Republicans & Conservatives: Archives

The Question whether you hate Bush enough to vote for Kerry. Whether you think Bush did a good job for the Economy, Security and Global Peace. This Election is a Referendum on BUSH.

I always find it interesting that Bush and Eric Simonson can only make their case by bashing Kerry. Why can’t you make a “Thank You, George Bush” on this site? I have read a LOT of “Thank You, George Bush” Blogs in those heavily screened, only Republicans-Can-Enter Blogs. Post one here where we can ALL talk about it.

Your criticisms of John Kerry is mere speculation. Noone really knows how good a President he is.

George Bush has been President for 4 years. List the things Bush has done. What mistakes has he made?

Aldous.

Posted by: Aldous at October 31, 2004 01:15 AM

Kerry is against the second ammendment. How can we vote for someone who doesn’t believe in our Constitution?

Nice post Eric. Kerry’s tactics are thus: Tell people what they want to hear. They’re obviously working.

Posted by: semper at October 31, 2004 01:19 AM

Aldous:

The Presidency and the accomplishments of

George W. Bush
Boycottliberalism.com- Home

December 2000
Al Gore challenges election results delaying the Bush administration preparation for office for more than 30 days.

January 2001
Clinton staffers vandalize and sabotage the White House leaving behind unusable computers, pornography on the computers and walls, and unusable telephone systems from the cutting of cables and wires.
President Bush proclaims a National Day of Prayer
Executive order by President Bush establishes the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Energy crises hits the western part of the United States- rolling black outs hit California and energy costs soar.

February 2001
President Bush proclaims National Consumer Protection Week
President Bush releases agenda for tax relief
President Bush and President Vicente Fox of Mexico hold joint press conference
President Bush speaks at dedication of Oklahoma City National Memorial
President Bush and Prime Minister Blair hold joint press conference
President Bush address’ Joint Session of Congress

March 2001
President Bush speaks at christening ceremony for the USS Ronald Reagan
President Bush speaks at Chicago Mercantile Exchange
President Bush and meets with President Kim Dae-Jung of South Korea
President Bush meets with National Energy Policy Development Group
President and Mrs. Bush Speak to women business leaders
President Bush welcomes Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel
President Bush speaks at La Sociedad Cubana
President Bush welcomes Catholic Leaders to White House
President Bush proclaims Education and Sharing Day, USA
President Bush speaks to Greek Community Leaders
President Bush speaks to high tech leaders
President Bush speaks to African American leaders
President Bush proclaims National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
President Bush speaks to members of the Baseball Hall of Fame
President Bush signs resolution repealing ergonomics regulation that repeals burdensome and broad regulation dealing with ergonomics.

April 2001
A Chinese fighter jet downs a US spy plan causing an international incident. China held the crew for 11 days, until the Bush Administration negotiated their release without admitting responsibility.
President Bush proclaims National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day.
President Bush congratulates Winners of Horatio Alger Award
President Bush proclaims Jewish Heritage Week
President Bush proclaims National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.
U.S. forces participate in apprehension of indicted war criminal
The Mississippi River experienced severe flooding of historic significance - the river rose to its highest level since 1965 affecting residents in 4 states and causing billions in damages.
President Bush declares several Mississippi counties disaster areas
President Bush speaks at Holocaust Museum
President’s speaks at the Summit of the Americas - Quebec City, Canada
President Bush recognizes national teachers of the year
President Bush proclaims National Day of Prayer

May 2001
President Bush proclaims Law Day
President Bush announces formation of Social Security Commission
President Bush speaks at National Day of Prayer reception
President Bush proclaims Small Business Week
President Bush welcomes Amir of Bahrain to the White House
President Bush declares disaster exists in Illinois
President Bush speaks with math champs
President Bush speaks at 20th annual Peace Officers Memorial Service
President Bush declares disaster exists in Minnesota, Maine and Nebraska
President Bush signs Medal of Valor Bill
President Bush speaks to national leadership of the Hispanic faith-based organizations
President Bush meets with the Dalai Lama
President Bush speaks at U.S. Naval Academy Commencement
President Bush proclaims Prayer for Peace
President Bush delivers Memorial Day address at Arlington National Cemetery
President Bush announces National Parks Legacy Project.
President Bush Signs World War II Memorial Bill.
President Bush sign Executive Order: Actions Concerning Regulations that Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use.

June 2001
President declares disaster exists in West Virginia
President Bush proclaims National Child’s Day
President Bush Signs wildfire bill into law
June 4, 2001 President Bush speaks at Royal Palm Visitors Center in Everglades National Park
President Bush speaks to Habitat for Humanity Supporters
President Bush speaks at Dedication of National D-Day Memorial
President Bush signs tax cut bill reducing Federal Income Tax Rates and sends a refund to millions of Americans
President Bush speaks at the Fourth National Summit on Fatherhood
President Bush speaks at tax reduction celebration event in Iowa
President Bush holds press conference with President Jose Maria Aznar
President Bush speaks at the opening of NATO meeting in Brussels
President Bush holds press conference with President of the Republic of Poland, Aleksander Kwasniewski - Warsaw, Poland
U.S. and Poland sign Open Skies Agreement
President Bush holds press conference with Russian Federation President Putin
President Bush speaks at Summit on the 21st Century Work Force
President Bush declares disaster exists in Mississippi
President Bush declares disaster exists in Pennsylvania
U.S. and Poland sign comprehensive trade package
President discusses faith-based initiative at Conference of Mayors
President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon meet in Oval Office
President Bush meets with President of South Africa
President Bush meets with Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan - Camp David, Maryland

July 2001
President Bush visits Jefferson Memorial
President orders federal aid for Montana storm recovery
President Bush speaks to participants of America’s Promise
President speaks to specialty doctors and patients on Patients’ Bill of Rights
President Bush announces Medicare initiative
President participates in roundtable interview with foreign press
President Bush and President Chirac of France speak to the press - Genoa, Italy
President Bush and President Putin hold press conference - Genoa, Italy
President Bush meets with the Pope John Paul II - Rome, Italy
President Bush and Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi hold press conference - Rome, Italy
President Bush speaks to troops in Kosovo
President Bush recognizes 11th anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act

August 2001
President Bush discusses first six months in office
President Bush signs Agriculture Supplemental Bill
President Bush speaks about character development at YMCA Picnic
Statement by the President about faith-based and community initiatives
President Bush signs Export Controls Executive Order
President to Bush visits workers at Harley Davidson factory
President Bush speaks with students at Crawford Elementary
President Bush announces Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
President Bush gives tour of Crawford Ranch
President Bush speaks at Little League World Series
President Bush discusses defense priorities at American Legion
President and Mrs. Bush unveil new White House Web Site

September 2001
President Discusses economy at Teamsters barbecue in Detroit, Michigan
President Bush meets with President Fox of Mexico
President Bush proclaims National Birmingham Pledge Week
President Bus proclaims National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
Terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 over 3000 innocent Americans are killed.
Anthrax laced letters cause several deaths, closing post offices and delaying the delivery of mail across the US.
President proclaims National Day of Prayer and Remembrance
President Bush salutes heroes in New York at the site of the World Trade Center disaster
President Bush launches online American relief and response effort
President Bush signs Authorization for Use of Military Force Bill
President Bush authorizes additional disaster funding for New York
President Bush addresses a Joint Session of Congress and the American People after the attack on September 11, 2001- The Bush Doctrine on Terror
President Bush released $5.1 billion dollars to assist in the humanitarian, recovery, and security related to 9/11
President Bush signs Airline Transportation Bill to assure the safety and stability of the nation’s commercial airlines
President Bush signs executive order freezing the assets of terrorist organizations
President Bush proclaims Family Day
President orders federal disaster aid for Florida
President Bush meets with the King of Jordan

October 2001
President Bush opens Reagan National Airport
President Bush proclaims National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
President Bush unveils back to work plan
President Bush initiates military action in Afghanistan dismantling the Taliban regime and liberating 25 million people
President speaks at 20th annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Tribute
President Bush signs Executive Order establishing Office of Homeland Security
Gov. Ridge sworn-in to lead Homeland Security
President Bush meets with Chancellor Schroeder of Germany
President Bush announces new Counter-Terrorism and CyberSpace Security Positions
President Bush unveils “Most Wanted” Terrorists
President Bush Proclaims Child Health Day.
President Bush Proclaims National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
President Bush announces, “America’s Fund for Afghan Children”.
President Bush meets with Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi
President Bush rallies troops at Travis Air Force Base
President Bush meets with President Jiang Zemin - Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
President Bush holds press conference with Russian President Vladimir - People’s Republic of China
President Bush says terrorists won’t change American way of life
President Bush announces education partnership with Muslim nations
President Bush signs the Patriot Act.
President Launches Bush “Lessons of Liberty”

November 2001
Airline crashes in Queens New York killing 255 people on board.
President Bush proclaims National Adoption Month.
President Bush proclaims World Freedom Day.
President Bush signs Presidential Records Act Executive Order.
President Bush signs Military Construction Appropriations Bill to improve quality of housing for military personnel.
President Bush signs National Emergency Construction Authority Executive Order
President Bush Acts to make holiday travel safer.
President Bush authorizes transfers from Emergency Response Fund.
President Bush signs Interior Appropriations Bill.
President Bush signs Internet Access Taxation Moratorium so the growth of the Internet is not slowed by taxation.
President Bush issues military order -Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism

December 2001
Dec. 2, 2001: Enron, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. He is attacked by Democrats wanting to know his involvement and then attacked by Democrats for not getting involved.
President Bush lights National Christmas Tree
President Bush proclaims Human Rights Day & Bill of Rights Week.
President Bush signs Afghan Women and Children Relief Act.
One of the worst winter snowstorms in 100 years leave ice and snow from Texas to New York.
President Bush empowers communities in the fight against illegal drug abuse
President Bush highlights administration’s first-year accomplishments
President Bush signs Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act
President Bush establishes the first-ever International Wildlife Refuge
President Bush signs National Museum of African American History Act
President Bush grants permanent trade status to China
President Bush signs Defense Authorization Act - authorizing the funding necessary to defend the United States.
President Bush signs Intelligence Authorization Act authorizing appropriations to fund US intelligence, including activities essential to success in the war against global terrorism.

January 2002
President Bush holds town hall forum on economy in California
President Bush meets with economic advisors and Fed Chairman Greenspan
President Bush signs Landmark Education Bill
President Bush takes action to help restore Everglades
President Bush signs Brownfields Bill.
President Bush proclaims Religious Freedom Day
President Bush meets with labor leaders to discuss energy policy
President Bush honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
President Bush signs Terrorism Relief Act providing tax relief to families of those killed in the attacks on September the 11th, the anthrax attacks and the Oklahoma City bombing.
President Bush increases the budget for border security.
President Bush announces substantial increases in Homeland Security budget.
President Bush meets with Afghan Interim Authority Chairman Hamid Karzai - White House
President Bush delivers State of the Union Address
President Bush signs Executive Order establishing the USA Freedom Corps
President Bus signs Investor & Capital Markets Fee Relief Act.

February 2002
President Bush names Faith-Based & Community Initiatives Director
President Bush proclaims National African American History Month
President Bush, Prime Minister Sharon discuss Middle East
President Bush announces plan to strengthen Peace Corps
President Bush Opens 2002 Olympic Games.
President Bush announces clear skies & global climate change initiatives
President Bush increases funding for Bioterrorism by 319 Percent.
President Bush, Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan hold press conference
President Bush Vvsits Demilitarized Zone
President Bush & President Kim Dae-Jung meet in Seoul
President Bush meets with Chinese President Jiang Zemin
President Bush speaks at Tsinghua University

March 2002
President Bush launches quality teacher initiative
President Bush welcomes President Mubarak to White House
President speaks at Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Gov. Ridge, Deputy P.M. of Canada discuss smart border plan
President Bush signs Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002
President Bush proclaims West Point Bicentennial Day
President Bush meets with President Toledo in Peru
President Bush meets with President Flores in El Salvador
President Bush proclaims Greek Independence Day
President Bush signs Campaign Finance Reform Act.
President Bush outlines U.S. plan to help world’s poor- proposes $5 billion plan to help developing nations.

April 2002
President Bush proclaims National Child Abuse Prevention Month
President Bush announces early childhood education initiative.
President Bush proclaims National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day
President Bush promotes Citizen Corps for safer communities
President Bush calls on Senate to back human cloning ban
President Bush calls for Crime Victims’ Rights Amendment
President Bush proclaims National Crime Victims’ Rights Week
President Bush proclaims National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week
President Bush meets with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
President Bush proclaims National Day of Prayer

May 2002
President Bush presents Congressional Medals of Honor
President Bush proclaims Law Day, U.S.A
President Bush proclaims National Charter Schools Week
President Bush proclaims Loyalty Day
President Bush signs Farm Bill
President Bush meets with Prime Minister Sharon
President Bush signs Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act.
President Bush proclaims Armed Forces Day
President Bush addresses National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast
President Bush proclaims National Missing Children’s Day
President Bush and Russian President Putin Sign Nuclear Arms Treaty
President Bush meets with French President Chirac
President Bush commemorates Memorial Day at Normandy

June 2002
President Bush delivers graduation speech at West Point
President Bush proclaims National Homeownership Month
President Bush proclaims National Child’s Day
President Bush commemorates one-year anniversary of tax relief
President Bush meets with Egyptian President Mubarak
President Bush Meets with Prime Minister Sharon
President Bush signs Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Bill
President Bush signs Export-Import Bank Act
President Bush promotes new mother and child HIV prevention initiative
President Bush visits displaced families in Arizona

July 2002
President Bush commemorates Lewis and Clark bicentennial
President Bush orders federal aid for Guam for disaster relief
President awards posthumous Medal of Honor to Vietnam War hero
President Bush, President Kwasniewski of Poland hold joint press conference
President Bush, Mrs. Bush & Bruce Willis announce adoption initiative
President Bush proclaims Parents’ Day
President Bush proclaims National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day
President Bush signs Corporate Corruption Bill

August 2002
President Bush, King Abdullah discuss Middle East Peace
President Bush signs Trade Act of 2002.
President Bush tours area damaged by Squires fire
President Bush discusses education with Hispanic leaders
President Bush proclaims Women’s Equality Day
West Coast Port workers strike lasts two months and costs the US economy one billion dollars a day.
President Bush signs Born-Alive Infants Protection Act.
President Bush signs executive order prescribing regulations relating to the safeguarding of vessels, harbors, ports, and waterfront facilities of the United States.

September 2002
President Bush proclaims Patriot Day
President Bush proclaims National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month
President Bush, Prime Minister Blair discuss keeping the peace
President Bush holds roundtable with Arab- and Muslim-American leaders
President Bush addresses the United Nations General Assembly
President Bush proclaims National Hispanic Heritage Month
President Bush meets with Prime Minister of Italy at Camp David
President Bush introduces history & civic education initiatives
President Bush proclaims National POW/MIA Recognition Day
President Bush proclaims Family Day
President Bush, Colombia President Uribe discuss terrorism
President Bush sends Iraq Resolution to Congress.

October 2002
President Bush proclaims National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
President Bush proclaims Child Health Day
President Bush proclaims German-American Day
President Bush proclaims National School Lunch Week
President Bush condemns attack in Bali
President Bush welcomes Prime Minister Sharon to White House
The Beltway Sniper paralyzes Maryland, Virginia and Washington.
President Bush proclaims National Character Counts Week
President Bush acts to protect pensions and retirement security for all Americans.
President Bush, Chinese President Jiang Zemin discuss Iraq, N. Korea
President Bush signs historic election reform legislation into law- Help America Vote Act.
President Bush proclaims National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month
President Bush signs two bills improve health care. The first to increase the number of community health care centers and the second to provide faster access to safe and effective medical devices.

November 2002
President Bush proclaims National Adoption Month
President Bush proclaims National Hospice Month
National Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Week
President Bush signs Pledge of Allegiance Bill reaffirming one Nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, and “In God we trust” as the National Motto
President Bush proclaims America Recycles Day
President Bush, President Havel of Czech Republic discuss Iraq, NATO
President Bush, P.M. Blair meet in Prague
President Bush proclaims National Family Week
President Bush welcomes Romania to NATO
President Bush signs Homeland Security Act
President Bush signs Terrorism Insurance Act
President Bush signs 911 Commission Bill

December 2002
President Bush signs Executive Order: Equal Protection of the Laws for Faith-based and Community Organizations.
President signs National Defense Authorization Act.
President Bush lights National Christmas Tree
President Bush proclaims National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
President Bush signs E-Government Act.
President Bush signs Wetlands Conservation Act
President Bush proclaims Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day; Human Rights Week
President Bush implements key elements of his faith-based initiative
President Bush visits D.C. Food Bank
President Bush speaks to the people of Iran

January 2003
President Bush proclaims National Mentoring Month
President Bush rallies troops at Fort Hood
President Bush celebrates first anniversary of No Child Left Behind
President Bush signs National Flood Insurance Act.
President Bush proclaims National Sanctity of Human Life Day
President Bush proclaims Religious Freedom Day
President Bush meets with wounded soldiers at medical center
President Bush honors Martin Luther King, Junior in church service
Tom Ridge sworn in as Secretary of Homeland Security
President Bush delivers “State of the Union”
President Bush meets with Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi
President commemorates 1st Anniversary of Freedom Corps
President Bush meets with Prime Minister Blair

February 2003
The Space Shuttle Columbia breaks up over the United States upon reentry into the atmosphere killing all aboard.
President Bush addresses the nation on Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy
President Bush attends memorial service for Columbia astronauts
President Bush meets with Prime Minister Howard of Australia
President Bush signs executive order transferring certain functions to Homeland Security.
Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the U.N. Security Council
President Bush meets with Spanish President Jose Maria Aznar
President Bush meets with National Economic Council
President Bush wlcomes employees to Department of Homeland Security

March 2003
President Bush signs executive order establishing the Global War on Terrorism Medals
President Bush welcomes Irish leaders to White House
President Bush signs executive order: Blocking property of persons undermining Democratic processes in Zimbabwe
President Bush rallies troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa
President Bush proclaims National Child Abuse Prevention Month
President Bush says Saddam Hussein must leave Iraq within 48 Hours
Operation Iraqi Freedom. President Bush initiates military with Iraq dismantling the Saddam Hussein regime and liberating 22 million people.

April 2003
President Bush proclaims National Donate Life Month
President to welcome Singapore Prime Minister to White House
President Bush meets with Prime Minister Blair in Northern Ireland
President Bush proclaims National D.A.R.E. Day
President Bush proclaims Loyalty Day
President Bush proclaims National Volunteer Week
President Bush speaks to the people of Iraq
President Bush signs Protect Act- Amber Alert Bill expanding nationwide a rapid-response network to help find kidnapped children.
President Bush proclaims National Day of Prayer

May 2003
President Bush lands on USS Lincoln. It was the first time a sitting president has arrived on the deck of an aircraft carrier by plane
President Bush announces combat operations in Iraq have ended
President Bush signs U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
President Bush proclaims Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week
President Bush welcomes President Arroyo in state arrival ceremony
President Bush meets with Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi
President Bush signs Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003.
President Bush signs The United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003.
President Bush signs executive order establishing the Bob Hope American Patriot Award.
President Bush signs executive order protecting the Development Fund for Iraq and other property in which Iraq has an interest
President Bush proclaims National Child’s Day

June 2003
President Bush and Russian President Putin sign Treaty of Moscow
President Bush meets with President Mubarak of Egypt
President Bush meets with leaders of Jordan, Israel and Palestinian Authority
President Bush proclaims Flag Day and National Flag Week
President Bush proclaims June 2003 as National Homeownership Month
President Bush welcomes Brazilian President Lula to White House
President Bush signs “Keeping Children Safe Act”
President Bush signs Welfare Reform Extension Act of 2003, which extends the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant program and certain related programs.

July 2003
President Bush names Randall Tobias to be Global AIDS Coordinator
President Bush speaks at Goree Island in Senegal.
President Bush meets with South African President Mbeki
President discusses AIDS Initiative, Iraq in Botswana
President Bush meets with President Obasanjo of Nigeria
President Bush, Prime Minister Blair hold Press Conference on war on terrorism
President Bush highlights health and fitness initiative
President Bush proclaims Captive Nations Week
President Bush, PM Berlusconi discuss Iraq and war on terrorism
Uday and Qusay Hussein are killed during raid in Iraq.
President Bush discusses new initiative to stop illegal logging
President Bush welcomes Prime Minister Abbas to White House
President Bush honors 2003 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
President Bush names Randall Tobias to be Global AIDS Coordinator

August 2003
President Bush thanks military remarks by the President to military personnel and families - Miramar, California
President Bush signs executive order blocking removal of Iraqi property from that country by the former Iraqi regime, its senior officials and their family members
President Bush proclaims Women’s Equality Day
President Bush proclaims September 22, 2003, as Family Day
President Bush Promotes Healthy Forests in Arizona
President Bush delivers remarks to 85th American Legion Convention

September 2003
President Bush signs Chile, Singapore Free Trade Agreement Bills
President Bush signs Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003
President Bush proclaims Patriot Day
President Bush commends military in speech at Fort Stewart, Georgia
President Bush unveils Nation’s Founding Documents at the National Archives
President Bush proclaims Citizenship Day and Constitution Week
President Bush, King Abdullah of Jordan meet at Camp David
President Bush proclaims National Hispanic Heritage Month
President Bush welcomes Iraqi Ministers to Oval Office
President Bush addresses United Nations General Assembly
President Bush, Chancellor Schroeder meet at United Nations
President Bush meets with Russian President Putin at Camp David
President Bush signs Do Not Call Registry

October 2003
President Bush proclaims Marriage Protection Week.
President Bush proclaims Child Health Day
President Bush addresses the Philippine Congress
President Bush meets with President Hu Jintao ofChina
President Bush meets with South Korean President Roh
President Bush signs Homeland Security Appropriations Bill
President Bush proclaims October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month
President Bush addresses the Australian Parliament
President Bush proclaims National Character Counts Week

November 2003
President Bush Signs Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003
President Bush proclaims World Freedom Day
President Bush proclaims November 2003 as National Adoption Month
President Bush Meets with Iraqi women leaders
President Bush Signs the Animal Drug User Fee Act of 2003
President Bush proclaims National Family Week
President Bush signs Military Construction Appropriations Act
President Bush signs the National Defense Authorization Act
President Bush meets with troops in Iraq on Thanksgiving

December 2003
President Bush proclaims World AIDS Day
President Bush signs the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003
President Bush signs Nanotechnology Research and Development Act
President Bush signs Healthy Forest Restoration Act
President Bush signs Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act
President Bush signs Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003
Saddam Hussein is captured in Iraq
President Bush signs American Dream Downpayment Act of 2003
Libya pledges to dismantle WMD programs

January 2004
President Bush celebrates 2nd anniversary of No Child Left Behind Act
President Bush proclaims National Mentoring Month
President Bush, President Fox meet with reporters in Mexico
President Bush speaks at Summit of the Americas ceremony
President Bush and President Aznar of Spain Meet- Oval Office
President Bush speaks with faith-based and community leaders
President Bush proclaims National Sanctity of Human Life Day
President Bush proclaims Religious Freedom Day
President Bush delivers the State of the Union Address
President Bush celebrates two-year anniversary of USA Freedom Corps
President Bush meets with the nations top economists

February 2004
President Bush proclaims National Consumer Protection Week
President Bush meets with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan
President Bush proclaims National African American History Month
President Bush Announces Formation of Independent Commission to look at American intelligence capabilities
President announces new measures to counter the threat of WMD
President Bush meets with President of Tunisia
President and Mrs. Bush’s dog spot passes on
President Bush speaks to the National Governors Association
President Bush signs Executive Order encouraging innovation in manufacturing
President Bush calls for Constitutional Amendment protecting marriage
President Bush welcomes Georgian President Saakashvili to White House
President Bush welcomes German Chancellor Schroeder to White House

March 2004
President Bush marks Homeland Security’s accomplishments at year one
President Bush speaks at faith-based and community initiatives conference
President Bush signs Social Security Protection Act of 2004
President Bush proclaims Women’s History Month
President Bush and Mexican President Fox meet in Crawford, Texas
President Bush commends recipients of Malcolm Baldridge Awards
President Bush and PM of the Netherlands meet at the White House
President Bush welcomes Prime Minister Ahern of Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day
President Bush welcomes seven nations to the NATO Alliance
President Bush announces Dr. Rice to provide public testimony to commission
President Bush welcomes baseball Hall of Famers to White House

April 2004
President Bush signs Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004
President Bush proclaims National Child Abuse Prevention Month
308,000 Americans find work in March
President Bush proclaims National Donate Life Month
President Bush and Egyptian President Mubarak meet with reporters
President Bush meets with Israeli Prime Minister Sharon
President Bush proclaims National Crime Victims’ Rights Week
President Bush announces wetlands initiative on Earth Day
President Bush presents Environmental Youth Awards
U.S. eases economic embargo against Libya
President Bush unveils Tech initiatives for energy, health care, Internet
President Bush meets with Swedish Prime Minister Persson
President Bush welcomes Canadian Prime Minister Martin to White House
President Bush proclaims Older Americans Month
President Bush proclaims National Charter Schools Week
President Bush proclaims National Day of Prayer

May 2004
President Bush meets with the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba
President Bush proclaims Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
Interview of the President Bush by Al-Ahram International
President Bush meets with King of Jordan
President Bush condemns brutal execution of Nicholas Berg
President Bush speaks at the American Conservative Union 40th Anniversary Gala
President Bush delivers commencement address at Concordia University
President Bush honors the nation’s fallen law enforcement officers
President speaks at Brown v Board of Education National Historic Site
President Bush meets with Greek Prime Minister Karamanlis
President Bush delivers commencement address at Louisiana State
President Bush speaks at National World War II Memorial dedication
President Bush observes Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery

June 2004
President Bush speaks at Air Force Academy Graduation
President Bush meets with Australian Prime Minister John Howard - White House
President Bush presents Medal of Freedom to Pope - The Vatican, Italy
President Bush remarks on the passing of President Ronald Reagan
President Bush meets with Prime Minister Berlusconi - Rome, Italy
President Bush, President Chirac mark 60th anniversary of D-Day - Normandy, France
President Bush proclaims Great Outdoors Month
President Bush proclaims D-Day National Remembrance Day
President Bush proclaims National Child’s Day
President Bush attends the G8 Summit - Sea Island, Georgia
President Bush delivers eulogy at funeral service for President Reagan
President Bush proclaims Flag Day and National Flag Week
President Bush welcomes President Clinton and Senator Clinton for portrait unveiling
President Bush meets with President Karzai of Afghanistan - White House
President Bush salutes the military at Macdill Air Force Base in Tampa
President Bush salutes soldiers in Fort Lewis, Washington
President Bush welcomes Prime Minister of Hungary
President commemorates Black Music Month at White House
President Bush meets with Religious Leaders - Istanbul, Turkey
President Bush discusses democracy, freedom from Turkey - Istanbul, Turkey

July 2004
President Commemorates 40th Anniversary of Civil Rights Act
President Bush announces over 1.5 million jobs created and 10 straight months of job gains
President Bush speaks at 4th of July Celebration West Virginia State Capitol Grounds
President Bush welcomes Iceland Prime Minister to White House
President Bush signs African Growth and Opportunity Act
President Bush signs Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act
President Bush announces initiatives to combat human trafficking
President Bush welcomes President Lagos of Chile to White House
President Bush welcomes Malaysian Prime Minister to White House
President Bush signs Project Bioshield Act of 2004
President emphasizes minority entrepreneurship at Urban League
President’s speaks to the Athletes of the International Children’s Games and Cultural Festival - Cleveland, Ohio

© 2004 http://www.boycottliberalism.com

That’s what he’s done.

Posted by: semper at October 31, 2004 01:36 AM

Your always interesting, Eric, I’ll give you that.Veni, Vidi, Vici? Why is it you always have these empire dreams? I’m beginning to wonder if you keep one hand in your vest.

Oh Veto!!! I found it interesting that Matthews parts are paragraphs while Kerry’s responses are single sentences. I always wonder why Chris needs another person in the room since he answers himself most of the time.

So you’re theory is , then, if Kerry doesn’t say ” KIll em all!!, Kill em all, now!!!” that he therefore abdicates to the UN? C’mon Eric. Wipe the Roman cheese from your ears and listen to the garbage you are again using. Your now infamous pick and choose quotes are only useful in something like Letterman’s spliced tape quotes segments.

Posted by: Greg at October 31, 2004 01:50 AM

“The Question whether you hate Bush enough to vote for Kerry. Whether you think Bush did a good job for the Economy, Security and Global Peace. This Election is a Referendum on BUSH.”

This is completely wrong, I think. This is not a “no confidence” vote in a parlimentary system- this is an election to CHOOSE A PRESIDENT. George W. Bush has a record- one which you can use to predict his policies for the next four years. Kerry ALSO has a record- one which we can use to predict his policies for the next four years. Both men have little to be proud of- but what a responsible voter should do is look at BOTH men’s record and decide who will do a better job, not burry they head on the sand on Kerry’s record just because they “hate” Bush.

This is so, because if you vote for Kerry, you will get a president Kerry, not just a “non-President Bush.” You have to be willing to with a man who will either (1) raise your taxes; (2) go back on all of his policy proposals or (3) run a higher deficit. A man who wants to continue to use the judiciary to push the left-wing agenda, especially on abortion. A man whose foreign policy you cannot predict in the least because, as far as I can tell, its only based on the political convience of the moment rather any sort of coherent or articulated principle. These are realities- Kerry is not some anti-Bush presona. he is a real person with a real record and a real direction he wants to take American. For me, the direction Kerry wants to take america is very scary. I think these things are scary to many americans, which is why Bush is sitll up in the polls despite a terrible approval rating a pretty poor record as president!

(note, I could have made a similar list of reasons why Bush wants to take america in the wrong direction- this list would include (1) pushing for unlimited executive power to detain “enemy combatants” as he determines them; (2) running up a huge deficit with not even the slightest attempt to stop it ect. ect.)

Posted by: Misha Tseytlin at October 31, 2004 05:25 AM

Eric-
We can both play the same game:

KERRY: And I understand why they won’t right now. And I’m not going to give them a veto, Chris. And I wouldn’t have given them a veto then.

But I talked to Kofi Annan on the Sunday before the president decided to go to war. And I knew at that moment in time that the Russians and the French were prepared to, in fact, make a further offer. And the administration, in fact, informed Kofi Annan, Sorry, the time for diplomacy is over.

Had I been president of the United States, I would have explored what those possibilities were.

I think that is a great summation of what Kerry believes was done wrong, and why he says it was a rush to war. Opportunities were missed to resolve this peacefully, and to gain the support of France and Russia in the war, support that would have drawn the resources of other nations into the game. But the Bush administration wasn’t interested in that. They want complete control. Trouble is, in an alliance, you don’t have complete control. You give up a little of it. Bush is a control freak, unfortunately. And as a result we have over sixteen times the combat deaths of our nearest ally England and Australia’ body counts are still in the double digits

Many of the so-alled coalition of the willing don’t seem so willing anymore. Several of the largest contributors are considering sizing down their already meager contribution. A number have withdrawn them outright. Many of them, because of the nature of their agreements with us, don’t have any soldiers defending their country besides our own.

None of their casualties has exceeded double digits, not even Britain. Britain has hunkered down around Basra, and they’ve only seen Sixty-Eight of their people die. We’ve seen one thousand, one hundred and twelve. deaths. I mean, what’s going on, if we’ve got casualties two orders of magnitude larger than our nearest ally?

KERRY: I’m prepared to go. I think people understand that Saddam Hussein is a danger. But you want to go maximizing your capacity for victory, not beginning with deficits. That’s one of the lessons of Vietnam. The war will not just be the military operation to move the regime out and to take Baghdad. The war will be an ongoing process of how you then rebuild the country. How you build the democracy in a place that’s never had it, in a place where violence is the tradition. And that is the challenge for awful us. I want to think it through, Chris, so no one has to ask the question, was this a mistake?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEWS: You saw, sir, the violence coming.

(APPLAUSE)

MATTHEWS: You recognized that this would not an lickety spit war, blitz war. That even after the aircraft carrier and all the celebrations, there would be fighting at us, there’d be people shooting at us, and American soldiers being killed as they were just yesterday, two more guys.

Knowing all that, why do you have a complaint now in the way that the occupation is being handled? Since you perhaps more than the president saw the hell to come.

KERRY: Because the president is not putting in place a policy that most, exactly what I just said, maximizes our ability to be successful. Maximizes the protections of the American troop. Look I remember what it is like to be in a country with an M-16 where everybody around you is looking at you and you can’t tell whether they’re about to kill you or not. Whether there’s a kid going to walk out and throw a satchel of explosives in your boat or car or whatever it is. And I foresaw this. And I said to the president in January, Mr. President, don’t rush to war. Take the time to build a coalition. Take the time to have countries with you. Take the time to have our nation with you. Because if the going gets tough, that’s when it is most difficult. My judgment is that the president rushed this with all the wrong assumptions, with all the wrong conclusions, and didn’t lead in the way that a president is supposed to lead.

This isn’t a matter of 20/20 hindsight, it’s a matter of legally blind foresight on Bush’s part. Anything that didn’t give him the war he wanted, with the policies he wanted, he ignored. He ignored people who said we needed more soldiers. He ignored people who said Chalabi was not to be trusted. He ignored the controversies and contradictions his intelligence community offered him about his case, and took that case and presented it to the American people without representing that substantial, well founded uncertainty. He ignored opportunities for greater support for our cause, our troops, and failed to fund and equip them fully when we started.

We are suffering for our Commander in Chief’s failures of imagination, his insistence on planning for the best possibilities, instead of planning against the worst case scenario. He treats the war like a business school case study, where answers are obvious, and one never has to deal with the nuances of a dynamic system.

Quote all the muddled passages you want. I can quote the points where he’s clearly said what he believes. And having so recorded it, I can come back and trace a consistent path of opinion between the beginning of the war and what he says now.

You, on the other hand, must rationalize a president who talked about the smoking gun coming in the form of a mushroom cloud, while after the war, with the weapons absent, you never hear that. I know where my candidate stands, and why he takes the position.

Political convenience, not political will is what drives your candidates rationale from week to week.

Posted by: Stephen Daugherty at October 31, 2004 08:43 AM

BTW, has anyone seen Bushes responses to this kind of questioning? Oh ,that’s right, he doesn’t respond.

Posted by: Greg at October 31, 2004 08:57 AM

Semper, other than a long itinerary, what exactly does this list represent? It isn’t a list of accomplishments. Is it that you believe bigger is better?

Posted by: Greg at October 31, 2004 09:03 AM

He responded in his interview with Larry King.
There was a repeat on last night.
He answered the questions people claim he doesn’t answer. Laura Bush was there too.

Followed by an interview with Kerry.
John and Teresa Kerry spent the beginning of the interview talking about what a team they are and John Kerry said he always asks her opinion before he makes any decisions. Then he tried to point out that she doesn’t make the decisions after he practically admitted she does.
Every time he was asked a question he looked at her either for a nod to go ahead and answer, or he would let her answer a question directed at him.
That was the only interview I saw with that couple and from what I saw she wears the pants in that family.

Posted by: bugcrazy at October 31, 2004 09:10 AM

Haha! bugcrazy, are you trying to recycle the moldy old President Hillary nonsense?

I guess if the old Clinton ‘waffle’ attack doesn’t stick to Kerry, you have to try something else. Let me know when you get desperate enough to accuse Kerry of murdering prostitutes and killing lawyers. :)

Posted by: American Pundit at October 31, 2004 10:43 AM

Speaking of desperate, nice article, Eric.

Posted by: American Pundit at October 31, 2004 10:44 AM

I didn’t like Hillary, but at least she was smart.

Posted by: jack at October 31, 2004 10:50 AM

The point was that he checks to see who is looking before he does anything.
He looked like a little kid waiting for the approval of a grown up.
Is that what he does?
He can’t make a decision without the approval of a grown up or a poll?

Posted by: bugcrazy at October 31, 2004 11:00 AM

You can speak about 20/20 about a mistake, but there’s too many of them for that.

ELECTION IS HERE: TIME TO BOTTOM LINE IT

This election is a referendum on Bush. If he’s bad, then it’s time to give the new guy Kerry a chance. If not, then let Bush have four more years.

KEY AREAS OF BUSH RECORD ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10

BUSH RECORD ON TERRORISM – 2 OUT OF 10:

* BIN LADEN ON THE LOOSE. Why the heck hasn’t public enemy number one been caught yet??? The reason is Bush took his eye off the ball and invaded Iraq before finishing the job of catching bin Laden. To the point, by March 13, 2002 Bush said, according to an official White House transcript “I’ll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him.” Now the President says he wants bin Laden dead or alive. This is a huge FLIP FLOP on one of the most important issues facing our country.

* TERRORISM ON THE RISE. Never before have so many US and foreign troops and citizens died from terrorist attacks in Iraq and elsewhere. And the numbers are increasing. Bush hasn’t focused our military resources in the relentless push that is needed to completely dismantle al Qaeda. As a consequence, now the President admits it’s not a matter of if the next terrorist attack will occur against the US, but when. BOTTOM LINE: BAD JOB FOR BUSH.

BUSH RECORD ON IRAQ – 1 OUT OF 10.

* IRAQ WAS A MISTAKE. The reason Bush rushed us into war – that Iraq supposedly has weapons of mass destruction – was all wrong. Major major major mistake. For that kind of mistake, the buck has got to stop with the President.

* IRAQ IS A MESS THAT IS NOT BEING CLEANED UP. Iraqis can’t travel safely in their own streets. Iraqis avoid being near foreigners because of the risk of attack. Whole sections of Iraq are lawless war zones. Terrorism is increasing each month. Infrastructure is still in shambles. Why is the Iraq situation declining from bad to worse? The reason is we never had a decent plan to secure the peace in that country. Another bad mistake.

* WE TORTURED INNOCENT IRAQIS. We disgraced ourselves. Bush says we are bringing Democracy to Iraq. Then we round up innocent people without adequate proof of wrongdoing, nearly all of whom have since been released, and subject them to bizarre torture aimed at violating their deepest religious mores. Sadly, this is not surprising since Bush has said we are not following the Geneva Convention, which protects our troops and citizens from outrageous conduct such as beheadings. Instead, in doublespeak, Bush’s administration said we are following “the principles of” the Geneva Convention. Even more shocking, no senior administration official such as Rumsfeld has been shown the door.

* DID WE INVADE THE RIGHT COUNTRY? At the same time we were invading Iraq, North Korea already had nuclear weapons and was building more. Iran was busily obtaining nuclear weapons. Lot’s of people are asking if we invaded the right country. Was Iraq really that urgent? Should we have gone into Iran or North Korea? Or nowhere! BOTTOM LINE: BAD CHOICES, BAD JOB FOR BUSH.

BUSH RECORD ON THE ECONOMY: 3 OUT OF 10.

* THE TAX CUT FAILED. Nice tax cut for the rich but it didn’t help the rest of the country. For the first time since Herbert Hoover’s administration, we lost more jobs than we created. Net net more than a million jobs are gone over the past four years. Even over the past several months during the so-called “recovery”, job creation hasn’t even kept up with population growth. Government deficits are out of control and we will be paying for them for years to come.

* TOO MANY AMERICANS ARE STRUGGLING. How are Americans getting by with rising health care and fuel costs? Not with much help from the government. There’s no help in the fuel area. The federal drug program is limited to seniors and is very hard to understand. This is really a drop in the bucket compared to Bush’s failure to make good on his promise to let everyone buy drugs from Canada. The President’s broken promise demonstrates that he holds the interests of big drug companies above those of the public. Drugs in Canada are the same drugs manufactured in the same factories as the drugs we take in the US. Whole communities have been forced to break the law by sponsoring bus trips to Canada to avoid their elderly and sick from becoming impoverished from the astronomical cost of drugs in the US.

BUSH ON SOCIAL ISSUES: 5 OUT OF 10.

* THE PRESIDENT HAS HELD THE LINE BUT IS DIVISIVE. Social issues are what is keeping the President afloat. The country is divided down the middle on social issues. There are reasonable arguments as well as misinformation on both sides of the aisle. It’s a shame Bush couldn’t build more unity, but you can’t blame him entirely for people being put off by his folksy swagger persona.

* OUT OF TOUCH ON STEM CELL RESEARCH. In a recent Annenberg poll in August, 64% favored and 28% disfavored use of embryos to conduct stem cell research. In the abortion debate, it’s a real live fetus lost on the one hand versus no health benefit for the mother. The stem cell debate balances a tiny embryo against health gains for millions of sick people. Bush says he is permitting stem cell research, but according to stem cell researchers, he really isn’t. There are only a few old and sick cell lines that can be used. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of embryos are frozen only to be ultimately discarded because it’s against the law to use them for stem cell research. If Bush gets elected, cures from stem cell research for millions of sick people are at least four more years away, and the US could lose the edge in this promising and potentially profitable field of research.

BOTTOM LINE: Bush’s record is weak. Time to give the new guy a chance. Kerry proved himself capable and Bush’s match during the debates. Many of the people hollering about Kerry should remember all the similar hollering about Clinton, who turned out to do a pretty good job for America. No big wars on Clinton’s watch. A great economy. At least four terrorist attacks averted by the Clinton administration through hard work leading up to the turn of the millennium, whereas the Bush administration ignored similar signs leading up to 9/11. Maybe that’s why bin Laden was so surprised that 9/11 exceeded all his expectations in running flawlessly.

Posted by: J at October 31, 2004 11:40 AM

Semper-
September 2001
al-Qaeda attacks America, kills almost three thousand.

Nov/Dec 2001
Osama is cornered at and escapes from Tora Bora

March 23, 2002
Bush says Osama Bin Laden is not really that important any more, that he’s not that concerned about him.

Summer-winter 2002
Bush and Company wage a P.R. war to justify a pre-emptive war on Iraq. The reason? Saddam is conspiring with terrorists, hiding weapons of Mass Destruction. The drumbeat continues, until a majority of people believe that Saddam had something to do with 9/11.

January 2003
President Bush gives a case in his SOTU address, which cites a number of pieces of evidence his own intelligence agents already cite as false.

January/February 2003
President Bush makes appeals to the UN. In his appeals, Bush, on message as always, tells the UN he’s going to do what he’s going to do regardless of what they decide. He has Colin Powell make a case for war, a case that is instrumental in convincing many skeptics at home of the need to go to war. Support for the war grows. Bush decides to take us to war, bypass the UN, like he always said he would.

March 2003
Inspectors are withdrawn, explosives and other materials are left under seal. Bush gives Saddam 48 hours to leave of his own accord. On the 19th, we attempt a decapitation attack. Like the other fifty attempts to precision bomb leaders of the Baathist government, it fails to hit the target, and creates collateral casualties. The next day, we invade

April 2003
We charge into Iraq and utterly decimate the Republican Guard resistance. Instead of standing and fighting, many units withdraw into the population. We find the al-Qaqaa facility. Two different groups find high explosives still under lock and key, but neither army group stays and searches the place. They move on to Baghdad where we successfully depose Saddam.

Unrestrained by any kind of law and order, looters ravage the country, including the al-Qaqaa bunker. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld explains that freedom is messy, and does nothing to restore order.

May 2003
Bush declares major combat operations over. Late in the month, a survey group actually visits the al-Qaqaa facility. They find nothing left. Hundreds of tons of explosives have been stolen.

Summer/Fall 2003
America waits for Weapons of Mass Destruction and evidence of Terrorist collaboration that will never come. The violence escalates within the borders of Iraq. Saddam remains free. His sons are killed during this period. Bush asks for two Supplemental bills, including one for armor and supplies for the troops. These were not originally budgeted for the troops. Bush tells America that when Saddam is captured, the violence will lessen.

December 2003
Saddam is captured

Spring 2004
Howard Dean, presidential candidate focuses criticism on Bush for a war that has begun to lessen in popularity Strong doubts have arisen as to whether Saddam ever had the weapons, much less the connection to terrorists.

March/April 2004
Several cities are taken by rebel insurgents some of which remain inaccessable to American soldiers to this day. From this point forward, the monthly totals of dead never drop below 50, the number of wounded never drops below 500.
Hundreds die in a terrorist attack on trains stations in Madrid. al Qaeda is responsible, but the Spanish government tries to pin it on Basque Separatist. News of this take a possible slim victory for the Popular party supporting Bush’s policy, and turns it into a landslide defeat.

June 2004
Officially, we hand over sovereignty over to the Iraqis Unofficially, our occupation continues.

Summer/Fall 2004
Attacks on American troop increase, peaking in September during the attacks on Najaf, with around 800 wounded, and 87 dead.

October 2004
Americans discover that tons of explosives which have been used to kill Americans were left unguarded and looted at the beginning of the war. At the end of the month, a new message from Osama Bin Laden is broadcast, a message that makes references to political proceedings and information that a dead Bin Laden would have no way of anticipation.

This is three years after Bush promised to catch Bin Laden Dead or alive, two and half years after declaring Bin Laden unimportant, a year and a half after the unnecessary invasion of Iraq, and half a year after a devastating terrorist attack on one of our allies.

There are opportunities that don’t come twice, points in history that change the playing field forever. Bush is the president of the United states of America, and that is not an office with a large margin of error. We need the best man for the job in there, and good intentions are not enough. Optimism is not enough. Support for our troops is not enough. We must have the strategies to win. We must gain the support of those actors in the region and in the world that can improve the efficacy of the war.

When I look at the history of the war on terror, I don’t see unavoidable errors. I see advice ignored, ideology held in higher regard than expertise, loyalty prized over honesty.

What I see is a president who bases his definition of success on what is political rather than practical. Because of that, every success he has declared has faded into a series of failures, and now America is paying the price.

Posted by: Stephen Daugherty at October 31, 2004 11:45 AM

If Kerry were to somehow win, I predict another civil war.

Unarmed city slickers against a mostly Republican military and well armed country boys.
Not a pretty sight.

To avoid that, and because I care about my liberal friends in here, I have no choice but to vote for President Bush on tuesday.

Although, the thought of NYC once again being the hub of the fur-trade, and Calif. being a fishing village, don’t sound all that bad(smile).

Posted by: Beagle at October 31, 2004 11:56 AM

Beagle, please save your apocalyptic fantasies for the comic book convention. This is the real world, and jokes about Americans slaughtering each other are pretty damn creepy. And if you weren’t joking, that’s even creepier.

-Cf

Posted by: Christopher Fahey at October 31, 2004 12:04 PM

Well I am certainly glad you guys were not around when Lincoln was President. He may have been assassinated before the war was over.

Not to mention Churchill before WW2 or Reagan before the end of the cold war.

Remind me again how badly the Civil War was going before it turned. Or how many patriots were lost during the American Revolution. No need, I know your answers.

You just pointed them out with the litany against Bush’s record.

Wonder what the world would look like if the likes of what you guys are saying were taken seriously. Look at the bright side; I could be multi lingual and speaking German or Russian possibly be living in the DisUnited States

Posted by: MAW at October 31, 2004 12:35 PM

Lets go one step further.

The republicans are are moral cowards. Sure, vote to send someone elses kid of to die for this country while you stay at home and find a way to get rich on the backs of the working class. As if that wasn’t enough, then have the audacity to claim that you shouldn’t pay taxes to help the very people you have working in your sweat shops.
If you guys in the red were so supportive of this war, and your president, why don’t you enlist. This way the guys that have had their tours of duty extended time and again, will get a chance to come home and get out of the shooting gallery.

I find that the “moral right” in the country are neither. “Dubya” and his band of merry men pose the greatest threat to the U.S. Consititution we have seen in the past 60 years As ex-military, I took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. OBL is a threat to our people, “Dubya” is the threat to our way of life and security.

I wonder if my fellow active duty vetrans like the feeling that they are “live bait” so King George can maintain his approval ratings.

Posted by: REW at October 31, 2004 12:57 PM

Stephen,

What I see is a president who bases his definition of success on what is political rather than practical.

You believe the President went to war for political reasons? Anyone with any sense knew he was putting his future as a second term President on the line! How could anyone not see that?

The only political opportunist in this race is Kerry who can not articulate any coherent statement about his positions on anything. But rather takes all positions on every position.

As Dennis Prager puts it “And then I understood. No matter what position you hold about American foreign policy and the war in Iraq, John Kerry holds your position.”

As Dennis points out
“Sen. Kerry accomplished this so subtly that recognition of it had eluded me.
Voters who want America to leave Iraq and voters who want to stay there and win — both heard Kerry say exactly what they wanted to hear. “

And those that want UN support and those that don’t heard this
“Voters who want America to act alone in the world when the world disagrees with us and voters who want America to proceed only when we have the international backing and an alliance with others — both heard Kerry say exactly what they wanted to hear.”

Or how about this one
“Voters who believe the war was a colossal mistake and voters who believe that our soldiers in Iraq are fighting for a noble cause — both heard John Kerry say exactly what they wanted to hear.”

Or this one
“Voters who want to believe that John Kerry has almost magic-like plans — to get more allies, to leave the war, to win the war, to end the North Korean and Iranian nuclear threats — heard John Kerry say exactly what they wanted to hear.”

And for the Michael Moore groupies
“Even voters who share Michael Moore’s conspiratorial theories about the war and the Bush presidency heard what they wanted (in Kerry’s reference to Haliburton).”

There you have it. “A Man for All Reasons” Certainly no political opportunist here! Unbelievable.

Posted by: MAW at October 31, 2004 12:59 PM

REW

The republicans are are moral cowards. Sure, vote to send someone elses kid of to die for this country while you stay at home and find a way to get rich on the backs of the working class.

So if you are wealthy such as the Heinz-Kerry’s or the Edwards, does this make it OK to get rich off the backs of the working class? Or only pay a 12% tax rate on 7 million dollars of income such as Heinz-Kerry and expect others to pay 39%. Or structure a corporation as Edwards had done to pay less taxes than those greedy Bush/Cheney people. A lot less I might add. Oh yes, taxes for everyone else. Great strategy! It’s working. On the backs of the working class yet! This is certainly morally ethical! Posted by: MAW at October 31, 2004 01:07 PM

REW

I wonder if my fellow active duty vetrans like the feeling that they are “live bait” so King George can maintain his approval ratings.

Again, how can anyone believe that President Bush went to Iraq for political reasons! Unbelievable.

“Dubya” is the threat to our way of life and security.

When you vote for someone that wants to appoint activist judges that legislate from the bench, then yes, you are electing someone that will threaten your way of life and your security with indecisiveness. A win for Kerry will do just that! Posted by: MAW at October 31, 2004 01:15 PM

Cf wrote:
“Beagle, please save your apocalyptic fantasies for the comic book convention. This is the real world, and jokes about Americans slaughtering each other are pretty damn creepy. And if you weren’t joking, that’s even creepier.”

Creepy, yeah. But also naive. The best warriors are often from urban environments - because they already understand the law of the jungle.

Posted by: Adrienne at October 31, 2004 01:27 PM

Semper, other than a long itinerary, what exactly does this list represent? It isn’t a list of accomplishments. Is it that you believe bigger is better?

Maybe you should read each and every section of the ‘itinerary’ before trying to spit on it. The fact is, President Bush has had to respond as best he could to disaster after disaster, almost each one not of his causing. Tell me exactly which President has had to deal with capturing a terrorist leader while attempting to prevent a domestic collapse of the economy with the bankruptcy of Enron hm? President Bush has pretty much seen it all in his first term, from energy crisis to abortion, West Coast Port strikes to the largest terrorism attack that this country has ever seen, and a vandalized White House by the staff of a former President to measures on domestic security. The fact is that President Bush is a seasoned leader while John Kerry is not.

The other thing that disturbes me is Kerry’s stance on the 2nd ammendment. Sure, his website is full to the brim with his “Sportsman Bill of Rights” BS, but people, like the NRA, has kept close tabs on his anti-second amendment sentiments. One such example is his support of the so-called Brady Bill. This Bill DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Key example: Pistol magazines can carry 10 bullets, NOT 13, but 10. Because we all know that reducing the magazine clip in pistols by 3 BULLETS is actually going to make a difference.

Key Example: A firearm cannot posses two of the following.
`(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
`(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;
`(iii) a bayonet mount;

So if my weapon has a folding stock and pistol grip, it is infinitely more dangerous than one that does not fold and does not have a pistol grip. Who knew pistol grips caused crime?

Anyway, I could continue, but my point has been made. People always talk about looking at Kerry’s record? Well I did, and his legislation against responsible gun owners makes me sick.

http://www.nraila.org/issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?ID=162

Posted by: semper at October 31, 2004 01:28 PM

Stephen:

So far, Kerry has told us that he has talked to “foreign leaders” who prefer him to George Bush, talked to the entire Security Council, and now to Kofi Annan about Iraq.

Lets see…..he wouldnt name the “foreign leaders” and his travel records showed no opportunities to have met. The Security Council members claim to have NOT met with Kerry, but hey, maybe we should just believe him anyway.

And now he claims to have talked with Annan about the French and Russians. Sounds to me like when Kerry went behind the back of the US government to talk with the North Viet Namese in France back in the early 70’s.

And he actually touts these things as positives…..amazing.

J:

You use wrong evidence in your assessment that the tax cut has failed. First off, its too soon to know how the tax cut has worked at all. But, for you to use the job losses is just ignorant. Don’t you know that SINCE THE TAX CUT, over 1.9 million jobs have been created? In Bush’s 4 years, there is a negative job creation, but the negative numbers come from the time period BEFORE THE TAX CUT. And you use that as evidence the cuts are not working.

As I said, its too early to know for sure, but the evidence indicates they ARE working, if anything.

Posted by: joebagodonuts at October 31, 2004 01:53 PM

I do not understand why Republicans are clinging to this argument that Kerry will not make a decision without UN approval. He has stated that he will always have the interest of the U.S. foremost in his mind, and he will act alone if necessary. The Bush administration is just trying to save face for the mistake it made by snubbing most nations of the world and attacking Iraq. We must not surrender our sovereignty to the UN, but we should try to understand why other countries might not agree with us. In a world where globalization ties everyone together, we must work to keep our allies and build new alliances (not destroy them). This war in Iraq reeks of revenge for Saddam’s assassination plot for George Bush the First. The rush to war was unnecessary and has distracted from the war on terrorism. It also caused many countries who supported us after 9/11 to shy away from our irresponsibly aggressive policy of pre-emptive attacks. Next time we will have to have more proof than drawings and rumors to build a real coaltion of nations to help us. Finally, don’t even get me started about the costs of this war (Wasn’t the oil supposed to pay for reconstruction?)

Posted by: Mitch at October 31, 2004 02:00 PM

Kudos to Eric Simonson. His position is so well written that all of the blue side have abandoned their own column to come write over here. Given the present state of the polls, maybe they’ve just accepted the adage “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!”

Red side - don’t forget to hang up the blogs on Tuesday and go vote.
Blue side - keep hammering away at home all day. Maybe you’ll convince someone undecided in California before the polls close. Stay at it, don’t give up. The Reds will join you for the wrap-up on Wednesday morning.

Posted by: Dick at October 31, 2004 02:17 PM

REW

Republicans are well represented – overrepresented - in the military. They are not asking someone to do what they don’t do. Being in the military is not a death sentence, in any case. It is a risky profession that individuals choose.

Mitch

Why do people think Kerry would depend on the UN? Because of what he says about global tests and how he describes Bush’s mistakes in terms on not getting UN approval. He describes his own policy as getting UN approval or not doing things and then he finishes with the assertion that he would not wait for the UN. I believe what he says the first time before what he says the second time.

Posted by: jack at October 31, 2004 02:25 PM

semper,
from truth or fiction.com

“May 18, 2001 the General Accounting Office issued a three-page letter that said that it was unable confirm the damage largely to a lack of records from the White House. The letter also said that the condition of the White House offices was “…consistent with what we would expect to encounter when tenants vacate office space after an extended occupancy.” As to any details of damage, the GAO letter said For supporters of former President Clinton, that seemed to end the matter. They proclaimed victory, called the whole story an urban legend, and asked the White House to apologize.
On June 5, 2001, the General Accounting Office announced that it had launched an investigation into the matter, which was released on June 11, 2002.”
“In response, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer outlined the details of the damage, most of which was in the Eisenhower Execitive Office Building adjacent to the White House. On June 3, 2001 The Washington Post quoted Fleischer as saying that the damage included the removal of the letter “W” from 100 computer keyboards, five missing brass nameplates with the presidential seal on them, 75 telephones with cover plates missing or apparently intentionally plugged into the wrong wall outlets, six fax machines relocated in the same way, ten cut phone lines, two historic door knobs missing, overturned desks and furniture in about 20 percent of the offices, obscene graffiti in six offices, and eight 14-foot loads of usable office supplies recovered from the trash. According to Fleischer, there was one incident in the White House itself, a photocopy machine that had copies of naked people hidden in the paper tray so they would come out from time to time with other copies.
Critics of the Bush administration said they didn’t trust the White House report.”
“There was a companion story that Air Force One had been the victim of the outgoing Clintons and that numerous items from aboard the plane had been pilfered. President Bush himself told reporters aboard Air Force one on February 12, 2001, that the report was not true. According to Salon Washington correspondent Jake Tipper, Bush brought up the subject because the chief steward aboard Air Force One told him the allegations were false.”

This exageration has been floating around since Bush took office. I don’t see how any of this has any relevance to the matter at hand, but apparently you found it important enough to mention it twice.
A great diatribe, what’s your point?

Posted by: Rocky at October 31, 2004 02:25 PM

MAW,
“Wonder what the world would look like if the likes of what you guys are saying were taken seriously. Look at the bright side; I could be multi lingual and speaking German or Russian possibly be living in the DisUnited States.”
Relax. I’m positive muli-lingualism will never, ever be a problem for you.

Posted by: Don at October 31, 2004 02:36 PM

Yes, Don. I have trouble with one language. But thanks for the vote of confidence. I do my best!

Happy posting!

Posted by: MAW at October 31, 2004 02:58 PM

Mitch,

do not understand why Republicans are clinging to this argument that Kerry will not make a decision without UN approval. He has stated that he will always have the interest of the U.S. foremost in his mind, and he will act alone if necessary.

Quite possibly because he has stated that very opinion. It’s the “if necessary” part that scares me. “If necessary” thinking has determined that he should meet with the enemy in France. The only officer that I know of that did such a deed. How about you? Know of any?

That could explain the haziness surrounding his discharge. But of course, that could all be cleared up if he would release his records! That will never happen.

PS, if the military doesn’t want him as their leader, why should the rest of us?

The Bush administration is just trying to save face for the mistake it made by snubbing most nations of the world and attacking Iraq.

I call that leadership. Hard to recognize however after years of appeasement from Clinton and hAlbright.

We must not surrender our sovereignty to the UN, but we should try to understand why other countries might not agree with us.

Maybe countries should understand where we come from for a change rather than us always having to understand them all the time at our expense and for a price that we will always have to bear and bear even greater the longer we wait! Why should they care?

This war in Iraq reeks of revenge for Saddam’s assassination plot for George Bush the First.

The war in Iraq reeks of Saddam enjoying the building of his castles and his war chest and thumbing his nose at the world community. Ignoring resolutions and not coming clean about WMDs. But of course with microscopic glasses and a Michael Moore attitude, I could see how one would come to that conclusion.

The rush to war was unnecessary and has distracted from the war on terrorism.

A sad commentary to those that believe that the capture of OBL will end terrorism or even would have if we had captured him 2 years ago!

Next time we will have to have more proof than drawings and rumors to build a real coaltion of nations to help us.

How much proof would you need? Some divine sign from the Almighty perhaps. Maybe a parting of the Atlantic Ocean. I give up. What more proof than every Intelligence reporting agency on the planet?

Posted by: MAW at October 31, 2004 03:01 PM

When votes are cast for Bush, will anyone in this column accept responsibility for supporting the slaughter of innocent people?

OBL is a monster for killing 3000 innocent civilians.

When those bombs and shells and cruise missiles go off in Fallujah, what does everyone think happens? Anyone care to justify the US killing innocent civilians? Are you three times or even thirty times as outraged at what is being done in your name in Iraq as you are at OBL?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3605297&thesection=news&thesubsection=worl
Or google the story, ‘Lancet.’
Feel free to use the Lancet article’s numbers of 100,000 civilian casualties, or an extremely conservative number like 10,000. Comparisons of death by jumping from the 101st floor with instantaneous obliteration by 500 lb bomb would be appropriate. Remember, in breezy justifications using phrases like ‘collateral damage,’ ‘eggs,’ and ‘omelettes,’ please remember to include the phrase ‘innocent civilians,’ or ‘men, women, and children.’
Killing enormous numbers of civilians happens when one country invades another, and bombs cities. It is not unforeseeable. Voting for Bush supports this course of action.
Condemnation of OBL is unanimous. So why is it ok for the US to slaughter Iraqis? I’d like to know how anyone can, in good conscious, justify voting for Bush and supporting the killing of over 10,000 innocent civlians. There are lots of posts here disparaging Kerry. Let’s hear a justification for “the central front in the War on Terror” and why it’s ok to kill civiians, one thousand after one thousand after one thousand after one thousand after one thousand (keep repeating, this will take a while!).

Posted by: Don at October 31, 2004 03:05 PM

Don,
Please try to add something original to the discussion, instead of “cut ‘n paste” from old postings. Thanks.

Posted by: Dick at October 31, 2004 03:10 PM

MAW,

“PS, if the military doesn’t want him as their leader, why should the rest of us? “

We’ve been through this in a previous thread, but since you bring it up.

Why would I base my vote on what the military wants? The military doesn’t run this country,,, yet.

You folks on the right assume that anyone that doesn’t agree with you is a radical Liberal. I suppose that comes from assuming that your position is always the correct one.
How could it be possible then, that our present “Coalition” in Iraq is 1/3 the size of the last one?
How is it possible that the right in this country has it correct and virtually all of the rest of the planet has it so wrong?

Posted by: Rocky at October 31, 2004 03:22 PM

Dick,
Sure, I’d be glad to add something original. Thank you for the suggestion. But I must have missed your answer to the post the first time. Where is your reply? I’d be genuinely glad to read it and reflect upon it. Thank you for the courtesy of pointing out the right place for me to look for your reply, time is precious I know, and your taking that moment to point me in the right (or left) direction is, again, greatly appreciated, and agai, sorry I missed your reply to the original post.

Posted by: Don at October 31, 2004 03:58 PM

Stephen,

You are making my point. What does Kerry really mean when he says he would wage a preemptive war, but only after consulting allies and getting the approval of the UN?

I think you are being dazzled by this man’s BS. Yes, I know he knows how to use phrases like, “I’m prepared to go.” But what does it mean when you say, “I’m prepared to go,” but your conditions for actually going are that the UN must first approve it and go? That’s why I’m pointing this out.

Here’s another quote of Kerry criticizing Dean for not taking a position!?.

SEN. KERRY: No, I’m saying that what—he was in favor supposedly of holding Saddam Hussein accountable somehow. He’s never really explained how. He has said there were weapons of mass destruction. Presidential leadership, Tim, requires taking a position. If you don’t have to vote, you don’t take a position. I took a position to protect the security of the country, but I also took the position to do it in a way that defended America’s values, that defended the troops. I believe those troops deserve to have every asset going their way. That means every country possible at our side. I believe the United States deserved to have the broadest coalition, just like his father built, which we didn’t build this time. I believe there was a rush, ultimately, to war and that put us in jeopardy, and I regret that. I’m glad Saddam Hussein is gone, but this president, because of his rush, did sooner what he could have done later in a position of greater strength, and the lack of that strength is now creating an enormous challenge for us in the region. meet the press

Several things about this quote.

1) Kerry did vote. For the war. He did take a position, but later chose to change the meaning of that position from authorize force to authorize the threat of force, and that only after getting the United Nations to give us permission. These are condition which do not exist in the vote he took, nor in the statements he makes about the President’s right to preempt, nor in his statement that he would never allow any nation a veto.

2) He says here that the first Gulf War had a ‘real’ coalition in contrast to the one we have now. But his standard must have changed because he was against the First Gulf War and said it had a fruadulent coalition and that we did not give sanctions and diplomacy a chance.

Kerry condemned “our impatience with sanctions and diplomacy,” noting that the country was not ready for the horrors of war, “for what it will witness and bear if we go to war.”

If Kerry had been President when Saddam invaded Kuwait not only would Saddam still be in power he would still be in possession of Kuwait as well.

I’d like to show you two more quotes where Kerry essentially lies about what he previously said.

Since Vietnam, Kerry said, the American public had been “reaching for a set of ruling principles about when we go to war,” with the consensus arriving that “we should go to war when our vital interests are at stake in a way that the majority of Americans have identified and are agreed upon, and when we have exhausted all peaceful alternatives.”

That was not the case in the Persian Gulf, Kerry argued. “There is a rush to war here. [Because we think our military force can overwhelm Iraq], we are willing to act … with more bravado than patience.”

Pressure on Congress to rally around the president was wrongheaded, Kerry said, as it had been years earlier when “it cost us thousands of lives” in Vietnam. “It look to me like backing up the President’s decision has become the new vital interest, not the immediate liberation of Kuwait … It sounds like we are risking war for pride, not vital interests!” He also rejected the argument that supporting Bush’s resolution would give the administration leverage to force Hussein out of Kuwait… “That thinking is dangerous and flawed,” Kerry said, “This is not a vote about sending a message. It is a vote about war.” centriststation.com

Point 1: That’s what he said in 1991, “Since Vietnam…” and, “it cost us thousands of lives in Vietnam…” but when talking about this vote on Meet the Press he said this:

MR. RUSSERT: Do you now believe that you made a fundamental misjudgment on your vote in 1991?

SEN. KERRY: No, not at all. In fact, I’ve said again and again that that was the right vote at that moment in time. And I said in the same speech, Tim, I also said that I did not believe we were courting another Vietnam. I did not believe that the first Iraq war would be a Vietnam. I believed we would win it very quickly and my reasoning…

MR. RUSSERT: But we were ready for it.

SEN. KERRY: Well, actually we weren’t. The American people at that time were divided 50-50, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, at the time had serious reservations, which he expressed, to people who have great judgment on those issues, people like Sam Nunn, then chairman of the Armed Services Committee. I think there was a great deal of sense that we were moving very rapidly, more rapidly than we needed to. I was not against using force. I was against moving so precipitously that we didn’t have the consent that I talked about of the American people. busybusybusy.com

Point 2: He rejected as dangerous and flawed the idea of ‘threatening the use of force’ as leverage to get Saddam out of Kuwait, yet that is exactly what he says his vote to authorize the use of force against Iraq was. i.e. only to threaten the use of force, not to authorize it’s use. Does it bother you that this man has no real standard for when to go to war? or when to threaten force? or when preemptive action should be taken regardless of whether the UN gives us permission?

Posted by: eric simonson at October 31, 2004 04:12 PM

Dick,
It’s called ‘cognitive dissonance.’ Orwell called it ‘doublethink.’ Bush supporters simply cannot address the issue- the enormous number of Iraqi civilian casualities- because while they recognize it is the truth, it directly contradicts the sand castle of beliefs constructed around the War on Terror. In fact, the title of this column makes on pun on Caesar’s dictum concerning war, yet you can be sure Republicans will discuss anything- anything at all- before confronting this issue, the issue of how many innocent Iraqi civilians have died. I’d like to see a Republican address the issue, but the fact is, sometimes the truth is just too hot to handle.

MAW,
An eloquent response to my snarky comment earlier. A nod of respect in your direction…

Posted by: Don at October 31, 2004 04:29 PM

Rcoky,

Try reading the rest of what I wrote. Also, your quotes all seem to support the fact that the White House was vandalised or at least do not deny that fact. So I ask you, what’s your point?

Posted by: semper at October 31, 2004 04:30 PM

Eric,
“If Kerry had been President when Saddam invaded Kuwait not only would Saddam still be in power he would still be in possession of Kuwait as well.”

No matter what Kerry said at the time he was a Senator and not the President.
You can’t know that as fact and repeating it over and over won’t make it any more so.

Posted by: Rocky at October 31, 2004 04:34 PM

Rocky,

Why would I base my vote on what the military wants? The military doesn’t run this country,,, yet.

Duh! Because he would be their Commander in Chief! Like you remember that “Reporting for Duty” malarkey! As if he was reporting for the Good Ship Lollipop! He is the one that made it the central issue here. This is the very thing he chooses to run on after 3 months in Vietnam with questionable wounds and a bruise and not a day in a hospital.
And since maybe they are the ones paying the price while you and I sit in the comfort of our warm cozy homes and get to express our opinions so freely.

I don’t think liberals are radical, I just think they vote from emotion rather than logic. Call it what you wish, if you want radical, then OK by me.

How is it possible that the right in this country has it correct and virtually all of the rest of the planet has it so wrong?

Perhaps because they are! And following the same old tired logic that got us to September 11th did not seem to work well, now did it? Or have you forgotten?

Posted by: MAW at October 31, 2004 04:45 PM

semper,
here we go again.
The Eisenhower office building is where the “vandalism” took place. Those would be the offices of Mr. Gore. Furthermore, the GAO couldn’t find any evidence that any “vandalism took place.
Fleicher’s claim to the the contrary,
where’s the proof?
The Bush White House never took it any further.
And you cite a partisan website as proof?

BTW, I did read your post and it doesn’t move past the point that Bush is always right and Kerry is always wrong.
That is the problem with the far right’s point of view. There is never any room for compromise.
Never anything beyond, I said it, it’s true, that is the way it is, and I will never change my mind despite what the facts are.

Posted by: Rocky at October 31, 2004 05:04 PM

MAW,
If I’m following this correctly, then I’d point out the “same old tired logic” prevented the Millennium attacks quite effectively. The lapse occurred on Bush’s watch.
You’re welcome to apply logic to my previous emotional post on the slaughter of innocent civilians that is occurring due to Bush administration policies.
Truly, though, I don’t expect anyone voting Republican to address it with intellectual honesty. ‘Cognitive dissonance’ is difficult to face, and spending time defending Bush demands an ability to ignore inconvient realities such as the death of 10,000 innocent Iraqi civilians.

Posted by: Don at October 31, 2004 05:09 PM

this is a message from Europe:

Please
stop bush stop bush stop bush

your leadership affects everyone on this planet, think about it:stopbush

http://flexo.blogia.com

tell us your opinion

if you think that this is political crap we are sorry for bother you
thank u

Posted by: flexo at October 31, 2004 05:17 PM

MAW,
General George Patton wanted to drive his tanks to Moscow, despite the history of such a move to the contrary.
General MacCarther wanted to drive the Chinese back into China, dispite his orders to the contrary.
These are both revered men in American history, yet I wouldn’t want either one of them telling me who to vote for.
That’s not emotion, that’s logic.

So now every one that doesn’t agree with you is a Liberal? You find that logical?

“And following the same old tired logic that got us to September 11th did not seem to work well, now did it?”

What color is the sky on your planet?
Please don’t tell me it’s red, white and blue.

Posted by: Rocky at October 31, 2004 05:41 PM

Don,

If I’m following this correctly, then I’d point out the “same old tired logic” prevented the Millennium attacks quite effectively.

Do you mean the one that a bright border guard caught because the idiot trying to bring those explosives into the country from Canada was sweating as if he had malaria. That millennium attack? Oh, Okay, Great job Clinton. Give him credit for that one alright. This the best you got?

You’re welcome to apply logic to my previous emotional post on the slaughter of innocent civilians that is occurring due to Bush administration policies.

Are you talking about those Iraqi’s that are getting blown up by insurgents? Those innocent civilians that are standing in line to join the Iraqi guard to fight for their country? The ones that have died from insurgents and suicide bombs and car bombs. Those are the innocent civilians that you speak of here? Then let us respect the fact that there are Iraqis dying for the liberation of their country. I can respect that.

‘Cognitive dissonance’ is difficult to face, and spending time defending Bush demands an ability to ignore inconvient realities such as the death of 10,000 innocent Iraqi civilians.

And how many innocent people found in mass graves were you concerned about? I have no ‘cognitive dissonance’ here. Fighting and dying for your country is not dishonorable. It is honorable and at least there could be a result that ends in liberation rather than tyranny.

PS Don, thanks for the compliment and challenging me on those big words, like cognitive dissonance.

Happy posting.

Posted by: MAW at October 31, 2004 05:47 PM

Flexo,

we believe

in a world in peace…in a world where the WORDS are always the only way to resolve the problems

Manchuria used words against Japan. The Jews used words against Hitler. The Byzantine Empire used words against a united Islam. Japanese citizens used words against the United States Government. Native Americans used words against the United States Government. THEY DIDN’T WORK.

Your world doesn’t and will never exist.

Posted by: semper at October 31, 2004 08:03 PM

There are four types of casualties in Iraq: Iraqi and foreign militants, Iraqi civilians, allied military (including free Iraqis), and foreign contractors. I don’t mourn if allies kill Iraqi and foreign militants. Iraqi and foreign militants kill most Iraqi civilians and all foreign contractors that are killed. More significantly, they do it on purpose.

Iraqi civilians are not “collateral damage” of militants they are targeted by them. My question is, do you want to leave the country in the hands of militants who are eager to kill their own people as well as foreigners who have come to restore the Iraqi infrastructure? We have no choice but to root them out.

Consider the government that we threw out. Saddam Hussein was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. Many were killed in the wars he provoked. Others he killed outright with weapons of mass destruction and ordinary deadly weapons. Some he killed in mass, others individually. Tens of thousands were dying each year because Saddam used the oil for food money to buy arms and palaces (and bribe foreigners) instead of buying food and medicine. Certainly more than 10,000 innocent Iraqis died each year because of Saddam’s policies. Saddam was like a cancer. An operation is dangerous and painful, but leaving the cancer in place is worse. The U.S. is serving the world in getting rid of him. It is costing us blood and treasure to secure this key country. Europe, Japan and other countries around the world know it. Some are helping; others are free riders. The world is absolutely better without Saddam Hussein. Remember that. What would you prefer?

Posted by: jack at October 31, 2004 08:17 PM

MAW,
For Middle Eastern terrorist attacks on American soil, that’s it. There was the 1st attack on the WTC. Not much to say there, the plotters are in jail. Same goes for the Bojinka plot, but that wasn’t going to be carried out on American. Funny how flimsy the War on Terror looks after 9/11, isn’t it?
“Are you talking about those Iraqi’s that are getting blown up by insurgents?”
No, I’m talking about the innocent civilians we are killing.
“Those innocent civilians that are standing in line to join the Iraqi guard to fight for their country?”
No, I’m talking aboujt the innocent civilians we are killin.
“The ones that have died from insurgents and suicide bombs and car bombs.”
No I’m talking about the innocent civilians we are killing.
Like I said, it’s something Republicans simply cannot ‘get their mind around.’ I’m not talking about US combat casualties, or Iraqi military casualties, or victims of Shia/Sunni conflict, or Saddam Hussein’s repression of civil uprisings. I’m not talking about the torture of Iraqi by Iraqis, or Iraqis by Americans.

I’m referring to the enormous number of innocent civilias who are being killed by our military.
Care to address the question, MAW?

Posted by: Don at October 31, 2004 08:36 PM

Eric-
I think you should read the full text of his speech. The first reason was because of a lack of consensus on the war among Americans Yes, Americans. Not the UN. What he described as unilateral was not the president’s war, but instead the increase of troops.

This is what he said:

When I returned from Vietnam, I wrote then I was willing personally, in the future, to fight and possibly die for my country. But I said then it must be when the Nation as a whole has decided that there is a real threat and that the Nation as a whole has decided that we all must go.

I do not believe this test has been met. There is no consensus in America for war and, therefore, the Congress should not vote to authorize war.

If we go to war in the next few days, it will not be because our immediate vital interests are so threatened and we have no other choice. It is not because of nuclear, chemical, biological weapons when, after all, Saddam Hussein had all those abilities or was working toward them for years—even while we armed him and refused to hold him accountable for using some of them. It will be because we set an artificial deadline. As we know, those who have been in war, there is no artificial wound, no artificial consequence of war.

In short, Kerry spoke of the president not properly consulting with the American people, Going to war for arbitrary reasons instead of our protection as a people.

Kerry doesn’t like war being politicized to the detriment of the troops. He doesn’t like things revolving around abstract Geopolitical reasoning or a president’s political prestige. He wants real wars against real threats, with real, honestly gained support from the American people.

You can quibble about what you think what he says means, but I don’t think you’re interested in any other fact than his opposition to your favorite candidate. You will do whatever is necessary to portray kerry as the evil to your president’s good, the darkness to your presidents light. Me? I looked up the full text of that speech only hoping for a minor vindication at the least. It speaks to the kind of candidate Kerry is that a worried soul like me can look up what he said, and find out his foes have truly exaggerated and distorted things.

In the beginning, he was an anything but Bush candidate. Now? Now I see what a real war president is, having never expected to see one in my lifetime. He is the Hero Bush could only wish he was, and God willing, he will be the president Bush wanted the world to believe he was.

MAW-
Yes, indeed, I do believe he does such things. Why else hand over sovereignty so early? Why else declare victory so early? He’s trying to make it look like he’s sticking to a timetable, as if he knows what he’s doing.

Kerry’s reassurance of Both sides of those issues has a different rationale- He saying to people: my options are open, ideology will not hem me in the way it does Bush.

He’s not taking all the positions. Prager’s analyisis is flawed. Kerry is not aligning himself to people who are absolutely against the war. No, really. He’s aligning with those people who think that Bush made a mistake, but that we can’t resolve that mistake by cutting and running. That is one position.

It’s my position. I believed this war necessary when I was able to believe Bush’s case. Powell’s case before the UN was persuasive for me, and