Another celebrity gets (or got) it. (Kerry related)

[politicasista]

Don't know if you guys are familiar with John Legend (Grammy Winner). He has a cool voice, but he is also politically active. He also spoke out on the Bush Administration's slow response to Katrina. Found some snippets from a journal he wrote, while it's bittersweet, at least he wasn't afraid to say why he was voting for Kerry.

October 30, 2004

Election Message

Hey People,

I want to encourage everyone in the U.S. 18 & up to exercise your
right to vote this Tuesday, Nov 2.

Each of you should make your own personal decision on who you think is
the right candidate (check out www.voteforsomething.com if you want
some quick advice on the candidates' positions). I'm personally
voting for John Kerry for President. I'm doing so for a number of
reasons:

----

I prefer Kerry's philosophies on foreign policy and national security.
I believe President Bush has consistently misled the public on the
reasons for going to Iraq. He has mismanaged the plans for post-war
Iraq, and, overall, he has made America and the world a more dangerous
place by alienating the rest of the world and taking his focus off of
the actual terrorists in order to pursue the war on Saddam, who had
nothing to do with 9/11 and had no nuclear weapons. (Read the 9/11
Commission Report at http://www.9-11commission.gov/)

As much as he tries to scare people about what will happen if Kerry
wins, President Bush is the one who has failed to make this country
safer. His policies continue to create animosity around the world,
and he refuses to admit that he's wrong, so don't expect things to get
any better in the next four years.

----

Bush's domestic policies are not very encouraging either. He does not
have a comprehensive plan for bringing health care to poor or working
class people. His priorities are on tax relief for wealthy Americans.
Everybody likes lower taxes (I know I hate paying taxes myself), but
you can't get something for nothing. Every President has to decide
what is a priority, because the government can't do everything. When
it comes down to it, Bush's priorities are with the rich and powerful.
(FYI: Bush is expected to sign a bill that gives $140 billion in new
business tax breaks to big businesses and multinational corporations,
the bill is so extreme that Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican,
called it "the worst example of the
influence of special interests that I have ever seen.") In the
meantime, Kerry has a plan to bring healthcare to nearly all
Americans. To pay for it, he'd restore higher taxes for really rich
people. I think this is a small sacrifice to make sure nearly every
American has equal access to quality health care.

While Bush pays lip service to education and helping the middle class,
he fails to put his money where his mouth is. This is part of a
common pattern with this so-called "compassionate conservative."
He'll talk like a moderate, but he always governs from the far right
with a very divisive agenda. He claims to be a man of his word, but
he so frequently misleads the American people and fails to deliver on
his promises. He said he'd "leave no child behind" in his education
policy, but he'd rather spend that money on attacking Iraq and cutting
taxes for the wealthy than fund his own education programs. He said
he was for an assault weapons ban, but he intentionally made no effort
to get the ban passed in the congress. I guess he was more
preoccupied with trying to pass a constitutional amendment on gay
marriage than protecting his own citizens from gun violence.

Additionally, George W. Bush has been the worst president in decades
when it comes to the environment. Again, he always sides with the
rich and powerful when he sets his policy priorities. He is oblivious
to the long-term effects of his policies and refuses to accept the
overwhelming scientific evidence about global warming and its harmful
consequences. I could provide more examples, but this note is already
getting long. (Read Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s new book "Crimes Against
Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the
Country and Hijacking Our Democracy;" I hear it's very good.)

----

Don't allow yourself or your family to be misled, discouraged or
intimidated. The only way Bush can be re-elected is if he succeeds in
suppressing the votes of young people and minorities. He knows this;
his party knows this; you should know this too.

So, I urge you to GO VOTE ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd. I believe this is
the most important election of our lifetime. I know Kerry's not
perfect, but this country can't take another 4 years of deception,
mismanagement and misplaced priorities by the Bush administration.

If you've gotten this far in my looooong message, thanks for your time. :)

Peace,
John

[wisteria]

1. Very well thought out positions. it's nice that he thought enough of

Kerry to present his positions on issues and tell people he was voting for him. I do wonder where the comment about Kerry not being perfect comes from and how it fits into his opinion of the Senator? I ask because I have heard this mentioned before, and I wonder if it has something to do with a comparison to Bill Clinton or had to do more with JK position on the war in Iraq.

[politicasista]

2. Possibly both.

I don't know if he was involved during the primary season and may have backed someone else. But I remember the media tried to (unfairly) compare Kerry to Clinton and how Kerry was having trouble connecting with minority voters, which many thought Clinton's strong suit. As far, as the war in Iraq, he (like myself) is opposed to the war and may not have cared for Kerry's stance on Iraq. :shrug:

[fedupinBushcountry]

3. He's right

Rove knew he had to suppress the votes of the young and the minorities, and they did just that, and Kerry still won both the young vote and of course the minority vote. he thing is he is right, Rove suppressed bigtime, I would say by 3 million +, and that is what cannot happen again. We must take the streets if it does. Pay close attention come this November, I don't trust them at all.

That he's not perfect, can go both ways, for one thing no one is perfect, and secondly the media tried to push Dean as anti-war which in fact he was not and Kerry as not. Kerry did not vote for war, he voted for diplomacy and war as a LAST RESORT. I get tired of that doublespeak, if we had anything close to a real true president, we would never be in Iraq right now. Bush went to war, he played politics with that vote and no matter what the vote was, he would of done it anyway. It's pretty sad when you can not trust the POTUS, and now future presidents are going to suffer because of his arrogance of power.

[politicasista]

4. My bad fedup

Unfortunately, people still let Bush off the hook for IWR. I don't know why the dems won't hammer the reason why it would have prevented war and was a vote for diplomacy and not war more.

[karynnj]

5. As Dr Ron convinced me

it can be reasonably blamed on Dean and Trippi. Before Dean became THE ANTI-WAR candidate, Kerry was described as anti-war , because he was.

[fedupinBushcountry]

7. Exactly

because Dean was for a vote, the Biden-Lugar one, so no matter which one Bush still would of done what he wanted. Dean was on the easy road, he didn't have to cast a vote he just had to talk the talk.

[fedupinBushcountry]

6. I don't know

if that is true anymore. People are waking up to Bush's lies. Just think even under the first Bush if he had this IWR vote in front of him, do you think he would of done what his arrogant son did, NO, at least he would of done the diplomacy and would have not let the neo-cons rule him.

Kerry did exactly what you said, and he was the first to do so, the others were still running scared, and in fact he did so in his floor speech on his vote. John Kerry is a diplomat, and truly cares about the security of our country. To bad so many Dems were more worried that Kerry might win and therefore spoil their chances for president for good.