The Democratic Party pledges an unrelenting struggle against terrorism and a commitment to seeing Iraq succeed, according to a statement of election principles shaped heavily by national security crises.Yup. Sure. We believe you. But it's a tad puzzling that if you're all so even-handed, why all the Donk bigs are busy sucking at Mikey Moore's ample teats not to mention the dung flies of the Donk establishment hanging around his butt.
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The document is predictably critical of President Bush and the manner in which he "rushed to war" in Iraq. But it does not call the war a mistake, saying people of good will can disagree on that.
Aside from the "big" committment to national security, the platform has the usual Donk bromides, but a few surprises too:
On the environment, the platform pledges Democrats will "restore American leadership on global issues such as climate change." It does not mention the Kyoto treaty rejected by Bush.The ecoweenies will be all atwitter!
Kerry has talked in favor of a global "climate change strategy," avoiding an explicit endorsement of the Kyoto deal as negotiated.
But they couldn't resist some new foolishness:
It drops any reference to support for the death penalty — a feature of the past two Democratic platforms when Clinton and Al Gore moved the party toward the center on crime. Kerry opposes capital punishment except for terrorists."Victims should be heard" - that's really swell.
Support for a constitutional amendment on the rights of crime victims is gone, replaced by vague language saying victims should be heard and compensated for their suffering.
This article doesn't mention it directly, but others note that the platform is calling for 40,000 more active troops and better equipment for the military. Not a bad idea, but all this whining from the usual suspects about their newfound support for the military has brought back an updated version of an item that was hot around election time in 2000:
Guess What Country This Is?Hey, Bubba had to pay for all those swell programs and services somehow! It's funny though - I can't remember any of them.
Can you name this country?
709,000 REGULAR (ACTIVE DUTY) PERSONNEL.
293,000 RESERVE TROOPS.
EIGHT STANDING ARMY DIVISIONS.
20 AIR FORCE AND NAVY AIR WINGS WITH 2,000 COMBAT AIRCRAFT.
232 STRATEGIC BOMBERS.
19 STRATEGIC BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINES WITH 3,114 NUCLEAR WARHEADS ON 232 MISSILES.
500 ICBMs WITH 1,950 WARHEADS.
FOUR AIRCRAFT CARRIERS AND 121 SURFACE COMBAT SHIPS AND SUBMARINES PLUS ALL THE SUPPORT BASES, SHIPYARDS,AND LOGISTICAL ASSETS NEEDED TO SUSTAIN SUCH A NAVAL FORCE.
IS THIS COUNTRY:
RUSSIA? NO
CHINA? NO
GREAT BRITAIN? NO
FRANCE? WRONG AGAIN
MUST BE USA? STILL WRONG
GIVE UP?
THESE ARE THE AMERICAN MILITARY FORCES THAT WERE ELIMINATED DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF BILL CLINTON AND AL GORE.
