election postmortem from a political outsider.
This is an e-mail response from my close friend, John Carroll, in Kansas City. I've always enjoyed getting his take on issues because he comes at it from a fresh, non-big party perspective. He's a gun-totin' liberal, so he's on several mailing lists as well as FBI watches. :-)
Here's John's take on the 2004 election:
Man, this was a brutal election. Working with a large group of leftist females, I have been uniquely positioned to observe the loonies in their native habitat. The infatuation with Kerry has astounded me. How did he think he was positioning himself when he agreed that Bush did the right thing in invading Iraq, that he would continue the democratization of the Middle East, and that he would hunt down and kill terrorists. Right, that puts Kerry at odds with who, Dennis Kucinich? He wants tax cuts for the "middle class." Where have I heard that before? Yet every Kerry supporter I spoke with (or, rather, was yelled at by) wondered why I couldn't understand the difference between the two candidates. Two sides of the same coin, as I see them.
Until a politician admits what the invasion of the Middle East is all about (oil), we will be trapped in a winless battle with the insurgents. I believe there is no reason why we cannot have the majority of our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan by the end of 2005. If getting rid of Saddam Hussein was the intent of the operation, we have succeeded. Now it is time to let the Iraqis rebuild their country. If they want us to help, fine. If not, that should be fine with us, too.
The youth vote has never been what the Black or Jewish voting blocs are. In 1972, Nixon won in a landslide. I wondered aloud what morons would vote for the trickster? Every young person I knew was guilty of backing the Republican in time of WAR. I would imagine that the youth vote shakes out to 50-50, Dem v. Rep. So to teach the little bastards a lesson, we should reinstate the draft with no deferments. Let's see how organized a group can get under that kind of pressure.
And what is the matter with the citizens of Indy? They reelected Julia Carson again?!?!?! Let's see, to keep your gig as congresswoman, you have to miss at least 100 votes in the last session, and then campaign from the hospital! Let her die at home! This is close to Ashcroft losing to the dead guy in the last senatorial race here in MO.
Nationally, I encourage you to join me in writing members of Congress to persuade them to do their job. We need representatives who know we are watching. We need to make them read bills before they are passed. We need to make them question appropriations, not just pass them with a rubber stamp.
Here's John's take on the 2004 election:
Man, this was a brutal election. Working with a large group of leftist females, I have been uniquely positioned to observe the loonies in their native habitat. The infatuation with Kerry has astounded me. How did he think he was positioning himself when he agreed that Bush did the right thing in invading Iraq, that he would continue the democratization of the Middle East, and that he would hunt down and kill terrorists. Right, that puts Kerry at odds with who, Dennis Kucinich? He wants tax cuts for the "middle class." Where have I heard that before? Yet every Kerry supporter I spoke with (or, rather, was yelled at by) wondered why I couldn't understand the difference between the two candidates. Two sides of the same coin, as I see them.
Until a politician admits what the invasion of the Middle East is all about (oil), we will be trapped in a winless battle with the insurgents. I believe there is no reason why we cannot have the majority of our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan by the end of 2005. If getting rid of Saddam Hussein was the intent of the operation, we have succeeded. Now it is time to let the Iraqis rebuild their country. If they want us to help, fine. If not, that should be fine with us, too.
The youth vote has never been what the Black or Jewish voting blocs are. In 1972, Nixon won in a landslide. I wondered aloud what morons would vote for the trickster? Every young person I knew was guilty of backing the Republican in time of WAR. I would imagine that the youth vote shakes out to 50-50, Dem v. Rep. So to teach the little bastards a lesson, we should reinstate the draft with no deferments. Let's see how organized a group can get under that kind of pressure.
And what is the matter with the citizens of Indy? They reelected Julia Carson again?!?!?! Let's see, to keep your gig as congresswoman, you have to miss at least 100 votes in the last session, and then campaign from the hospital! Let her die at home! This is close to Ashcroft losing to the dead guy in the last senatorial race here in MO.
Nationally, I encourage you to join me in writing members of Congress to persuade them to do their job. We need representatives who know we are watching. We need to make them read bills before they are passed. We need to make them question appropriations, not just pass them with a rubber stamp.
