Friday, August 20, 2004

Who handles pressure better?

The Democrats criticize the President for sitting in a class full of children for 7 minutes before leaving the FL school on 9/11.

The Democratic nominee has still not dealt with the charges made by the Swift Boat Vets directly by forthrightly answering their charges directly, point by point, including copies of his diaries and medical records, and calling for the Navy to release all contemporaneous orders, after action reports, river conditions (the winter months in Vietnam are the dry season during which the canals and rivers are at their lowest) and the corresponding orders to the Swift Boat crews on how to operate their boats on rivers that are narrower--and shallower--than may be safe to take a 35 foot boat with a 4 foot draft into enemy territory. He should call on the CIA, the Navy (on behalf of the SEALS) and the Army (on behalf of the Green Berets) to declassify any missions to Cambodia that were supported by Swift Boats during his time in service.

He should also call for the release of his attendance records in the Senate Intelligence Committee for both public and private sessions, and deal with those charges directly. He should have a news conference as the President did on his National Guard record after releasing all this material to the press for review.

Until he does so, the charges leveled by his critics will continue to have traction. The Carville-Lanny Davis tactic of attacking his critics rather than responding to their charges will not work in my opinion.

Just as I believe that the American people may not like George Bush in some cases, the one clear impression that they have at this point is that the President has responded to some of the most intense scrutiny ever by the press, pro-opposition forces not formally associated with a particular party (Soros, MoveOn.org, Michael Moore, Hollywood celebs, etc.) and that he has released, under pressure from these forces in some cases, more material that Kerry. The thoughtful voters among them should compare that standard to the standard Kerry is held to, and expect it from the press if the press is to remain credible. Even if voters have no idea how to analyze and compare the qualifications of applicants for the job of a CEO of a company, they should realize that they owe it to themselves to apply the same level of scrutiny to both applicants to determine the best qualified candidate. “Buyers remorse” after a Presidential election is difficult to handle for what will be a four year period full of challenges from Al Qaeda, Iran, North Korea, China and our allies in name only, France and Germany, to name two, not to mention the economy, immigration, health care, the morality issues (abortion, gay marriage, etc.), and a host of other issues we don't know will exist yet.

I ask again, who handles pressure better, a President who has been tested in almost every conceivable way, or the aspirant to the office who cannot address questions raised by critics head on, despite his promise to "turn his boat" towards his attackers.