Why i Can't Watch The Debates

i watched the democrats debate each other for three minutes and i had to turn it off. Never mind the lies and demagoguery, they offended me by their ignorance of history.

On the eve of Presidents Day, John Edwards said that three of our great wartime presidents had no military experience: Woodrow Wilson, FDR and Abraham Lincoln. Wrong. Abraham Lincoln was a captain in the Illinois militia during the Blackhawk War of 1832. He volunteered and served 90 days, which may seem short, but the war only lasted four months.

John Kerry, who's whole candidacy revolves around his military experience, said that Vietnam was our nation's longest war. Wrong. Vietnam was 1961 to 1975, fourteen years. Some historians date The Plains Indian Wars from the 1854 Grattan Massacre to Sitting Bull's surrender in 1881. That's twenty-seven years. Other historians might even extend it nine more years to 1890 and the Battle of Wounded Knee.

Other things bothered me too. i loved how Kerry said: "There's only one thing wrong with the Patriot Act. Two words: John Ashcroft." Well, i wonder how Mr. Kerry can explain why he voted for it then, since John Ashcroft was Attorney General at the time.

Then there's the tired old line about how the prescription drug benefit is only a way to give tax money to the drug companies and the HMOs. Somebody please explain to me how else that program is supposed to work. Instead of the money coming from the elderly, now it comes from the government. Somebody has to pay for the drugs. Did they expect the pharmaceutical companies to give the stuff away for free?

Update: Another excellent point at Blather Review.