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Back from the debates.

Rather accidentally, I discovered that the first presidential debate was tonight. I watched it in the Reading Room in “Buswell Library”:http://library.wheaton.edu. I’d been hoping to catch them, as I really wanted to see Bush and Kerry speaking extemporaneously, without the usual amount of scripting that accompanies most of their other appearances. It seems to me that much of what a President must do flows from their true character and personality. This is the closest glimpse of these things that we’re likely to get. Some first impressions:

of John Kerry: E.E. Cummings once wrote, “loudly for truth have liars pled,click”:http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/eecummings/11934 . Read the rest of the poem to get that thought in context–it’s an excellent poem, and somewhat descriptive of our situation. “Liar” is a big, ugly word, connoting not merely that the one who lies speaks falsehood with the intent to deceive, but that a liar is one who historically and habitually deceives. I don’t know if Kerry is a liar, but it does seem to me that he is one who, rather than saying what he thinks, says what he perceives to be politic and popular, who may not even have an opinion, but forms an opinion of convenience because he feels he must. And he loudly pleads for Truth, which is something that liars often do. I claim nothing and insinuate everything. Kerry is a man at odds with himself.

In summary: it seems to me that John Kerry is the sort of fellow that I myself would likely turn into, were I to go into politics. If I were to go down that road, spend 20 years in the Senate and then run for president, I myself right now most likely would not vote for myself then. End of summary.

of George W. Bush: “It is a hard thing we do. I know it’s hard. We must work harder. It is hard. They are doing a hard thing. It is hard. We must work hard.” Bush tonight was like Orwell’s “Boxer”:http://www.animal-farm.8k.com/Boxer.htm from Animal Farm. The thing I like about Bush is that he speaks his mind or he remains silent. He doesn’t shoot his mouth off, or make up answers to please the questioner, or at least it doesn’t seem to me that he does. He’s a straight shooter, and he doesn’t take himself too seriously. I know where he’s at, I know what he’s trying to do, and on many points I agree with him. He’s putting in an honest effort, doing what he thinks is best for the nation, and he believes in what he’s doing. Kerry questioned his certainty, and also said, (I paraphrase), “I only made a mistake in what I said; he made a mistake in acting the way he did.” Well, it seems to me that mistakes are inevitable, and the important thing is that we learn from our mistakes. I’m not sure yet if Bush is learning from the mistakes made in Iraq, but I’m certain that Kerry hasn’t learned from his mistakes of speaking foolishly, and he obviously doesn’t realize that while invading a country is an action, so also are speaking and failing to act at the opportune moment actions.

In summary: Bush, like Boxer, is a good, solid, hard worker. My doubts about him, as with Boxer, are that he keeps bad company and is too trusting. Boxer like to say, “I must work harder,” but he also often said, “Napoleon is always right.” I wonder if Bush doesn’t too often say, “”Karl Rove”:http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1165126,00.html is always right.” (Please note that in comparing George W. Bush to Boxer, I am in no way insinuating that I hold the belief that the sitting President of the United States of America should be retired and sold for glue.)

There you have it folks. The first presidential debate of 2004, in a nutshell. If you want something more substantive than my own opinions, read “Instapundit’s summary”:http://instapundit.com/archives/018155.php, as it’s much better than my own.

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