Kerry comes out swinging

I was worried when Edwards seemed reticent about criticizing Bush and Cheney over the Iraq War.  Kerry obviously wasn't so reticent.

It's a variation on the conventional wisdom (pun not intended but unavoidable) to have the presidential candidate be more aggressive on the attack than the vice president.  But in the context, it worked well.  Kerry offered a contrast to the president who won't take responsibility for appalling failures in intelligence and false claims used to justify going to war:

Now, I know there that are those who criticize me for seeing complexities -- and I do -- because some issues just aren't all that simple. Saying there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq doesn't make it so. Saying we can fight a war on the cheap doesn't make it so. And proclaiming "Mission accomplished" certainly doesn't make it so.

As president, I will ask the hard questions and demand hard evidence. I will immediately reform the intelligence system, so policy is guided by facts and facts are never distorted by politics.

And then he proceeded to invoke the historic American attitude toward war  in stating something that is obvious to everyone but neoconservative intellectuals and those on heavy doses of Oxycontin:

And as president, I will bring back this nation's time-honored tradition: The United States of America never goes to war because we want to; we only go to war because we have to. That is the standard of our nation.

This is also the centuries-old Christian idea of the Just War as well as international law, though today's Republicans don't seem to care about either.

And, like in the days when he was a highly-visible protester against the Vietnam War, Kerry used his own wartime experience, which the convention highlighted effectively, to great effect in criticizing the Bush-Cheney war policies in Iraq:

I know what kids go through when they're carrying an M-16 in a dangerous place, and they can't tell friend from foe. I know what they go through when they're out on patrol at night and they don't know what's coming around the next bend. I know what it's like to write letters home telling your family that everything's all right, when you're not sure that that's true.

As president, I will wage this war with the lessons I learned in war. Before you go to battle, you have to be able to look a parent in the eye and truthfully say, "I tried everything possible to avoid sending your son or daughter into harm's way, but we had no choice... we had to protect the American people, fundamental American values against a threat that was real and imminent."

And Kerry also addressed a subject that's very much on the minds of soldiers and their families today:

And I will build a stronger military. We will add 40,000 active duty troops, not in Iraq, but to strengthen American forces that are now overstretched, overextended and under pressure. 

We will double our Special Forces to conduct terrorist operations, anti-terrorist operations, and we will provide our troops with the newest weapons and technology to save their lives and win the battle. And we will end the backdoor draft of the National Guard and reservists.

It was a new wrinkle for me - and a hopeful sign - that Kerry specifically said that he does not intend to add the 40 thousand troops to the American forces in Iraq.  The idea seems to be that he would seek more international participation and the rapid development of indiginous Iraqi forces, recognizing that an escalating American role will not win the guerrilla war.

And for us die-hard Jacksonians, it was great to see Kerry defend patriotism as part and parcel of democracy, not a partisan slogan for war-loving Republicans:

And tonight, we have an important message for those who question the patriotism of Americans who offer a better direction for our country. Before wrapping themselves in the flag and shutting their eyes to the truth and their ears, they should remember what America is really all about. They should remember the great idea of freedom for which so many have given their lives. Our purpose now is to reclaim our democracy itself.

We are here to affirm that when Americans stand up and speak their minds and say America can do better, that is not a challenge to patriotism; it is the heart and soul of patriotism.

You see that flag up there. We call her Old Glory, the stars and stripes forever. I fought under that flag, as did so many of those people who were here tonight and all across the country. That flag flew from the gun turret right behind my head and it was shot through and through and tattered, but it never ceased to wave in the wind. It draped the caskets of men that I served with and friends I grew up with. 

For us, that flag is the most powerful symbol of who we are and what we believe in: our strength, our diversity, our love of country, all that makes America both great and good.

Kerry emphasized practical and necessary measures like better port security to address the key vulnerabilities to terrorism.  This is an urgent need, and on of the reasons why this unnecessary war of choice in Iraq has been so damaging to the country's efforts to combat anti-American terrorism.

And he also challenged Bush's arrogant assumption that God gives him and his war-profiteering cronies their marching orders:

And let me say it plainly: In that cause, and in this campaign, we welcome people of faith. America is not us and them.

I think of what Ron Reagan said of his father a few weeks ago, and I want to say this to you tonight: I don't wear my religion on my sleeve, but faith has given me values and hope to live by, from Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday.

I don't want to claim that God is on our side.

As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side.

And whatever our faith -- whatever our faith, one belief should bind us all: The measure of our character is our willingness to give of ourselves for others and for our country.

These aren't Democratic values. These aren't Republican values. They're American values. We believe in them. They're who we are. And if we honor them, if we believe in ourselves, we can build an America that is stronger at home and respected in the world.

Kerry is off to a strong start.  The Republican slime machine has already been after him with $100 million or so of commercials, plus the same array of rightwing propaganda outlets that stayed after Clinton from months before he actually became president and still hasn't entirely stopped.  Drudge, Scaife, Murdoch, Fox News, Oxycontin radio, the whole crew of familiar suspects, plus new variations like the Swift Boat Liars for Bush, will be on the job the rest of the year and for as long as Kerry is president.  As long as any Democrat is daring to challenge the dominance of the Halliburton Republicans.

Good luck, Kerry!

We really need a change of direction and I hope he can give it to us.