In article , (The
Watcher) wrote:

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 12:33:04 -0500, Mark Anderson
wrote:

he's not all that different from Bush in that respect.

If you vote for Bush,

Don't plan on doing that, either.

Below is the text of an e-mail I received today from a presumed
progressive who will not vote for Kerry. It was unsigned, so maybe it's
just one of those things that make the e-mail rounds, but it all seemed
tragically dead-on to me:

------------

*Dear Senator Kerry,
*
You**and your organizational supporters continue to send me letters*and
emails requesting that I support you in defeating President Bush in the
2004 election.**Like most Americans I would like nothing better than to
see*the*end of the*policies of the Bush*Administration*.* These*
policies*have turned a surplus into a deficit,*increased**international
and domestic*dangers*to Americans,*and isolated our country
diplomatically.**At home, the*Bush policies**have been a disaster for the
great majority of Americans, creating ever more joblessness and
homelessness, loss of health care,*security, privacy, and freedom.**The
2004 presidential election is**an opportunity to address*these
failures.**I*want*a*candidate**who*recognizes the*crises that we face and
proposes real solutions to change course.* You are not that candidate. You
do not act*or speak as if there*were*any* crisis to be resolved. What you
have to say about issues of war and peace is either*alarming or trivial.
*
Please understand that this election is not a popularity contest, as far
as I am concerned.* I do not care*that**you served in Vietnam and**that
*George Bush did not.* I don't care*whether*you had better grades**at
Yale *than Bush.**I*am not impressed*that you present yourself as**a
better*champion of minorities and the poor.**But I do care about your
voting record and where you stand on the issues.**Here is*what this means:
*
1. On Iraq: you advocate sending more troops and bullying NATO and other
allies to ³share² in the illegal occupation of Iraq. That position is
worse*than the Bush position, not better.**First,* it not only disregards
international law, which says we have no right to be in Iraq, but it also
compounds the problem by**pressuring*other countries*to participate in the
illegality.* I don't* suppose* you hold
these*views*opportunistically,**wanting*to appear tough to ³centrist²
voters.** *I think you**honestly*believe that we have the right to force
ourselves on the Iraqis.** *That makes you just as dangerous as George
Bush.

2.*On Civil**Liberties: you have voted for the*egregiously unpatriotic
³Patriot Act.²** *That is all that anyone who*cares deeply for*the United
States¹ Bill of Rights needs to know,* to**recognize*that you are*not
a*civil libertarian.

3.*On*Civil Rights for Homosexuals, your difference from*Bush¹s positions
do not make*your positions*laudable.* While your voting record on civil
rights for homosexuals*is better than his positions,*your unashamed
supposition*that you or anyone else has the right to deny a basic civil
right, such as*marriage, to anyone else, a right from which you yourself
fully benefit, is*despicable.**

4.*On*Fair Trade and jobs,** you have supported all the major trade
agreements that the Republicans have supported. Now you say that if
elected president you would put all such agreements under a 120-day review
and take unspecified "necessary steps" if they are found to be unfair to
Americans.** *Again, I*look at your voting record**to make up my mind*
whether you can be trusted*on this.* I think you are not to be trusted.* *


5.*Health Ca* Forty-five million Americans have no health care
insurance*or inadequate coverage despite*more money per capita being spent
on health care* in the US than anywhere else in the world.* Our infant
mortality statistics are worse than those of fifteen other countries.
Still you remain opposed to universal health care.**

6.*You propose to cut the deficit in half within four years while
continuing to increase defense spending.** *Your math does not add up,*
even if you**were to propose**increased* taxes on the wealthiest
Americans. The current defense budget is bigger in real terms than the
average**it was *during the cold war despite persistent questions**about
waste and lack of sufficient* over*sight, questions that you yourself do
not raise.

7. On the Israeli-Palestinian*conflict, your rhetoric*matches* your
record, and they are both*wrong.* You have supported Israel¹s illegal
occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, which is nothing short of ethnic
cleansing. The*ongoing sickening destruction of Palestinian society,* to
establish and defend illegal Israeli settlements paid for by US tax
payers,**is thanks in part to your*supine voting record in the Senate,
along with that of other Democrats and Republicans.***

8.* On fighting terror you are as hypocritical and dishonest as Bush.*
You have chosen to alarm the public about*the possible dangers of ³nukes²
in Iran and North Korea.**Using fear to prepare the public for*an*illegal
war is a*wellworn Bush*tactic, and*will**very likely*lead to more
anti-American terror.
*
Your record in the Senate and the positions you have taken*leave much to
be desired.* As for*your strategy,*many people*believe*your chicken
approach to campaigning*to be a strategic decision that you have**had
*to*make.* They tell informed Americans that you are actually opposed to
the Iraq war, but for political reasons must*hide this.* The theory is
that you are trying to capture the centrist voters.* Whatever its lack of
honesty, I*might*believe*it to be*your motivation if the polls were
suggesting the opposite of what they*do*in fact*indicate.**But when**so
many people*are opposing the*Iraq war,*as they now do, all that is needed
is a leader who will**be*a leader and say what must be said in opposition
to the war.* It would have made you popular despite your dull
rhetoric.**Instead, you*are continually*losing the opportunity to attack
George Bush on the war* and on other*vulnerable**issues.**Many people
credit you for helping turn public opinion against the Vietnam War thirty
years ago.* But*you yourself had supported and*fought in the war, and
only*later changed your mind.* How many more people must*die in Iraq,* be
jobless and homeless and without hope in our own country,* before
you*come to your senses on these current issues?***
*
*It*is not clear what you and the Democrats (*with some*notable
exceptions) have to offer.* On the one hand, you do not use the**many
*opportunities**available to you*to discredit the*Bush Administration.*
On the other hand,* you complain when someone like Ralph Nader does speak
to the issues. *I understand that you**might *feel the progressive vote is
owed to you.* I am sure*that Ralph Nader*infuriates you,* in*providing*
informed voters with a real*alternative.* Let me*put your mind at ease
about*that.** *If there were*no independent or third party candidate
running for the 2004 presidential race,* I*might decide not to
vote.**Because between a chicken hawk**such as Bush and
a*chicken**politician like yourself, there is very little choice.*

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com