Edwards' Peculiar Brand of Patriotism
June 05 | 2007
Though he never answered the question directly, Edwards said -- unconvincingly -- he would use every means available to "find terrorists where they are" and "stop them." But he is sticking by his position that the "war on terror" has just been a bumper sticker and political slogan used by President Bush to justify every nefarious act he has committed, from "the ongoing war in Iraq, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, spying on Americans, torture. "
How can we possibly believe Edwards would do everything in his power to hunt down terrorists, since we know many of them are in Iraq and he is proudly advocating abandoning our mission there? Oh, yes, that's right, it's just a civil war, forgive me. Talk about a bumper sticker slogan.
More offensively, Edwards' answer suggests that Bush was behind any and all bad things that might have happened at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib. It implies he truly does spy on innocent American citizens and directs that our prisoners be tortured. And why not? These charges fire up the kook base, just like Edwards' channeling of an unborn baby girl apparently fired up the jury in one of his legendary personal injury cases in 1985.
For his last time at bat, Blitzer asked Edwards (and the others) what his top priority would be in his first 100 days in office.
Edwards answered, "To travel the world, reestablish America's moral authority in the world, which I think is absolutely crucial. The other things become less important and subservient." Later he added, "To lead in taking action that demonstrates that America is strong, but that America is also moral and just, and we're going to help other people in the world and we're going to demonstrate our commitment to humanity."