|
|
Add one part satire to two parts sincerity. Sprinkle on a couple of rants. Stir liberally.
RSS feed coming soon!
Daily Blah FAQ
Who are you?
I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
If it's called Daily Blah, how come you don't ... hey, wait, you're writing every day!
See? Told you I'd try harder.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
Praise for Daily Blah:
"It is fun to watch the author's navel-gazing joy." - Sunday Times (UK)
"It's really funny and informative." - Dave Eggers, author
"The Blah is becoming a daily destination for me." - Richard Marsh, Playwright
"I like it, and I don't." - Fiona Hogg, Teacher
"Better than Xanax." - Lessley Andersen, journalist
"Dude, lay off the crack pipe." - Souris Hong-Porretta, gamesmith
Friends, Bloggers, Countrymen ... lend your ears to these people. I come not to bury them, but praise them.
Arik
Bill
Dan
Cole
Emily B
Emily G
Helena
Jee
Jewelz
Kaila
Kathryn
Mac
Robin
Slim
Souris
Mr. West
My TIME articles
All magazine articles (subscription required for older stories)
Online column index
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Blah for... Monday, March 22, 2004
It's Al Qaeda, Stupid
The narrative of national security is beginning to look a lot better for the Democrats, thanks to Republican terrorism expert and well-timed whistleblower Richard Clarke. For three years, the story most Americans have believed is this: we're under attack from shadowy cabals of international terrorists, and not only did Bush knock that threat out of the park, he also had time and energy to invade Iraq -- which may or may not have been involved in 9/11, but who's quibbling when the world is down one dangerous madman? A Bush victory in November is entirely dependent on the majority of voters continuing to believe the truth of this particular plotline.
Now, with Clarke and the 9/11 commission, the opposition narrative seems to be coalescing. Here it is: The neocons have been obsessed with Iraq from the outset, and Bush dropped the ball on Al Qaeda the moment he entered office. He and his team did everything they could to pin 9/11 on Saddam. They entered Afghanistan half-heartedly, refusing to commit ground troops for crucial battles that could have tightened the noose on the truly guilty ones. They invaded Iraq too soon, diverting resources too early from war-torn and Qaeda-infested Afghanistan and pissing off the international community. Instead of mopping up one nest of terrorists, they went and did their damndest to create a whole new generation of them.
If Kerry has any smarts, this is the story he will tell over and over until November. In a nutshell, he'll say, Bush can't be trusted to lead America into battle against Al Qaeda. He made a mess of our 9/11 revenge. He broke the bank and sapped our good credit paying for an irrelevant Iraq adventure. Now, no matter what happens -- October Osama surprise or no -- we are in a more fundamentally dangerous position than before. We made a brand new snake pit to kill our troops in. Thanks for making our job twice as hard, Mr. President. Looks like our initial instincts about you were correct all along: you're a boy in chief executive's clothing. Time to put a grown-up in there.
This is how Kerry should package himself: as a grown-up. A skipper with a steady hand on the tiller. A man without Al Qaeda attention deficit disorder. Someone who won't make a drama out of an international crisis. Someone who knows who the enemy is.
Of course, whether he'll actually do this is a question I'm filing alongside "will he be smart enough to pick Edwards for Veep?". There are a lot of nail-biting weeks between now and November.
|
|
|
|
