Flip Flops

The charge is often more important than the proof. In 2000 Al Gore was a serial liar who didn't know who he was. That of course wasn't exactly a fair representation of Al Gore but it stuck long enough to let President Bush nearly win.

This time around it's the Flip-Flop Mantra. Future President Kerry is a flip-flopper. We can't trust him with our kids futures because he constantly changes his mind. Of course President Bush's supporters are having a hard time coming up with actually flip flops to trumpet so they are often reduced to a little bit of Make Believe. Take the following example, pointed out by E. J. Dionne, Jr.

When John Kerry said he still would have voted to give the president the authority to wage war in Iraq, the Bushies accused Kerry of being a flip-flopper.

How can sticking with a past vote make you a flip-flopper? Well, Kerry -- like many Americans -- is now critical of how Bush waged this war and how he failed to plan for its aftermath. The Bushies seem to be saying that Kerry should have known better than to give Bush the benefit of the doubt.

President Bush and Senator Kerry will debate three times before we vote. I hope that Kerry has the sense to ask some tough questions about President Bush's own flip flops. How he opposed the creation of the Department of Homeland Security then supported it. Or how he opposed the formation of an independent 9/11 commission and then supported it. And so on and so forth.

Of course I also think it would be nice of Kerry to put President Bush on the spot regarding some of the statements his allies in the Conservative Media make. But I know that's a pipe dream.