One thing I think Kerry could do better, but don't know exactly how...

[AP]

...he could do it, is this:

He spent time last night saying that Bush is BS'ing about reimportation of drugs from Canada, and he BS'ed about wanting an international coalition in Iraq.

He lays out the facts well. But he doesn't make an overarching argument about why Bush would do those things. That makes these things just seem like disparate facts -- mistakes that Bush has made -- explained by laziness or incompetence.

There's a better, more accurate frame. There's a logic for why Bush wants chaos in Iraq and expensive drugs at home and a tax code which pounds the middle class and helps high income earners. It's no accident. And it's not just becuase Bush is stupid and lazy.

The frame is that all these things help wealth accumulate in the hands of the people the Republicans really represent: drug company insiders, oil company insiders, insurance company insiders...

I think that leaving the implied frame as Bush's incompetence doesn't really help people insert new facts into a paradigm for understanding Bush's actions, and what he'll do next. If he's just incompetent, people feel, "well, maybe somebody good around him, like Cheney, will do the right thing." Or they'll think, "eventually, he'll get something right." And they never impute evilness on him. They think, at his core, he's just a good-hearted incompetent.

Well, Bush is never going to get it right becuase his motivation IS the transfer of money away from the working and middle class and to the super rich. He's been very consistent in having even his "fuck ups" lead to those ends. And that's not just stupid, it's evil, and it's bad for Americans and its very bad for the American economy and for global competitiveness and for national security.

[Goldmund]

1. Great points

And in general, whenever Bush's actions seem "incompetent", we're well advised to look for an agenda -- "incompetence" is a smoke screen. These guys are neither stupid nor incompetent. I believe that one of the main reasons the Neocons put a monkey on top of their ticket is exactly this -- to serve as a smokescreen of "incompetence" and hide their real agenda.