Any war you can start, I can start better

The World Socialist Web Site agrees with me on Kerry's response to Bush's "troop withdrawal" proposal:

Two days after Bush’s speech, Democratic candidate Kerry appeared before the same audience to attack the Republican president’s position—largely from the right.

"The President’s vaguely stated plan does not strengthen our hand in the war against terror," declared Kerry. "And in no way relieves the strain on our overextended military personnel. And this hastily announced plan raises more doubts about our intentions and our commitments than it provides real answers."

Kerry focused his criticism on the planned troop reduction in Korea, asking, "Why are we unilaterally withdrawing 12,000 troops from the Korean peninsula at the very time we are negotiating with North Korea—a country that really has nuclear weapons?...This is clearly the wrong signal to send at the wrong time."

Presumably, Kerry wants to send an even more bellicose signal, escalating the protracted confrontation with the Pyongyang regime, which the Bush administration has been compelled to place on the back burner because of the unfolding catastrophe in Iraq.

Kerry used the speech to tout his own proposals for increased US militarism abroad. His "plans to reshape and rebuild our American military so that it is ready to fight tomorrow’s wars," Kerry told his VFW audience, include adding another 40,000 troops and doubling the size of the US Army Special Forces.

A friend keeps sending me messages as to why Kerry is better than Bush, finding new ways to defend his positions, frequently in near-contradiction to what Kerry himself has said. Here's how I concluded my last response:

Making lemonade out of lemons is fine; but trying to make lemonade out of donkey turds won't work.

If you really want me to vote for Kerry, just stick to the "he's not Bush" line. I'll still think Kerry is a donkey turd, but I agree that Bush is worse than that.