I apologize to our readers for my absence, and for condemning them to an unbroken series of Tony posts (ZING!).
But seriously, folks... In his post Tuesday, T-Bone linked to a very perceptive piece by Bill Kristol, who is rapidly approaching George Will op-ed god status. Kristol warns Republicans against misunderestimating Howard Dean, and makes a persuasive case for Dean's potential angle of attack:
But Dean will emphasize that he has never ruled out the use of force (including unilaterally). Indeed, he will say, he believes in military strength so strongly that he thinks we should increase the size of the Army by a division or two. It's Bush, Dean will point out, who's trying to deal with the new, post-Sept. 11 world with a pre-Sept. 11 military.There is daylight to the right of Bush on foreign policy. Dean has already hinted at his willingness to attack (rhetorically) Saudi Arabia for their lunatic anti-Semitism and support of terrorist organizations.
I think the real opportunity that Kristol points out is Dean's chance to make specific calls for strengthening the military - two more light infantry divisions, 100,000 more soldiers, whatever. What is Bush's rationale for NOT strengthening the military? Whatever happened to the two-war standard (the doctrine that the US military would be able to fight two medium-level wars at once)?
Kristol also points out Bush's potential vulnerability on the issue of the deficit and the LBJ-like spending by the GOP. Jeff Jacoby highlights some of the worst excesses in the Boston Globe (link from Danno):
-$325,000 for the construction of a swimming pool in Salinas, Calif.And one more reason to line up the City Council and shoot them down like dogs (link via Liz):
-$220,000 for the New Mexico Retail Association in Albuquerque
-$1.8 million for the Women's World Cup tournament
City to hire attorneys to help council
The city has authorized up to $230,000 to defray the legal expenses of council members under investigation by a federal grand jury. Why are they under investigation, you ask? For violating city ethics laws! So the council breaks the law, and the taxpayers foot the bill for their lawyers. I love it.
Marc
