January 21, 2004

I Hate Politics ... And the Coming War

Here are quotes from the State of the Union address that trouble me:

1. And America has always been willing to do what it takes for what is right.

2. I believe that God has planted in every heart the desire to live in freedom. And even when that desire is crushed by tyranny for decades, it will rise again.

3. So America is pursuing a forward strategy of freedom in the greater Middle East. We will challenge the enemies of reform, confront the allies of terror, and expect a higher standard from our friends.

I don't know about any of you, dear Readers, but this rhetoric scares the bejeebers out of me. Bush and his close advisors want to leave the legacy that they cured the ills in the Middle East -- that has been something that these guys have wanted since Bush the Elder was in office and was the plan for his second term.

If Bush the Lesser gets elected, I see none of the things he promised in the way of curing domestic ills coming to pass. I see pre-emptive wars in a number of places in the Middle East, however.

If so, the draft will be resurrected. You middle-of-the-roaders with boys 15 and older who are voting should remember that come November. Of course, you may be too young to recall the last draft. And the 52,000 body bags. And the devastation of families here and abroad. Yes, my friends, 500 deaths in Iraq is nothing compared to what is on the horizon if Bush is re-elected.

I don't claim to be an intelligent guy. I don't claim to be a student of politics. I hope someone out there can give a couple good reasons why I'm wrong. And don't give me the bullshit about Saddam being a ba-a-a-a-a-d man.

Posted by Bill at January 21, 2004 12:11 PM
Comments

and this gay marriage thing: does he have friends who when hearing gay marriage is legal will say "shit! if only i woulda known! i coulda married a man!"

ok i'm done. i'm sick of it.

Posted by: stacey at January 21, 2004 12:22 PM

While I'm not convinced yet of the other candidates out there, I cannot imagine GBW getting elected again. I just can't.

Posted by: Charlene at January 21, 2004 01:33 PM

As a history major, I just don't understand how anyone can think that democracy can be introduced into a culture which has absolutely NO concept of it. What if Iraq WANTS a theocracy? Who are we to decide that's wrong? Representative government took over 1000 years to evolve in western Europe, and he we expect people to jump right on it elsewhere. A lot of them don't want to. They WANT someone to tell them how to live. Just like some people here.

Posted by: TW at January 21, 2004 05:33 PM

We Texans are so fortunate, we get to claim both Bushes and LBJ as favorite sons (read with a sarcastic tone). Actually, the Bush family are transplants and cannot be considered true natives. Lesser Bush - now that's a hoot. We (the non-lovers of Bush and Company) usually just refer to him as Shrub. The man doesn't have sense to pour piss out of a boot. And that's dumb.

Posted by: Cowtown Pattie at January 21, 2004 09:13 PM

I remember reading somwhere that American presidents are either popular at home or popular abroad, never both, this one seems to have managed UNpopular everywhere.

Posted by: Anji at January 22, 2004 02:17 AM

There will be no draft in our future. All politicians, liberal and conservative, learned the terrible lessons of trying to make a draft un-political.

Yet, on other points, I am in agreement with you. Not complete, but enough. Oh, and who said we were a democracy?

Posted by: Jay at January 22, 2004 01:45 PM

Scary. Very scary.

Posted by: kathy at January 22, 2004 08:58 PM

Four more years!

Posted by: Brett at January 22, 2004 11:50 PM

I thought and thought, and I couldn't come up with even one tiny reason why you're wrong.

Posted by: Philip at January 23, 2004 09:44 AM

Scarily enough, I hear a lot of support from him and I'm in an area where there are a lot of dems. So I CAN see him getting reelected and it terrifies me.

Posted by: Keri at January 23, 2004 01:05 PM