Speedkill

From the guy who remembers Poland’s website:

“John Kerry’s characterization of terrorism as a ‘nuisance’ shows that he doesn’t recognize the threats facing this country and does not have the vision and determination needed to defeat terrorism. The fact that his top foreign policy adviser sees the War on Terror as a ‘metaphor’ adds to Kerry’s credibility problem on the most important issue facing our nation.”

- Steve Schmidt, Bush-Cheney ‘04 Spokesman

A nuisance? Really? Reading comprehension is not a skill of these people:

“When I asked Kerry what it would take for Americans to feel safe again, he displayed a much less apocalyptic worldview. ‘We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they’re a nuisance,’ Kerry said. ‘As a former law-enforcement person, I know we’re never going to end prostitution. We’re never going to end illegal gambling. But we’re going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isn’t on the rise. It isn’t threatening people’s lives every day, and fundamentally, it’s something that you continue to fight, but it’s not threatening the fabric of your life.’”

So Kerry wants to reduce terrorism to a “nuisance.” As in, it’s more than a nuisance now. Simple logical conclusion. Honestly, this is bizarre for even the Bush campaign.

The second part of that Schmidt’s quote refers to this:

HOLBROOKE: “‘We’re not in a war on terror, in the literal sense,’ says Richard Holbrooke, the Clinton-era diplomat who could well become Kerry’s secretary of state. ‘The war on terror is like saying ‘the war on poverty.’ It’s just a metaphor.’”

Here’s the last sentence that they cut out: “What we’re really talking about is winning the ideological struggle so that people stop turning themselves into suicide bombers.” That sounds quite reasonable to me. We are in a war of ideologies. If we can’t convince potential terrorists that our ideology is correct, what chance do we have? Can we kill every potential terrorist?

The rest of it is easily as mind bogglingly stupid. Kerry points out a major part of the ‘war on terror’ is law enforcement and intelligence. Oh noes, Kerry is a weak liberal pussy!

So, back to my original thought. Do they actually believe this stuff? Do they really believe Kerry thinks terrorism is a nuisance? Or are they just lying to promote their candidate? Which is scarier?

UPDATE: I beat Spinsanity to it.

Jeff 2004 election cycle