Four more years
Four more years of innocent people abused and tortured at Guantanamo Bay because of a careless government. Four more years of mothers and children being killed because they happen to live in countries that don’t abide by American politics. Many of those who survive will be homeless. Four more years of westerners held prisoner, tortured and killed by militant groups who are tired of America’s aggressive politics. Four more years of citizens losing their civil rights simply because of their sexual orientation. Four more years of imported foreign energy instead of investing in renewable energy sources. Four more years of a politician who puts a political agenda before a nation in need.
Four. More. Years.
Special thanks to Tony Blow for bringing The Independent’s front page to my attention. Yes, The Independent is actually an independent newspaper.
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Comments
…and this is one of only a handful of countries in the world where you are permitted to hold a decenting opinion of our leadership without fear of repriasal…
If you don’t like the man, say so…if you don’t like his policies, stand up and be counted…if you hate the country LEAVE! This, too, is your right.
Russ W on 15 Nov 04
I don’t like GW either, but would it be wise to change leaders in the middle of war?
Kara on 15 Nov 04
I think it IS wise to change leaders in the middle of a war if the leader is doing a poor job with that war. For example:
1) the leader can’t justify why they went to war (Was it because Saddam was trying to build nuclear weapons with uranium from Niger (even though this was discredited by Joe Wilson BEFORE Bush’s State of the Union speech)? Was it the “imminent threat” of somone who already had WMD, as seen in pictures shown by Colin Powell (but were never found, even with the speed of the war and was discredited in the Duelfer Report)? Was it the link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda (debunked by the 9-11 Commission)? Or was it to depose an evil dictator and bring democracy to oppressed people (in which case this is needed all over the world, yet we certainly don’t care if the poor, oppressed, slaughtered folks are in Africa–or are our “friends.”)?
2) Insufficient troops are sent and when a general publicly says we need more, they’re retired.
3) Troops lack vital equipment and their families have to raise money to buy things like body armor.
4) Troops are required to stay because their tours were extended (more than once!).
5) When the soldiers are being supported by Halliburton, which the FBI is investigating for improper no-bid contracts given to the Vice President’s former employer which he says he ” severed [my] ties nearly four years ago when I ran for Vice President.” But Cheney still receives about $150,000 a year in deferred compensation from Halliburton and still owns about 433,000 company stock options,” according to CNN.
6) We abuse prisoners at Abu Ghraib, doing things we would be outraged by if they were done to captured U.S. soldiers–because the actions are reprehensible– and only the little people are punished for what should have been prevented by those higher up (e.g. better training, clearer directions, better oversight.). And that’s just assuming that it WAS negligence (which is still unacceptable job performance) rather than that these soldiers were encouraged or directed to do these things.
7) When the soldiers guard the Oil Ministry and allow 380 tons of explosives to disappear from Al Qaqaa, and the administration says the explosives were gone before we got there, contradicting a Pentagon official and footage shot by a Minneapolis news team on April 18, 2003 AFTER OUR INVASION.
8) The administration repeatedly lowballs the cost (and continues to cut taxes).
Those seem like legitimate reasons to me for changing horses midstream. Furthermore, with the “not changing presidents midwar” logic, if I were president (and I would never be because I’m not smart enough, not enough of an egomaniac (really!), have no desire, and not am electable), I would definitely start a war before the election of my next term.
Sorry for the rant, but I’m horribly disillusioned and still furious. And George W supporters? Everytime you get pissed off when you see a rant like mine, at least you can console yourself with the fact that you won.
Deborah on 15 Nov 04
Russ: I can’t leave the US because I don’t live there. I’ve been living in London since September 2003. I originally planned to return after a year, but then I met Janine and will be staying at least until she finishes her degree, possibly longer.
Joshua on 15 Nov 04
Deborah,
I agree with you. I’m not a Bush supporter, but someone made this comment to me and I thought it would be interesting to see what comments would arise from it on this site. Thank you for your response.
Kara on 15 Nov 04
Kara,
Whew! :) (Not that California was an issue [Ohioan hanging head in shame]).
Also, somehow I don’t think that “if you don’t like it, leave it,” is really encouraging of democratic principles. Although, based on the results of this election, my sense of democratic principles doesn’t seem to match that of a lot of folks in this country. No one is talking about hating the country–we just hate the policies of the administration.
Why I am so bothered by the outcomes of this election is that I feel that many of the issues went against precisely what I think is so wonderful about my country (e.g. tolerance and empathy for others, ethics and morality based on how we recognize our common humanity and value as people-rather than a particular group’s interpretation of religion, encouragement to have differing opinions (including little things like wearing a Kerry pin at a Bush rally to bigger issues such as a general asking for more troops), a government that can be trusted not to lie (well, at least not more than the usual lies like about protecting Social Security), etc.).
Deborah on 15 Nov 04