July 14, 2004
FEATHERCUT FEATHERWEIGHT:
Edwards Just Ran With the Pack on Iraq (Jacob Heilbrunn, July 14, 2004, LA Times)
The real problem is not lack of experience; it's that the experience he does have is marked by intellectual slovenliness and opportunism.Edwards, elected to the Senate five years ago, has been on the Senate Intelligence Committee since 2001. But what has he made of it? When PBS' Margaret Warner asked Edwards on May 16, 2002, whether the committee had been briefed before Sept. 11 on possible hijackings and on Osama bin Laden's role, Edwards responded: "We're just responsible for sort of broad oversight." Warner pressed harder: "So you don't really remember?" [Edwards?] replied: "I don't remember the specifics of what we were told about this."
That may sound banal but, in fact, it's astonishing. Not only was Edwards unaware, half a year after the worst terrorist attack in our nation's history, what he'd been told on the subject, but he apparently didn't even believe it was his job to look into it.
No matter how much hair you have it can't give you gravitas. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 14, 2004 9:18 AM
If only he had deferred the question until Dick Cheney arrived and they could answer it together.
Posted by: Chris Durnell at July 14, 2004 11:30 AMRemember, Edwards isn't there to be smart. He's just there to look good. Kerry has too much ego anyway to listen to t he counsel of any vice-president, let alone a first-term senator with little gravitas to speak of. So if he happens to get elected, look for his VP to be assigned to some non-meaningful task, like standing in front of new car models at the Detroit Auto Show while wearing a one piece bathing suit and smiling at the crowd...
Posted by: John at July 14, 2004 2:52 PM