Email Grab Bag

I’ve been getting email recently, the basic gist of which seems to be, “You say you’re slightly left of center but everything on your blog seems to be liberal. Are you really a moderate and if so, are there times you may agree with the President?” Some of the email isn’t that nice but I do appreciate the flowery prose and descriptive terms used.

Where do I start?

I’m certainly a moderate. Some thoughts:

I expect to vote for John McCain in the next election if his opponent is Hillary Clinton. Of course, this would mark the first time I’ve ever voted for a Republican president so, that could change. I just see John as more qualified and I believe he’s a good person. I believe he’d have reacted very differently to 9/11.

I believe the death penalty is a legitimate form of punishment because I believe that people who commit certain crimes are no longer human. On the other hand, I believe it is often applied in error and therefore needs to be reviewed and only used in the most extreme cases.

I believe abortion is immoral in many cases. I, however, support the rights of women to make that determination for themselves because I’m not 100% certain if life begins at conception. I’m also not personally aware of what God believes on this subject unlike many on the far right.

I believe people have a right to own firearms although I’m sure the forefathers didn’t have automatic weapons in mind when they drafted the 2nd Amendment, which, by the way, only addresses the formation of a militia. I, therefore, believe the NRA is an evil fringe group with way too much power in our government.

I believe our taxes should be kept to a minimum and we shouldn’t be running up huge deficits. I, however, understand that the vast majority of our current National Debt is due to spending during the Reagan and Bush (1 & 2) presidencies. I, therefore, seriously doubt that the Republican Party is any more likely to spend our money wisely.

So, given those moderate credentials, why is everything on the blog liberal?

This is really simple. We were lied to folks! We’re in the middle of a war in Iraq that was unnecessary and almost 2,000 of our finest young men and women are now dead. The entire Rove scandal makes this crystal clear. Rove is the center of attention right now because he used the power of the Whitehouse to discredit a political opponent by handing out confidential information about a CIA agent. The discrediting was necessary because her husband was publicly pointing out the FALSE statements being made by the Bush Administration about the nuclear ambitions of Iraq. This point is made yet again today in a Washington Post article. (Link). The most important quote is:

“It records that the INR analyst at the meeting opposed
Wilson's trip to Niger because the State Department, through
other inquiries, already had disproved the allegation that Iraq
was seeking uranium from Niger. Attached to the INR
memo were the notes taken by the senior INR analyst who
attended the 2002 meeting at the CIA.”

So, the point is, the State Department knew the claims were false before Wilson was ever sent on the trip and the president used the “Mushroom Cloud” reference in the State of the Union speech he gave almost a year later regardless! This man and his team don’t care what the truth is, they wanted war and they were willing to say anything necessary to get the American People to agree. They got me.

So, back to why the items on this blog are liberal? Because I believe this president has proven time and again that he needs to be thrown out of office. Now, the fact is, nothing I do here is going to get him impeached. However, I may add my voice to those out there attempting to get responsible Democrats elected to provide a real check and balance in our government. That check doesn't exist today and with the recent appointment of yet another conservative to the Supreme Court, the only moderate check in our government will be gone. Voices like mine may also reach the moderate Republicans in congress as well. There are some very good people who happen to be Republican.

I believe almost nothing that comes out of Bush's mouth. I was tricked into supporting him during the period just before the Iraq invasion and I won’t be fooled again. EVERYTHING that’s come out since has supported this. From the information we’re finding out now on Rove’s attack on Joe Wilson and his wife to the claims made by Richard Clarke (Link) and Paul O'Neill (Link) . Heck, even Colin Powell was against the war in Iraq but he was told to sit down and shut up. (Link) These stories all corroborate each other and this important point is just now sinking in with the American people. Finally!

My efforts here, therefore, are to make sure I do everything possible to bring this truth out and I’m disappointed in myself for having not started this process earlier. Maybe, if a few more people in Ohio or Florida had the opportunity to read more blogs like this, we’d have tossed Bush out on his ass last November! Maybe if creative people around the country united and presented this type of information in various forms, the Kerry Campaign would have found better ways to communicate the issues. Frankly, the country wasn’t ready to listen then so nothing may have worked. Then again, this is our country and we’re responsible for its care so… this is my minor contribution. It isn't anything compared to the contributions of hundreds of thousands of young men and women serving right now in Iraq but it's all I've got.

Many thanks to those who are writing me and inspiring tirades like this. You gave me something to do on my lunch hour today. Please, keep your emails coming!