One-dimensional character with a silly catchphrase

One of the blogs I read, Talking Points Memo, had a request of its readers:

Kerry needs a catch phrase or catch question about the Iraq war, one that provides offense against President Bush's oft-stated, extremely lame, but also somewhat effective line that the world is safer with Saddam Hussein out of power.

Here's my submission:

"Are you safer today than you were four years ago?

Consider these questions:



1)Are we are safer with a North Korea building nukes

and threatening our interests in Asia and possibly the

entire Pacific?



2)Are we safer with Iran building nukes, threatening

Israel, the world oil supply and our struggling effort

to build democracy in Iraq?



3)Are we safer with Osama on the loose and still

plotting attacks against America and carrying them out

against the rest of the world.



4) Are we safer with health care and prescription drug

costs sky-rocketing to the point that you or your

family and friends must choose between suffering the

ravages of illness because you can't afford treatment

and suffering the ravages of financial disaster

because you can't get insurance?



5) Are we safer with an economy that is languishing,

leaving millions out of productive work and with no

sense of long-term financial security or hope?



6) Are we safer with an education system so

underfunded that it impedes our children's access to

the knowledge and skills necessary to be competive in

the future - thus risking their future economic

security?



7) Are we safer with an administration that has

politicized the terror warning system so much that

when an Orange Alert is announced, it is a more

accurate predictor of a scandal in the Bush

Administration than a threat of a terror attack?



8) Are we safer with the vast majority of countries on

this planet skeptical of our intentions and unwilling

to work with us on the many problems facing our world?

Are we safer with vast populations of people in the

world seeing America as a tyrannical power rather than

a beacon of hope?



9) Are we safer with an envrionment at greater risk to

permanent damage from pollution than it has been in

decades? Is our environment safer today now that it is

being "protected" by the biggest polluters? Is our

water cleaner than it was four years ago? Our air?



And finally,



10) Are we safer with a President of the United States

who has proven over and over again that he will

mislead, cover up, and althogether avoid any

responsibility for the conduct of himself and his

surrogates?



Yes, Saddam is in custody, but do you feel safer now

than you did four years ago? When's the last time you

really felt safe?"