posted on October 23, 2004 06:09:39 PM new
Warning, its a copy and paste
Subject: "Election determines fate of nation"
written by Mathew Manweller
Central Washington University political science professor
"Election determines fate of nation"
In that this will be my last column before the presidential election, there will be no sarcasm, no attempts at witty repartee. The topic is too serious, and the stakes are too high.
This November we will vote in the only election during our lifetime that will truly matter. Because America is at a once-in-a-generation crossroads, more than an election hangs in the balance. Down one path lies retreat, abdication and a reign of ambivalence. Down the other lies a nation that is aware of its past and accepts the daunting obligation its future demands.
If we choose poorly, the consequences will echo through the next 50 years of history. If we, in a spasm of frustration, turn out the current occupant of the White House, the message to the world and ourselves will be two-fold.
First, we will reject the notion that America can do big things.
Once a nation that tamed a frontier, stood down the Nazis and stood upon the moon, we will announce to the world that bringing democracy to the Middle East is too big of a task for us. But more significantly, we will signal to future presidents that as voters, we are unwilling to tackle difficult challenges, preferring caution to boldness, embracing the mediocrity that has characterized other civilizations. The defeat of President Bush will send a chilling message to future presidents who may need to make difficult, yet unpopular decisions. America has always been a nation that rises to the demands of history regardless of the costs or appeal. If we turn away from that legacy, we turn away from who we are.
Second, we inform every terrorist organization on the globe that the lesson of Somalia was well learned. In Somalia we showed terrorists that you don't need to defeat America on the battlefield when you can defeat them in the newsroom. They learned that a wounded America can become a defeated America.
Twenty-four-hour news stations and daily tracing polls will do the heavy lifting, turning a cut into a fatal blow. Except that Iraq is Somalia times 10. The election of John Kerry will serve notice to every terrorist in every cave that the soft underbelly of American power is the timidity of American voters. Terrorists will know that a steady stream of grizzly photos for CNN is all you need to break the will of the American people. Our own self-doubt will take it from there. Bin Laden will recognize that he can topple any American administration without setting foot on the homeland.
It is said thatAmerica's W.W.II generation is its 'greatest generation'. But my greatest fear is that it will become known asAmerica's 'last generation.' Born in the bleakness of the Great Depression and hardened in the fire of WW II, they may be the last American generation that understands the meaning of duty, honor and sacrifice. It is difficult to admit, but I know these terms are spoken with only hollow detachment by many (but not all) in my generation. Too many citizens today mistake 'living inAmerica' as 'being an American.' But America has always been more of an idea than a place. When you sign on, you do more than buy real estate . You accept a set of values and responsibilities.
This November, my generation, which has been absent too long, must grasp the obligation that comes with being an American, or fade into the oblivion they may deserve.
I believe that 100 years from now historians will look back at the election of 2004 and see it as the decisive election of our century. Depending on the outcome, they will describe it as the moment America joined the ranks of ordinary nations; or they will describe it as the moment the prodigal sons and daughters of the greatest generation accepted their burden as caretakers of the City on the Hill."
posted on October 24, 2004 11:56:50 AM new
Here's an excellent response to Manweller. Click on the link below to read it.
WA Wingnut: A Response to Mathew Manweller
by doginfollow
Fri Oct 22nd, 2004 at 02:10:28 GMT
I wrote the following letter to a "political science professor" at Central Washington University whose pro-Bush commentary on local AM radio has been making the rounds on the Internet.
Dear Professor Manweller:
Your radio commentary on the upcoming election was recently forwarded to me by a friend who asked for my opinion.
Since you teach at a university in my state, I was especially interested in the kind of thinking you are sharing with the young people of Washington. Your views were sufficiently provocative to cause me to reply at some length. It is not hard to play on people's patriotism; it's much more difficult to live up to one's own words.
In fairness, I thought I should include you in my response, and thereby enable you to respond. (click on link)
posted on October 24, 2004 03:50:40 PM new
Kiara, thanks for the link. I especially liked this part....
""You show such great insight into the terrorist mind, it's a pity you don't put it to greater use. If the election of John Kerry would encourage terrorists, why not claim the converse: that electing George Bush would cause them to simply give up? Because both claims are equally absurd. Let's look at what al-Qaeda say they want to achieve: a revolution overthrowing the existing regimes in the Middle East and installing an Islamic fundamentalist caliphate. By invading and occupying Iraq, George Bush has fueled resentment of the U.S. throughout the entire region and seriously undermined the long-term stability of governments friendly to us. It's too simple to say that Bush is creating terrorists. Hatred of the U.S. existed in some segments of the population for many years preceding his presidency. But throughout the world, Bush's policies have turned our friends into neutrals, neutrals into hostiles, and hostiles into violent terrorists. It doesn't sound like a winning strategy, does it?""
And then, ridiculously from the neonazicons comes this,
"But then what do you expect from the left... nothing is sacred or safe with them"
Tell that to the Iraqi's. bush kills them left and right and destroys their homes and blows up their scared sights...........and calls it "collateral damage". With him nothing is safe or sacred except Halliburton.
posted on October 24, 2004 04:27:15 PM new
NearTheSea - LOL @ Warning, its a copy and paste....
Well, three lashes with a wet noodle for you. You KNOW you are breaking one of the MOST forbidden rules. It's ONLY okay if the lefties copy and paste...NEVER allowed by the righties.
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Your article is fabulous and speaks directly to the fate of our Nation if kerry is elected. Parish even the thought.
It will be like binladen said about our nation under clinton...'they're paper tigers'. They clearly see who's easier to pull the wool over their eyes....the peace lovin' democrats.
I've said it before and I'll say it again....we're going to be in BIG doo doo should this travisty happen.
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Oh and on the 'daily kos'. LOL...it's a left wing #*!@ site. It's a left wing blog...chat site. One helen has copied and pasted here from several times. [that's allowed, remember ]
It's funny to read sometimes....like recently I was reading when they all had their panties in a bunch over the upcoming 'October surprise'. funny as heck....when it's coming..what's it going to be'....'be sure to post here immediately so we can get the word out exactly as it's happening.' They're hysterical at times.
posted on October 24, 2004 05:01:00 PM new
OK, doofus, it's spelled PERISH!
Go back to school!
Then she says,"Well, three lashes with a wet noodle for you. You KNOW you are breaking one of the MOST forbidden rules. It's ONLY okay if the lefties copy and paste...NEVER allowed by the righties. "
Nobody's ever said this so that either makes linda a liar or a pouty little brat.
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Then she delivers the ultimate insult to democrats,"the peace lovin' democrats".
Ya, according to linda if you like a peaceful world that's bad.
But if you like war, slaughter and torture(especially of children which linda defended), according to linda that's a good thing....is this sick or what?
And once again I hope war hits close to home and some people realize the true cost.
posted on October 24, 2004 05:07:35 PM new
Also had to laugh at this rebuttal statement:
[and of course I overlooked the fact that this is a copy and paste on kiara's part - but I remembered it's allowed by kerry supporters ]
Since you teach at a university in my state, I was especially interested in the kind of thinking you are sharing with the young people of Washington.
Here Matthew Manweller is fortune enough to teach at this university...being nationally approx. 90% of the college professors are LIBERALS...and only approx. 10% are conservatives...[it's that hiring bias the colleges use against hiring conservatives] and that 'doginfollow' [oh brother] is worried about what his child is being taught? LOL now THAT'S funny. Don't worry dad/mom.....your child is for sure getting, for the most part, a very liberal education.
"No...let's get rid of each and every conservative that teaches everywhere." Don't have even close to a balance between liberal views and conservative views in college....according to how the left would like it to be, there should be NO conservatives allowed to give balance to our childrens decision making minds. Absolutely NOT!!
posted on October 24, 2004 05:18:16 PM newDaily Kos
Markos Moulitsas Zúniga has more than a passing relationship with war. Born in El Salvador, the 31-year-old Web developer in Berkeley, Calif., escaped with his family during that country's civil war. Zúniga was 8 years old. His family settled in the U.S., where he became a citizen and later went on to serve in the U.S. Army as a fire direction specialist on Multiple Rocket Launch Systems from 1989 to 1992. He was scheduled to deploy to the Persian Gulf during 1991's Operation Desert Storm, but the war ended before he was to arrive. Given those two facts, you may disagree with his views on the war--he's against it--but you can't say he isn't entitled to his opinion. The site costs him about $200 to operate and carries no advertisements. He says some 10,000 people read it daily.
posted on October 24, 2004 06:08:21 PM new
Thanks, Helen!
Linda_k, we already know that in your mind Daily KOS doesn't match up to your quality rag sites such as Moonie Times and World Nonsense Daily (Human baby born with six heads and body of alligator) type news but others may have higher expectations than what you settle for.
posted on October 24, 2004 06:16:36 PM new
"Election determines fate of nation" those few words are EXACTLY what the Middle and Working Class Americans are worried about.
BRING KERRY/EDWARDS TO THE WHITE HOUSE AND STOP THE BUSH/CHENEY GANG'S LIE MACHINE.
posted on October 24, 2004 06:21:02 PM new
Ha! You beat me to it, Kiara. I was just going to say that according to Linda's stellar 'haha' standards we should get our news from Drudge, moonie times and world net daily.
posted on October 24, 2004 07:37:39 PM new
Did someone say flip-floppin?
Social Security Surplus
BUSH PLEDGES NOT TO TOUCH SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUS... "We're going to keep the promise of Social Security and keep the government from raiding the Social Security surplus." [President Bush, 3/3/01]
...BUSH SPENDS SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUS The New York Times reported that "the president's new budget uses Social Security surpluses to pay for other programs every year through 2013, ultimately diverting more than $1.4 trillion in Social Security funds to other purposes." [The New York Times, 2/6/02]
2. Patient's Right to Sue
GOVERNOR BUSH VETOES PATIENTS' RIGHT TO SUE... "Despite his campaign rhetoric in favor of a patients' bill of rights, Bush fought such a bill tooth and nail as Texas governor, vetoing a bill coauthored by Republican state Rep. John Smithee in 1995. He... constantly opposed a patient's right to sue an HMO over coverage denied that resulted in adverse health effects." [Salon, 2/7/01]
...CANDIDATE BUSH PRAISES TEXAS PATIENTS' RIGHT TO SUE... "We're one of the first states that said you can sue an HMO for denying you proper coverage... It's time for our nation to come together and do what's right for the people. And I think this is right for the people. You know, I support a national patients' bill of rights, Mr. Vice President. And I want all people covered. I don't want the law to supersede good law like we've got in Texas." [Governor Bush, 10/17/00]
...PRESIDENT BUSH'S ADMINISTRATION ARGUES AGAINST RIGHT TO SUE "To let two Texas consumers, Juan Davila and Ruby R. Calad, sue their managed-care companies for wrongful denials of medical benefits ‘would be to completely undermine' federal law regulating employee benefits, Assistant Solicitor General James A. Feldman said at oral argument March 23. Moreover, the administration's brief attacked the policy rationale for Texas's law, which is similar to statutes on the books in nine other states." [Washington Post, 4/5/04]
3. Tobacco Buyout
BUSH SUPPORTS CURRENT TOBACCO FARMERS' QUOTA SYSTEM... "They've got the quota system in place -- the allotment system -- and I don't think that needs to be changed." [President Bush, 5/04]
...BUSH ADMINISTRATION WILL SUPPORT FEDERAL BUYOUT OF TOBACCO QUOTAS "The administration is open to a buyout." [White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo, 6/18/04]
4. North Korea
BUSH WILL NOT OFFER NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA INCENTIVES TO DISARM... "We developed a bold approach under which, if the North addressed our long-standing concerns, the United States was prepared to take important steps that would have significantly improved the lives of the North Korean people. Now that North Korea's covert nuclear weapons program has come to light, we are unable to pursue this approach." [President's Statement, 11/15/02]
...BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFERS NORTH KOREA INCENTIVES TO DISARM"Well, we will work to take steps to ease their political and economic isolation. So there would be -- what you would see would be some provisional or temporary proposals that would only lead to lasting benefit after North Korea dismantles its nuclear programs. So there would be some provisional or temporary efforts of that nature." [White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, 6/23/04]
5. Abortion
BUSH SUPPORTS A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE... "Bush said he...favors leaving up to a woman and her doctor the abortion question." [The Nation, 6/15/00, quoting the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 5/78]
...BUSH OPPOSES A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE "I am pro-life." [Governor Bush, 10/3/00]
6. OPEC
BUSH PROMISES TO FORCE OPEC TO LOWER PRICES... "What I think the president ought to do [when gas prices spike] is he ought to get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say we expect you to open your spigots...And the president of the United States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the price." [President Bush, 1/26/00]
...BUSH REFUSES TO LOBBY OPEC LEADERS With gas prices soaring in the United States at the beginning of 2004, the Miami Herald reported the president refused to "personally lobby oil cartel leaders to change their minds." [Miami Herald, 4/1/04]
7. Iraq Funding
BUSH SPOKESMAN DENIES NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR THE REST OF 2004... "We do not anticipate requesting supplemental funding for '04" [White House Budget Director Joshua Bolton, 2/2/04]
...BUSH REQUESTS ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR IRAQ FOR 2004 "I am requesting that Congress establish a $25 billion contingency reserve fund for the coming fiscal year to meet all commitments to our troops." [President Bush, Statement by President, 5/5/04]
8. Condoleeza Rice Testimony
BUSH SPOKESMAN SAYS RICE WON'T TESTIFY AS 'A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE'... "Again, this is not her personal preference; this goes back to a matter of principle. There is a separation of powers issue involved here. Historically, White House staffers do not testify before legislative bodies. So it's a matter of principle, not a matter of preference." [White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, 3/9/04]
...BUSH ORDERS RICE TO TESTIFY: "Today I have informed the Commission on Terrorist Attacks Against the United States that my National Security Advisor, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, will provide public testimony." [President Bush, 3/30/04]
9. Science
BUSH PLEDGES TO ISSUE REGULATIONS BASED ON SCIENCE..."I think we ought to have high standards set by agencies that rely upon science, not by what may feel good or what sounds good." [then-Governor George W. Bush, 1/15/00]
...BUSH ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS IGNORE SCIENCE "60 leading scientists—including Nobel laureates, leading medical experts, former federal agency directors and university chairs and presidents—issued a statement calling for regulatory and legislative action to restore scientific integrity to federal policymaking. According to the scientists, the Bush administration has, among other abuses, suppressed and distorted scientific analysis from federal agencies, and taken actions that have undermined the quality of scientific advisory panels." [Union of Concerned Scientists, 2/18/04]
10. Ahmed Chalabi
BUSH INVITES CHALABI TO STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS...President Bush also met with Chalabi during his brief trip to Iraq last Thanksgiving [White House Documents 1/20/04, 11/27/03]
...BUSH MILITARY ASSISTS IN RAID OF CHALABI'S HOUSE "U.S. soldiers raided the home of America's one-time ally Ahmad Chalabi on Thursday and seized documents and computers." [Washington Post, 5/20/04]
11. Department of Homeland Security
BUSH OPPOSES THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY..."So, creating a Cabinet office doesn't solve the problem. You still will have agencies within the federal government that have to be coordinated. So the answer is that creating a Cabinet post doesn't solve anything." [White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, 3/19/02]
...BUSH SUPPORTS THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY "So tonight, I ask the Congress to join me in creating a single, permanent department with an overriding and urgent mission: securing the homeland of America and protecting the American people." [President Bush, Address to the Nation, 6/6/02]
12. Weapons of Mass Destruction
BUSH SAYS WE FOUND THE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION..."We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories...for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them." [President Bush, Interview in Poland, 5/29/03]
...BUSH SAYS WE HAVEN'T FOUND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION "David Kay has found the capacity to produce weapons.And when David Kay goes in and says we haven't found stockpiles yet, and there's theories as to where the weapons went. They could have been destroyed during the war. Saddam and his henchmen could have destroyed them as we entered into Iraq. They could be hidden. They could have been transported to another country, and we'll find out." [President Bush, Meet the Press, 2/7/04]
13. Free Trade
BUSH SUPPORTS FREE TRADE... "I believe strongly that if we promote trade, and when we promote trade, it will help workers on both sides of this issue." [President Bush in Peru, 3/23/02]
...BUSH SUPPORTS RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE "In a decision largely driven by his political advisers, President Bush set aside his free-trade principles last year and imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel to help out struggling mills in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, two states crucial for his reelection." [Washington Post, 9/19/03]
14. Osama Bin Laden
BUSH WANTS OSAMA DEAD OR ALIVE... "I want justice. And there's an old poster out West, I recall, that says, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.'" [President Bush, on Osama Bin Laden, 09/17/01]
...BUSH DOESN'T CARE ABOUT OSAMA "I don't know where he is.You know, I just don't spend that much time on him... I truly am not that concerned about him."[President Bush, Press Conference, 3/13/02]
15. The Environment
BUSH SUPPORTS MANDATORY CAPS ON CARBON DIOXIDE... "[If elected], Governor Bush will work to...establish mandatory reduction targets for emissions of four main pollutants: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide." [Bush Environmental Plan, 9/29/00]
...BUSH OPPOSES MANDATORY CAPS ON CARBON DIOXIDE "I do not believe, however, that the government should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon dioxide, which is not a 'pollutant' under the Clean Air Act." [President Bush, Letter to Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), 3/13/03]
16. WMD Commission
BUSH RESISTS AN OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION ON WMD INTELLIGENCE FAILURE... "The White House immediately turned aside the calls from Kay and many Democrats for an immediate outside investigation, seeking to head off any new wide-ranging election-year inquiry that might go beyond reports already being assembled by congressional committees and the Central Intelligence Agency." [NY Times, 1/29/04]
...BUSH SUPPORTS AN OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION ON WMD INTELLIGENCE FAILURE "Today, by executive order, I am creating an independent commission, chaired by Governor and former Senator Chuck Robb, Judge Laurence Silberman, to look at American intelligence capabilities, especially our intelligence about weapons of mass destruction." [President Bush, 2/6/04]
17. Creation of the 9/11 Commission
BUSH OPPOSES CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION... "President Bush took a few minutes during his trip to Europe Thursday to voice his opposition to establishing a special commission to probe how the government dealt with terror warnings before Sept. 11." [CBS News, 5/23/02]
...BUSH SUPPORTS CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION "President Bush said today he now supports establishing an independent
posted on October 25, 2004 10:34:22 AM new
It's strange that the crazy right wing here won't address the positions and arguments in the response. It is just empty carping of "liberal" this and that.
The response was a devastatingly on the mark critisism of Bush the idiot.
BTW thanx for the link kiara, it is refreshing to read such an intellegent and fact supported article.
