Bush, Kerry, Kennedy - Is There Any Wonder More People Vote For American Idol Than For President?

We are all familiar with George Bush's smirking inability to construct intelligent sentences in English. Sundays talk shows provided with a clear view that the other party is also not littered with geniuses.

John Kerry, as Capt. Ed says, was against leaking before he was for it. He seems to be the master of saying things that sound, if one is not listening carefully, like he is hewing the progressive line, but then also taking the opposite view. Extraordinary!

Then we were treated to the sight of Edward Kennedy fumbling to not answer Tim Russert's questions while delivering his pre-tested talking points. Russert, of course, asked the "tough" questions, but then let Kennedy repeatedly get away with not actually answering them. For example:

MR. RUSSERT: If you were the president, you’d go for sanctions against Iran before the U.N., and if that didn’t work you’d apply them unilaterally?

SEN. KENNEDY: I would to—I’d go to the U.N. first. If we can’t—it does appear that Russia and China will probably exert a veto, I think that we have to go to a bilateral sanctions, and I would certainly think that that’s absolutely necessary, and I think they ought to be working on that at the present time.

MR. RUSSERT: Would you keep the military option on the table?

SEN. KENNEDY: Not the nuclear military option. I think that that is not a constructive or positive discussion. Other military options ought to be kept on the table.

MR. RUSSERT: But you would say publicly, we would not use tactical nuclear weapons?

SEN. KENNEDY: I would not rattle the nuclear saber with regards to Iran. I think that’s counterproductive, it’s dangerous, and we don’t need to have that at the present time, and I think it’s counterproductive. The other military options are clearly—would be left on the table.

MR. RUSSERT: What if the military advisers told you only tactical nuclear weapons could take out those bunkers?

SEN. KENNEDY: Well, the—I cannot think of circumstances today where I, I would think that you’d want to even consider using the tactical nuclear weapons in those, in those circumstances. I think we ought to retain a military option, but I think the nuclear option is a condition which is not what we ought to be thinking about. The idea that the United States is thinking about a first strike capability in, in Iran is not the message that the United States ought to be giving to the Iranians, to that region of the world, to the world. I think it would be very dangerous and very, very counterproductive.