I realize that I have probably been too harsh on George W with the pictures
an articles in my previous posts, but I felt the need to lay out some info
before my opinion is registered here. I don't blame him for the 7 minutes,
the National Guard Service or whatever, and I don't think he's evil. I
think he's a strong leader who is willing to make tough decisions and stand
by them.
I came of age in the 80's, a fan of Reagan, despite my dual allegiance to
Bono. I admire W's father and I was surprised that Big George lost to
Clinton in '92. I voted for Perot in that election, and I maintain, like
Ralph Nader and thousands of other people of sound mind, that the two-party
system we have is partly at fault for all of our government's failures. Not
to say that the people in government are bad, I do not think that is the
case, it is the system that has failed us.
At first, I did not understand George W's desire to rush to war with Iraq,
and now in retrospect, I still don't understand it. But there was a
"meantime" when I believed that Bush's plan would play out and maybe it
would be worth the cost in lives and dollars. I was optimistic that our
reasons for going to war were legitimate, and once the war was inevitable, I
looked for the hope in the situation. I looked to politicians I admire,
like Colin Powell, John Edwards, John McCain, John Kerry and I felt the
imminent danger of the weapons they and everyone else "knew" Iraq had. I
looked to Tom Friedman, who I respect a great deal on MidEast issues, and
like him I was hoping that it would be possible to transform Iraq into a
model for the rest of the Arab world. I hoped we would march in and find
the WMDs all over the place (with French & Russian fingerprints). I hoped
that informants would help us track down terrorists who were working with
Saddam. I hoped we could uncover all the dirt and show the world we were
right! I don't like being fooled, and I feel we were at the minimum misled.
Ah, but war is never an easy thing, and that is why great caution and
deliberation must take place before a "pre-emptive" war is launched. Even
if this war had been justified, certainly Congress should have had to
declare war. I mean, this was offensive.... This is a clear violation of
the Constitution. Not George W's fault, but he took advantage of Congress
with his open-ended war on terror resolution.
Getting around declaring war is even worse than George W's first assault on
the Constitution in the election of 2000. While not his fault (blame
usually goes to his handlers), it is outrageous that the Supreme Court
decided the election....in a 5-4 decision no less! The Constitution clearly
spells out the process if no candidates get enough electoral votes, which is
what I believe should have happened. Florida's votes should have been
discarded and Congress should have elected the President. George W would
probably still be president.....it just shows that Congress has given away
too many of its powers, in this case to the Supreme Court, in the "war"
case, to the president.
I think the Iraq War is Bush's War. I don't think anyone in the world would
deny that to be true. I am sure he staked his presidency on the war when he
launched it, and he would have gladly said so. Maybe he did? Now that we
know a) no WMD b) no new terror link info and c) no dancing in the
streets....now that we know the reasons given for going to war were false,
we are bound as patriots to hold George W accountable. It's simple
geometry, really.
I will be voting for John Kerry without hesitation. Did Florida change me?
Hell no, and I will vote for third-party candidates again.
I just think it is too important to hold this president accountable for his
war....important for our world image, our Constitution, our national debt
and our civil liberties.
Can't we go back and nominate McCain for 2000? Ah, you right wing nuts!
He'd a made a great one.
I miss Reagan, and it angers me that some Republicans see W as the "new
Reagan". George W ain't no Ronnie, folks. Sure, he's firm, determined and
won't he back down. It's just that he was wrong to push this war, wrong in
the planning for the aftermath, wrong not to listen to the right advisors,
and wrong if he thinks the $400 Billion spent on this war could not have
done much more for our safety had we used it here in America for things like
border security, Immigration Services, CIA agents to infiltrate al-Quaida,
fixing the electrical grid, etc.
This is the time for all good me to come to the aid of their COUNTRY, and
vote. It's time for regime change here at home.