I may be channeling Keith ...

[YvonneCa]

...Olbermann’s anger. (Although I wish I had just a pinch of his talent.) :) But, this morning, when I turned on C-Span and heard the discussion about President Bush’s remarks in Israel I was outraged. (If you missed them, here’s a link to MSNBC where both the prepared speech and actual remarks are posted. ) http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/05/bush-equat...

(Sorry, trouble with the MSNBC one.)Edit: And apparently trouble with this one, too. Anyone with a good link? Help... :)


I admit, I did not vote for President Bush…either time. In 2000 I voted for Al Gore because I believe in the principles of the Democratic Party that he represented. I am also one of those people who is doubtful that Bush’s presidency is legitimate…I think the Supreme Court ruled incorrectly in 2000, and that Al Gore really won the presidency. And I was SO PROUD of him for the classy way he stepped aside in the interest of the country. THAT was true patriotism!

But, in 2001, I DID try…really hard, even though I was worried…to set aside my doubts and get behind the president after September 11th. My patriotism tells me that that is what you do when your country is at risk. And most of us…both Democrat and Republican… on September 12, 2001 did agree on that.

Then I watched and learned about the Bush Administration. I saw March 19, 2003 and the attack on Iraq…and I LEARNED that President Bush believed pre-emptive war was okay. I saw pictures of torture and disrespect for the Geneva Conventions…and I LEARNED that President Bush allowed that to become the image of my beloved country. I saw and heard other things. People I believed in like Al Gore, John Kerry, Wesley Clark, Jimmy Carter begin to speak out. On radio, television, and online there were stories of illegal wiretapping …and I LEARNED that I was not alone in my concerns for our country. And by 2004, I was a volunteer (for the first time in my life) for a political campaign…first, for Wesley Clark, and then for Kerry-Edwards.

I share all this to make two points. One, I am guilty of not being a Bush Administration fan. Guilty as charged. But two, I love this country and want us to be united and strong so that we are able to withstand ANY challenge we may face in the future. And that brings me to the other thing I saw while watching the Bush Administration…I saw that nearly every important decision they made was based upon winning politically. Whether it was in Iraq, the Justice Department, in education with NCLB, with FEMA during Katrina, with the economy…it didn’t matter…ACTIONS WERE ABOUT POLITICAL GAIN. And I saw groups of people being used to reach political objectives…the military (including WWII vets like my dad), the ‘religious right’ and the deeply religious, the middle class, both ‘the children’ and the teachers affected by NCLB, the poor, the people of Louisiana…it’s an endless list. It was really difficult to watch people I care about being mislead that way. And sadly, WHAT I LEARNED is that President Bush is not looking out for the American people.


I am SO SAD for what I have come to learn about this administration. It has hurt our country. It continues to hurt all of us, who just want to regain respect of others in the world and return to our values and lead again. But I am hopeful that things will improve…it seems that recent polls show 82% of Americans now think the country is on the wrong track. We’re finally awake. :)

So, back to the president’s remarks in Israel this morning. I’d like to believe the spin from Dana Perino and others that it wasn’t directed at Barack Obama. I’d like to, but I can’t. Why? Several reasons: 1) That 82% poll. I’m sure Bush saw it, too. 2) The trend-setting congressional race in Mississippi where the Democrat won against a Bush aligned Republican opponent. 3) Because I have been watching the presidential campaign. I have seen that President Bush and his party hoped for and assumed their November opponent would be Hillary Clinton. I have seen that Barack Obama has a good chance to be the Democratic nominee. Republicans are worried. 3) I saw in 2004 how ‘spin” on TV and Homeland Security alerts and purple band aids and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (and more) were used to reach a political goal by this administration. The ‘swift-boating’ of Senator John Kerry was criminal.

I can’t believe the spin because I HAVE LEARNED:

This administration will tell any lie and stoop to any depth to reach its political goal of a McCain White House in 2009…period.

President Bush is ‘swiftboating’ Barack Obama. How pathetic!

[gateley]

1. Biden called Bush's statements bullshit --

here's a link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5983517&mesg_id=5983517

[YvonneCa]

3. Good for him...

...I love Joe Biden! :)

[CC]

2. Bush would "swiftboat" any democratic

nominee, Obama is in the lead and looks like the nominee so he is getting the swiftboating. Bush puts his party and politics before the country. That is part of why I hate him so much and will never forgive him for what he has done to us and the world.