The main theme of the rhetoric put forth by the Republicans this election year is that President Bush is firm, he does not change his mind and he will fight the terrorists until the day he dies. Sen. John Kerry, on the other hand, is a flip-flopper, he does change his mind and he is not to be trusted.
Fear can be used to change a lot of minds. Republicans have the citizens of our country running scared. The whole ploy of the Republican National Convention was to bring to the forefront how the wonderful, unshakable Bush is winning the war on terrorism.
Bush gave the order to attack Iraq. He did this with an illegal preemptive attack, using fewer troops than the amount of cops on the New York City police force. Apparently, catching Osama bin Laden and the rest of al-Qaida was a low priority within the Bush administration. Iraq’s oil was the big fix.
He did his best to tie Saddam Hussein to the Sept. 11 attacks. He was barking up the wrong tree, and did so on purpose.
Fear is an old but useful weapon in war. Just read the history of Genghis Khan.
The Republicans are forced to use this tool of fear to get votes from the poor people who live with it as the centerpiece of their lives. This is just about their only position. The more afraid you are, the easier they can manipulate you.
Bush’s war in Iraq has killed more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers and more have ended up in veteran’s hospitals throughout the country. Bush cut funding for these hospitals. Let’s not forget the 11,000-plus Iraqi citizens – not insurgents – who died from our misguided deeds.
They cannot use diplomacy. Bush has turned the majority of countries in the United Nations against him, and with the obvious exception of Saudi Arabia, all of the Muslim countries.
They cannot run on education. Bush failed to properly fund No Child Left Behind.
They cannot run on their environmental policies. Bush has the worst environmental record of any president in modern times.
They cannot run on economics. Ronald Reagan in eight years increased the national debt by $1.67 trillion. Bush, in just three years and seven months increased the debt by $1.64 trillion. Reaganomics anyone? Am I the only one who remembers how hard former President Bill Clinton worked to get us out of this mess?
I hope these poor people who live in fear can see through this Republican charade, strengthen their spines and vote for Kerry. Kerry is perfectly capable of handling this so-called war (I would call it an act of piracy).
Kerry will also handle other issues much better than Bush. Seriously, can he do any worse? I doubt it.
No one can predict when, where or how a terrorist attack will occur. They can only make educated guesses, which is itself an oxymoron.
So keep a stiff upper lip and think positive, happy thoughts. We can all live on this planet if we all put love in our hearts and reason in our minds. If not, we may all be doomed.