One crucial point lacking from any published overview of last night's debate in any paper I've seen was Kerry's mention of the use of fear to gain and maintain support for the current administration. Bush's approach to protecting the country involves scaring the beejeezus out of its citizens.
Keep repeating the words "war on terror" and the ever-ominous "enemy," and you've got people who are already uncertain about the state of today's world shaking in their boots. After 9/11, Bush made it clear that we as a country are currently threatened and vulnerable (though "we will prevail"), and that we should feel entitled to be the threatening country rather than the threatened. (But if we are going to criticize the undemocratic eye-for-an-eye policy that has prevailed in Arab countries, we should take a good look at our own moral dilemma of preventing terrorism in our homeland by becoming terrorists in other countries.)
Rather than promoting a foreboding sense of "do what I say or the terrorists will gitcha!," Kerry plans to use truth and dialogue to work out problems both abroad and at home. In a representative democracy, this is what should define a president.
Abigail Al-Doory
G '05
