Why Soros supports Kerry

George Soros spoke at the National Press Club today, or at least, the prepared text of his speech is up on the web. In that speech he gives a passionate summation of “why we must not re-elect Bush.” I do not agree with him that we elected Bush in the first place, but setting aside that issue, Soros is compelling. Among other things, he notes why the language of “flip-flopping”, if it’s going to be used in this election, needs to be pinned to Bush, not Kerry:

"The number of flipflops and missteps committed by the Bush administration in Iraq far exceeds anything John Kerry can be accused of. First we dissolved the Iraqi army, then we tried to reconstitute it. First we tried to eliminate the Baathists, then we turned to them for help. First we installed General Jay Garner to run the country, then we gave it to Paul Bremer and when the insurgency became intractable, we installed an Iraqi government. The man we chose was a protégé of the CIA with the reputation of a strong man - a far cry from democracy. First we attacked Falluja over the objections of the Marine commander on the ground, then pulled them out when the assault was half-way through, again over his objections. "Once you commit, you got to stay committed," he said publicly. More recently, we started bombing Falluja again."

I think people are beginning to wake up to the enormity of this election, and to the underlying issues involved -- regardless of the media hype. Essays like Soros' can only help in that discernment.