No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

 
The final stage of the Presidential election is becoming clear.

The economy is weak, with no prospect for improvement soon. Even if employment turns upward this Fall it will be too late to effect the election. Everyone now recognizes that the private employer-based health insurance system is collapsing. The only question is how to pay to replace it.

US soldiers are still being killed in Iraq and at the current rate the 1,000th US combat death in Iraq will occur sometime in September or October. The Army and Marines are severely over worked, and the Reserve structure has been effectively destroyed. Afghanistan is a mess outside Kabul. The federal deficit just reached a new record; promising further damage to the US economy soon, as the value of the dollar drops, gas prices increase, leading to inflation, and higher interest rates.

In the meantime, Kerry and Edwards have effectively positioned themselves as hawkish on military matters and as concerned about the middle class and working people damaged in this economy.

Bush has very little going for him as the election looms. Even if the administration can make a case that they did the right things, they have done them ineffectively in political terms. The Bush administrations' lack of competence has been nothing short of amazing.

The only weapons the Bush administration have remaining to win the election are to make bland promises Bush is unlikely to carry out (like the mission to Mars a while back), to denigrate Kerry and the Democrats and to make Americans more afraid of the future. The first two items are being practiced quite openly.

It is no surprise that the administration has recently begun issuing a series of terrorist warnings that have no specific or current basis. The purpose of the warnings is to build general public fear.

The false promises, angry rhetoric and fear-mongering won’t work. Bush has lost this election.

posted by Richard at 2:14 PM