Ramblings of a Desiccated Mind

I'm watching Dubya on C-SPAN's re-run of his town hall debate with Al Gore. Gore is great. Statesman-like, calm, intelligent. The surprising thing is this ... so is Dubya! Where was this man the other night?

One thing that struck me though, here's his stance on deployment:

"It must be in the national interests, it must in our vital interests whether we ever send troops. The mission must be clear, soldiers must understand ... why we're going. The force must be strong enough so that the mission can be accomplished, and the exit strategy needs to be well-defined. I'm concerned that we're over-deployed around the world. See, I think the mission has ... somewhat become fuzzy. Should I be fortunate enough to earn your confidence, the mission of the United States military will be to be prepared and ready to fight and win war, and therefore prevent war from happening in the first place. There may be some moments where we use our troops as peace-keepers, but not often. The Vice-President mentioned my view of the long-term for the military. I want to make sure the equipment for our military is the best it can possibly be, of course. But we have an opportunity ... we have an opportunity to use our research and development capacities, the great technology of the United States, to make our military lighter, harder to find, more lethal. We have an opportunity, really if you think about it, if we're smart and have got a strategic vision, and a leader who understands strategic planning, to make sure that we change the terms of the battlefield of the future so that we can keep the peace -- this is a peaceful nation, and I intend to keep the peace. Spending money is one thing, but spending money without a strategic plan can oftentimes be wasted. First thing I'm going to do is ask the Secretary of Defense, "let's develop a plan, so we can make sure we're not spending our money on political projects, but on projects to make sure our soldiers are well-paid, well housed, and have the best equipment in the world.'"

- George W. Bush, in the year 2000

Aside from that his "question" at the end is actually a statement, how about some accountability? Say what you want about Clinton, but, by and large, he kept his campaign promises. In reading/listening to the above, our current president has shamelessly squandered not some of his campaign promises, but all of them. Time for you to go, George, you didn't keep your end of the bargain.