Post from Thursday night, re: global test

[troublemaker]

The post below was posted here shortly after the debate Thursday night and emailed to a lot of progressive blogs. It was just my opinion and it is still just my opinion, but given subsequent developments it may be worth re-posting here. (It's way too late to frame this properly out of the gate, but hope springs eternal)

This wasn't complicated Thursday and it hasn't gotten any more complicated since. I am amazed that even some Democrats (like Chris fucking DODD) are being drawn into an imaginary policy debate over a non-existent policy. Hey, Senator Dodd, the Kerry campaign was correct to label this Republican tack a LIE, so follow the god damned campaign! (Disloyal and wrong is no way to go through life...)

original post__________________________

There will be a Republican "global test" ad on TV by tomorrow and everyone should know the following:

The question was about pre-emptive military action. Kerry said he was for it. That is NOT controversial. (The Iraq war was "preventive") A pre-emptive war is when you strike forces poised to actually attack you. Pre-emption is settled US policy and settled policy in every nation now and throughout history. Pre-emption in self defense is a unilateral right of all nations.

Kerry said he would not hesitate to use pre-emptive force and went on to say he would use it with caution and wisdom. In his comments he fumbled around for a synonym for "all-encompassing and multi-disciplinary... taking in all factors" and came up with a perfectly good word for that concept, which is "global." Unfortunately that word is wide open to Republican cut-and-paste advertising and they WILL use it out of context. Their selective interpretation of Kerry's comments must be quashed before it gains traction.

Global means comprehensive
Just set that aside in a mental corner for later use. It will be useful.

Please do not get drawn into mud-wrestling in Karl Roves personal mud puddle. Kerry's comment was not about getting allies for Iraq. It was a response to a future hypothetical about America's right to self-defense. Please don't try to spin it as being about multi-lateralism or the UN because that's RW spin, not what Kerry meant. Kerry knows the difference between pre-emptive and preventive. He was not saying that pre-emption requires any sort of international accord.

glob·al (adj.)
-Having the shape of a globe; spherical.
-Of, relating to, or involving the entire earth; worldwide: global war; global monetary policies.
-Comprehensive; total: “a... global, generalized sense of loss” (Maggie Scarf).
-Computer Science. Of or relating to an entire program, document, or file.

ON EDIT: If this interpretation is wrong and Kerry ever says he meant global=international then I defer to him. But to my knowledge he has not. My point is that when a sentence is open to two interpretations and Republicans chose one of those two there is no reason for our party to accept the Republican interpretation and then set about trying to defend that interpretation. It was outrageous for Dodd (on Wolf Blitzer) to accept Blitzer and Warner's framing of the topic and then fumbling around trying to say what Kerry meant.

[skylarmae]

1. thanks for the reminder. I remember this from the other nite

and I had forgotten.

[troublemaker]

5. It's probably too late now (on this narrow issue)

I should have been a real asshole Thursday and sat up all night vanity-kicking the post. Now everyone seems to have accepted there's something doctrinal that requires explanation.

This is a problem. We love an argument and have a tendency to meet Republicans on bogus battle-fields just because we want a fight -- like a degenerate gambler who will accept any odds because he just wants some action.

There are some questions that simply do not deserve an answer. Talking about this as a doctrinal issue is like arguing about whether or not Kerry "looks French."

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I remember this post

and I agree with it. On Wolfe Blitzer, the GOP guy was trying to spin it, but CNN played the clip. I think by doing that they deflated the whole GOP argument.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Did you just call CNN?

The caller to Howard Dean MADE YOUR POINT, and Howard expanded upon the theme. So the point made here was brought out on national TV! Good work, caller!

[troublemaker]

4. Good news, but sort of poignant news

God bless the caller. It's too bad it has to bubble up from the grass-roots. The campaign should have had a release out right after the debate but they seem to have decided that they would wait and see if the Republicans seized on it. JUST LIKE THE SBVFT.

The Republicans are good at this stuff. If they can use something they WILL use it. I hate the word "proactive" because it isn't a real word, but dammit Lockhart... get proactive!

(I'm not downing the campaign for the heck of it... consider this tough-love. Kerry is my hero for doing so very, very well *despite* some of the help he gets.)