Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal: A Weblog

Never admit a mistake - it makes you human.

I think we should beat the "Dred Scott" answer into the ground. Bush will appoint the kind of judges who would overturn the Dred Scott decision! If that wasn't the most bizarro answer ever in a presidential debate, I'd like to see what beats it.

This guy truly is not just the worst, but far and away the most dangerous president in history.

He truly believes he's infallible.

He thinks he's a god.

He's got a psycho right wing congress with him.

We're so fucked.

Over on Kos one of the commentors noted that Bush refused to shake the hand of the woman who asked him the 3 mistakes question.

Bush can't use the excuse that he was unprepared for the question, like last time -- since he should've been preparing since last time! Apparently, nobody told the president he had mustard on his chin after that gaffe.

But to not even attempt to answer it? What a clown.

Still, it would've been classy for Kerry to use his 2 minutes to prepare three goofs of his own (say, not voting for Gulf War I) especially if he can think of innocuous things. Or, if he could've guessed at which appointments Bush thought were mistakes (Paul O'Neill... who else?).

I agree with Joe. The Dred Scott answer was the most ridiculous thing said all night. Truly a YOMANK moment -- if I had been over my keyboard at the time.

*You Owe Me A New Keyboard, for those just joining us.

Incidentally, if Bush had listed just one mistake, I would've accepted it; three was asking too much.

1. Fucking up Iraq.
2. Fucking up the deficit.
3. Fucking up the pronunciation of "nuclear."

Kerry should have hammered Bush on the last question.

The fact that Bush didn't, couldn't answer it shows a deep character flaw, and is on of the major reasons he should not be president.

What are the two most fundamental things we teach our children? 1) Do not lie; 2) If you make a mistake, first you must admit the mistake before you can begin to correct it.

Obviously Bush cannot tell the truth, and he cannot admit an error in judgement.

This is not a trivial character deficiency for any adult to have. It is a terribly dangerous one for the leader of the most powerful nation on earth.

Kerry should have hammered Bush on the last question.

Bush's inability to answer the last question shows a deep character flaw.

Are not two of the most fundamental things we teach our children, 1) Do not lie; 2) If you make a mistake, the first thing one must do in correcting a mistake is to admit it.

Bush can do neither. That is a very serious character deficiency for any adult to have. For the leader of the most powerful nation on earth, it is an extremely dangerous one.

Actually, Bush did admit to making mistakes. He said he'd appointed people, but he didn't want to embarrass them by naming them in public. Maybe they were judges who wanted to reinstate the Dred Scott decision!

It’s true, Bush took gas on that one, big time. It reminds me of those job interview questions like: “what do you consider your three biggest weaknesses?” One needs to have thought out the answers beforehand to the standard set of trick questions. Dukakis fell into the trap with the question on the death penalty. Unfortunately for him, it became a defining moment.

Scott,

It may well be not that Bush can't tell the truth, but that he's learned that lying is far more beneficial to him given the current state of mind of the American electorate. Why else would Cheney claim to have never met John Edwards prior to their debate knowing that his lie would be exposed on video within an hour? The base eats it up.

There are plenty of Americans who actually enjoy being lied to and whose respect deepens for those who lie to them the most casually. They think showing such utter contempt for those they lie to demonstrates strength and self confidence, the very qualities that they value in a leader. Maybe it has to do with Churchill's quip (which I've surely misquoted), "the truth is so important that it must be protected with a bodyguard of lies." With such a mighty entourage of lies in evidence, the truth must be very important indeed. Or something like that.

I agree that this is a dangerous character deficiency for the leader of the most powerful nation on earth to have. It's a lot more dangerous, though, for the same deficiency to be shared by almost everyone who will vote for him.

Mistake #1: Too slow finding judges who can keep the Dred Scott issue alive
Mistake #2: haven't cornered the "hydrogen generated automobile" market
Mistake #3: Quitting drinking

[Over on Kos one of the commentors noted that Bush refused to shake the hand of the woman who asked him the 3 mistakes question.]

Way to go! That's the kind of pettiness I expected from him. Good on the moderator to present that question last.

[Maybe it has to do with Churchill's quip (which I've surely misquoted), "the truth is so important that it must be protected with a bodyguard of lies." With such a mighty entourage of lies in evidence, the truth must be very important indeed. Or something like that.]

Churchill was speaking of wartime counterintelligence. The "truth" he spoke of was military secrets to be protected from a foreign enemy. Bush's enemy is an informed electorate here.

I thought Kerry's performance was just as good as his first, i.e. awesome given the hand he has been dealt (i.e. an opponenent who his more than happy calling black white and vice versa). Now, I also think he should have hammered Bush for not admitting any mistake.

To Kerry's defence, that was an unpredictable path to take. In a paralell political world, Kerry should have been smart enough (he is) to think up of 3 reasonable mistakes he made in his life, and then argue that a man who doesn't recognize his mistakes is not fit for command. But then again, this this 2004 America, and a majority of Americans are still happy to believe that Saddam was 'behind' the 9-11 attacks (and each of Kerry's admission would have made a headline.)

An easier and less risky path to take, would have been to just say, "Mr President, everyone makes mistakes, every American understands that, I have made mistakes in my life too, and I admitted making one today for that matter, but Americans also know by experience that someone who cannot recognize his or her mistakes is unfit for command, not a true leader, and certainly not someone who can lead his team forward through challenging times."

I also think Bush has overused the flip-flop line at this point. If I were undecided, I'd start to think that this guy neither has any accomplishment of his own to sell me and / or no vision for the future. The RNC aimed at casting Bush as a 'transformational' leader. So much for that.

Bush invented the hydrogen car! Like Gore with the internet.

Did Bush really say "facile" ? (fassel, as he said it) - a real SAT word?

I thought Bush's best answer was the first stem cell answer, the only thing that didn't seem rehearsed, and which actually seemed to be one of the "hard presidential decisions" he always speaks about. The rest of B's performance was almost as embarassing as the first time, and mostly stump speech answers. His inane attempts at comedy mostly fell flat, I thought.

I was scared that a group of 25 of 30 (was it on CNN?) said that this debate did make up their mind - I hope it wasn't for Bush. Since Bush's performance was a little better than last time, and Kerry's similar, I just got that sinking feeling that they all went Bush's way, thinking, well, he's not really as bad as he seemed the first time. But I hope not.

actually, the President obliquely referred to the decisions he thinks were mistakes. they were all decisions to appoint people to positions of authority and responsibility who ultimately demonstrated that their personal loyalty to him had to take a back seat to their duty and obligation to the public service.

Good one s9. Like tjallen I, too, thought that George still showed signs of not being weaned from his hand-picked audience. A life-time of shelter from the real world. Even here, surrounded by a carefully selected group that likely count as among the toughest he's had to face. Of the 2 debates I preferred this format. Of all the remarks made, I enjoyed the one made by Kerry that there were likely only 3 people in the room to be adversely affected by removing the tax on those making $200,000 or more. The moderator's response was delightful.

Maybe he should have used a version of Dick Cheney's line "To answer that question I'll need a lot more than three mistakes..."

"Bush invented the hydrogen car! Like Gore with the internet."

Bush invented the Internets.

OK, CLOSE THE BOOKS, POP QUIZ:

Imagine yourself in Dubya's shoes and try to come up with three mistakes that 1. show some capacity of introspection and self-reflection, and 2. don't make him look dumb. (So "I should've stopped reading The Pet Goat to the first graders and gone down to business protecting America" doesn't qualify.) The only one I can come up with is "I shouldn't have mentioned yellowcake."

Any others?

Well, it was a tough question. One even *I* can't answer off the cuff, and I have certainly spent more time thinking about his mistakes than he seems to have. There are so many gradations and nuances, there is the problem of tracing the 'original' mistakes - do the latter mistakes flow from the former?

Take Iraq, fr'ex. What would classify as his biggest mistake here? Going in? Going in after alienating most of the world? Going in with insufficient troops and no plan for reconstruction? Refusal to consider how the failure to find WMDs would make him look an year down the line? Refusal to face the ground reality, so that he could then move on to a more sensible plan/reaction? Polarising his country over the issue? The strain put on the military? Exposing, in great detail, the weakness of America's military might?

The questioner should have been kinder, and just asked him to name the top 30 blunders which haunt him at night.....

Mistakes? Mistakes? We don' make no steenking mistakes. [But]

1. Letting the dog eat my debate prep notes

2. Not taking my meds before this debate [or taking the wrong ones, you know the third world drugs]

3. Agreeing to 3 debates

Kerry admitting "I made a mistake...", that was all I needed to hear. Because he showed the obvious judgmnent and conscinece that it takes to lead in a complex and moreally ambiguous world. Bush "I can think of some appointments..." Like Paul O'Neil, perhaps?? Who thought he'd be a rat?

1. Choosing Cheney as VP? (makes me look too weak).
2. Letting James Baker run Florida recount (I could have lost gracefully back in 2000).
3. Dissing Poppy about Iraq (answering to family is more trouble than answering to the people).
4. Selling the damn baseball team! (we coulda been a contenda!)

Let's be fair. It's hard to learn from your mistakes when you don't make any and besides Kerry lied. He said "It's never quite as simple as the president wants you to believe." He's lying. Bush in fact is as simple as he wants us to believe.

Hell, everyone makes mistakes. I've made at least three big mistakes in my life, as I often tell my (fourth) wife.

I wish the questioner had asked Bush if there's anything he's done as president that he's prayed for forgiveness for...

I wish the questioner had asked Bush if there's anything he's done as president that he's prayed for forgiveness for...

"Dred Scott" was a reference to Roe vs. Wade. He was saying that he would appont judges who would overturn Roe vs Wade.

I'm so damn glad. It's about time. :)

I think you're right about Dred Scott. Many in the pro-life movement equate it with Roe v. Wade. For example, you can find the following excerpt on the Operation Rescue website at http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/walk/live/pressReleases.html:

A broken set of the Ten Commandments, a baby killed by abortion, a white horse (Judgment) and donkey (Mercy), will bring God’s message to St. Louis.

Rev. Flip Benham, Director of Operation Rescue / Operation Save America will join Angela and Daniel Michael of Small Victories Ministry at the Historic Old Courthouse, where the infamous Dred Scott case was heard. "The Supreme Court was wrong in the Dred Scott Case that declared our black brothers and sisters non-human and in Roe v. Wade that declared innocent little boys and girls non-human. Judgment and Mercy are calling America to repent." Rev. Flip Benham, National Director, OR/OSA

As the excerpt says, the Dred Scott case was heard in St. Louis, the same place where Bush made his remark.

Three Bush mistakes:

He's ignorant.

He' arrogant.

He's stubborn.

The fourth mistake will be by the American people if they re-elect this ignorant buffoon.