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TIME FOR A CHANGE
Make no mistake about it ~ this election is a
referendum on the performance of George W Bush
and he has failed miserably.
The tragedy of 9/11 happened on his watch and his administraion was grossly unprepared for it ~ despite the well publicized warnings of many including Richard Clarke.
After watching the Republican convention it is obvious that the cold war thinking of Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz has carried the day .
They have replaced the dire communist threat of the past with a present dire terrorist threat, of their own making , and it's getting old and stale.
The keynote selections for both conventions gives you an idea of why it's time for a change.
The Democrats chose a young and articulate African-American , Barack Obama ~ who electrified the crowd with his progressive message of unity and hope.
The Republicans chose Zell Miller , a Dixiecrat relic from the past , whose stridant call to arms and blatant and often untrue attacks on Kerry are sadly indicative of the cold war mentality of this present administration.
This was an angry convention and Paul Krugman caught the same mood in todays N.Y.Times ;
" Why are the Republicans so angry? One reason is that they have nothing positive to run on (during the first three days, Mr. Bush was mentioned far less often than John Kerry).
The promised economic boom hasn't materialized, Iraq is a bloody quagmire, and Osama bin Laden has gone from "dead or alive" to he-who-must-not-be-named.
Another reason, I'm sure, is a guilty conscience. At some level the people at that convention know that their designated hero is a man who never in his life took a risk or made a sacrifice for his country, and that they are impugning the patriotism of men who have. "
Stop wishful thinking ~ This Administration has made a shambles of our occupation of Iraq as well as the economic health of our nation.
The attempt to humanize Cheney and Bush was humorous and Maureen Dowd caught it perfectly when she wrote , It's always amusing to watch Republicans try to get down . At convention time they stop bilking Joe Lunchbox to act like Joe Lunchbox.
Republicans released their 2004 Party Platform this week, and they made it clear: if George W. Bush is elected for another four years, the GOP will make it a top priority to:
- Take away a woman's right to choose.
- Eliminate environmental protections.
- Write discrimination into the Constitution.
- End affirmative action.
- Remove fundamental Constitutional protections.
All of this conveniently hidden behind a smokescreen of National Security threats and the War on Terror.
Only one major International statesperson has had the courage to offer the only true solution to winning the war on terror and it was a woman.
Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan said what no major American politician has had the courage to say ;
" Without a war on poverty, we will never win the war on terror .... Dictatorship and Religious Extremism are fueled by Gross Inequality..... The breeding ground for terrorism is economic apathy, despair and political disenfranchisement ."
If we continue with the present policies of the Bush Administration economic apathy, despair and political disenfranchisemnet will continue unabated and with it
the threat of more terrorism.
We are not safer than before 9/11 because of the ongoing hubris and deception of this Administration. The people of Spain threw out their government for that very reason ~ they were tired of being lied to.
My greatest fear , along with millions of Americans, is not another terrorist attack but four more years of a deceitful Bush Administration.
It's time for a change.
Allen L Roland
Catch me on Radio every Monday / TRUTHTALK 7AM PST
STARTING WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 13TH / KYCY 1550 AM SAN FRANCISCO / WED 9 - 10 AM & SUNDAY 10 - 11 AM
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