The Debate--Bush Evades Questions

[waltonme]

It think both candidates did well at the debate Wed, with no clear cut winner. BBC agrees, and gives a fairly accurate (unbiased) summary http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3741606.stm. Kerry criticized Bush’s record in domestic policy, and Bush criticized

Comments

NAACP

[csa945]

It is quite reasonable that President Bush did not meet with the NAACP.
Even though he is the first president to reject an invitation from them, he is the first president to be compared to the Taliban by their leader, Julian Bonds. The reason that he does not and really cannot talk about affirmative action is what I view as a positive aspect of the Republican Party -- to paraphrase Arnold Schwarzenegger, while Democrats view everyone as a member of a special interest group, Republicans view people as individuals. They don't go out of their way to make racist legislation, giving minorities preferential treatment -- which, in fact, leads to making them a permanent underclass (look up "Working on Uncle Sam's Plantation on your favorite online bookstore), but instead make legislation that helps everyone. By the way, it is my opinion that poor white people deserve help just as much as poor black people do.

Re: NAACP

[waltonme]

I didn't mean to criticize Bush for what he has or hasn't done for affirmative action; it just irritated me that when asked about it only devoted 3 sentences to the topic and launched into his talk of education. If he had offered an explanation like yours I wouldn't be complaining: "I view each person as an individual, and as such, I don't go out of my way to give preferential treatment to any one person. That kind of behavior creates a permanent underclass detrimental to our society. We need legislation that helps everyone, from poor black families to poor white folks in the south. And to do this, I'm targeting poverty and education, as it is an underprivileged background that prevents success . . ." Maybe he felt this explanation would be misinterpreted or misunderstood, but I think it was worse to completely avoid a response.