AnalPhilosopher

I just watched the 90-minute debate between President Bush and John Kerry. I have watched none of the commentary—yet. Here, for what they're worth, are my reflections:

1. President Bush acquitted himself well. He was calm, cool, and collected. He was stern when he needed to be, but without coming across as mean or bitter. Nobody can have any doubt about where he stands on the war against radical Islam. This is a virtue—not, as liberals would have it, a vice.

2. I still don't understand John Kerry's position on the war in Iraq. I'm a philosopher, so I'm quite capable of grasping nuanced positions. Philosophy is nuance. For the life of me, I don't know what his principles are or how he would implement them. This is disturbing. Is it because he has principles but can't articulate them? Or does he lack principles? I suspect it's the latter.

3. Jim Lehrer was as unbiased as a human being could be. He did not interject himself into the debate or draw attention to himself. His questions were tough but fair. He was respectful, even gentle. I salute him. I wish there were more journalists like him. Remember Keith's Law: Authoritativeness is inversely proportional to partisanship. Jim Lehrer is authoritative and respected because he is nonpartisan. Dan Rather is nonauthoritative and disrespected because he is partisan.

4. The best line of the debate was by President Bush, when he said that the only thing John Kerry has been consistent about is being inconsistent (or something to that effect). There were no real zingers in this debate, as there have been in previous presidential debates.

5. I predicted that John Kerry would come across as a scold and a schoolmarm. I was right. He was also smug. This will endear him to the liberal elites, whose self-righteousness and dogmatism escape their notice, but alienate him from ordinary Americans. A Kerry administration would be painful on the ears. I find it hard to listen to him.

6. John Kerry appears to me to be morally damaged from his experiences during and after Vietnam. I didn't know him before Vietnam, obviously, but I suspect he had a moral center before the war. Most people do. Now, many years later, he's morally scattered. He's what postmodern theorists call a discursive person—a person without an essence, a person constituted by discourse. John Kerry would be our first postmodern president. Maybe that's why the French like him so much.

7. President Bush won reelection tonight. Game over.