Thursday, October 21, 2004

I think God must have been in a particularly mischievous mood today, when She worked it out so that, in the same 24-hour period, Pat Robertson would claim that George W. Bush told him there would be no casualties in Iraq; and Theresa Heinz Kerry would make her sly apology to Laura Bush. There is a delicious symmetry between the two statements. Robertson supports Bush and claims Bush told him something that, if he really did, makes Bush look like an idiot. Then Robertson rhapsodizes about how God's blessing is on Bush, even though Bush "stumbles and messes up," and has "had his share of stumbles and gaffes." Theresa Heinz Kerry tells USA Today that she is sorry for saying she is not sure that Laura Bush ever held a "real job," because she realized after she said it that Laura Bush actually had worked as a teacher and a librarian--almost 30 years ago. Of course, the difference is, Pat Robertson is a bumbling fool who doesn't have the first clue that his "compliment" has just placed a knife in Bush's back; and Theresa Heinz Kerry is a damn smart, shrewd woman who knew exactly what her statement implied. But even THAT is symmetrical. Because, as Karen Hughes (one of Bush's campaign advisers) basically said about the apology, With apologies like that, who needs an apology? And I can hear her saying pretty much the same thing about Pat Robertson. With friends like that, her candidate doesn't need enemies.

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