especially with the issue of increasing troops in Iraq. When Bush talks about "success" in Iraq I'm not sure what he means anymore, especially since the problems there are so deeply rooted in cultural and religious history. I am torn just like you are, which is why I have a hard time clearly articulating my ideas right now. I do agree that it is smart for him to emphasize good intelligence, a slight jab at the intelligence community's job before the Iraq invasion. But I find myself unconvinced by his "true believer" attitude. In matters of faith, this is a good policy, but in foreign affairs? I just don't know.

I'll be honest and say I've not heard the term "true believer" but I probably guess what that means.

For me, details abound on both sides of an argument, but as a personal goal, instead of focusing on what what said what's been left undone, I would rather concentrate my view toward what history will say of this era: democracy and an army for Iraq, protection from terrorism, a bad man gone, more jobs for Iraqis and hopefully a better quality of life, if not now, in the long run. And in the next few years, our prayers should be to freedom as well as peace, terrorism breathing down our necks.

Also, being positive means seeing dead soldiers as heroes rather than wasted life.

And, although it will be a while before we cast our ballots, I'd be curious to hear who the k-triplets might be voting for. It seems the intellectual trend leans toward Obama (esp. NPR) but there are some other interesting candidates...

sorry i didn't do a good job editing that post... I meant to say "freedom as well as peace... without terrorism breathing down our necks."

I would definitely agree that we must pray for peace and for terrorism to be put to an end. Obviously, the ultimate outcome is in God's hands. It is possible to be an optimist while also recognizing where mistakes have been and are being made by this administration and others (including Iraqis). It is also possible to mourn over loss of life while at the same time regarding our soldiers as heroes who have not died in vain.

Anyway, I probably won't reveal on this blog who I ultimately vote for (hello, future employers), but I WILL say that us kaufmann 3 have all joined Obama groups on facebook:). I am cautiously optimistic about him, since he seems intellectual but he has yet to come out with any strong policy on any issue, to my knowledge. We shall see.