Bring It On

[davidm]

Many of the criticisms of President Bush on this board reveal a lot more about the deficiencies of the posters than their intended target. This thread is as good an example of ignorance, pettiness and low intelligence as any I am likely to find on the internet.

So President Bush has reduced a lot of his fellow men to poverty, has he? Just what did he do to achieve this? Shortly before Bush was elected, the American economy went into decline. Depending upon your preferred technical definition, the economy may have gone into recession early in his term. That recession was the mildest and shortest in American history. Period.

Even the most rabid Bush hater would find it hard to justify blaming that recession on Dubya. But what about the handling of that "recession"? Doesn't the man deserve some recognition for the mildness and brevity of the decline?

Some might also blame Bush for the stock market tanking during his watch. They'd be wrong, but it probably won't stop them. The NASDAQ imploded after reaching a peak about six weeks after Bush began his term in office. The cause of that decline was the bursting of the dot com bubble. That bubble was created around the middle of Pres. Clinton's term. If any president is to blame, he's the one.

The downside of managing a recession so there is hardly any drop in GDP is that there is no "bounce" to give recovery dynamic momentum. That's a prime reason for the slow job creation thus far. Another reason is California. That state was dreadfully mismanaged by Democrats. As one of the largest state economis in the USA, it influenced overall GDP and job creation figures. Remove California from the equation and there was no recession by any generally accepted definition, and the jobs loss thus far has been minimal.Those losses will probably be eliminated by the end of this year.

What about the budget deficit? So far, that deficit hasn't impoverished anyone. From a neutral standpoint, the deficit is nasty politics: the Republicans are able to finance their agenda and by the time the Democrats are back in control, there's no more money and they are forced to ditch their own pet programmes in favour of balancing the books. By the time there's money to spend once more, the Republicans will probably be in a dominant position.

What has Bush achieved so far? At home, he made an impassioned attempt to reform education. Democrats blocked the most radical reforms, but even the modest changes they accepted amount to more than anything since President Johnson.

Abroad, he has removed two evil regimes from power, namely the Taleban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein's Baathists in Iraq. His progress in assisting those countries become free, prosperous and safe leaves a lot to be desired and hopefully he will have more to show over the next 12 months.

Another dictator, Col Gadhaffi has effectively surrendered without a shot fired in anger since Bush became president.

If Bush has really united the world against him, why did so many governments support his war against Iraq? Why will millions of Americans vote for him in November? Why is he still the favourite to win that election? Bush does have a rather simplistic view of the world, and has managed to anger liberals, social democrats and millions of "old" Europeans who feel diminished because they weren't consulted before each of Bush's decisions. The French and Germans in particular, see their vision of leading a United States of Europe as an equal or even superior to America in tatters. Their jealousy and resentment shine through every poisoned outburst.

(BTW, this post in not intended as a criticism against anyone who was referring to service in Vietnam.)

[mouse]

Dear davidm I notice that you do not have an avavtar and have therefore supplied one for you to use. Since you speak so highly of the man that has almost lead America to financial ruin and the rest of the world against us, due to his numerous unjust acts, I am sure he would not mind using one of the images on the following site designed just for you.

http://members.cscoms.com/~mglatz/bush.htm

[Jeepz]

Boon Me~

I in no way meant to denigrate mouse, or his service to the country. I, however, am not a member of the VFW. I will take your word that they do not disparage the contributions of their members regarding the Vietnam conflict. I would be surprised if they did. In general, neither do I.

Let me dig out my DD214 and see if I can continue or not. Okay, sorry, that was a cheap shot. I didn't agree with Vietnam when I was young. But that was not the same thing as seeing America as evil or bad. As I've gotten older, I have been moved in both directions concerning the validity for going there and the way we departed.

But in all that time, I have never intentionally defamed or denigrated a member of the armed services. Even when I was one. (Well, I might have said something less than sterling about a couple of them during boot camp.)

Jeepz

[Boon Mee]

<<Many of the criticisms of President Bush on this board reveal a lot more about the deficiencies of the posters than their intended target. This thread is as good an example of ignorance, pettiness and low intelligence as any I am likely to find on the internet.>>

Spot on, David! The viceral hatred shown re. GWB is not to be believed! But, assume for a minute that the media is correct in favoring Kerry. The Ketchup King spent a total of 4, count 'em, FOUR months in Vietnam and those 120 days are so impressive they outweigh 20 years of zero accomplishment in Washington as a congressman.

The leftist, commie, pinko sympathizer was remarkable for being wrong on every issue, from Reagan's raid on Libya to the Gulf War to every new weapon systems for the US military. When he was being interviewed by Wolf Striesand (Blitzer) on CNN the other day he characterized the war on terror - "I think there has been an exaggeration" he said, "They are really misleading America in a profound way. It's primarily an intellegence and law enforcement operation" Right. This is after voting against any funding to improve HUMIT.

Bush wants to take the war to the enemies, fight it on their turf. Kerry wants to do it through "law enforcement" If the Empire State Building gets blown up, he'll launch an investigation. Even if Bush was AWOL 30 years ago, on everything that matters this John Kerry ###### is AWOL now.

Boon Mee

[mouse]

Jeepz I did not understand that certain part of your post well, however if needed my DD Form 214 is availabel to you upon request.

[Boon Mee]

Boon Me~

I in no way meant to denigrate mouse, or his service to the country.  I, however, am not a member of the VFW.  I will take your word that they do not disparage the contributions of their members regarding the Vietnam conflict.  I would be surprised if they did.  In general, neither do I. 

Let me dig out my DD214 and see if I can continue or not.  Okay, sorry, that was a cheap shot.  I didn't agree with Vietnam when I was young.  But that was not the same thing as seeing America as evil or bad.  As I've gotten older, I have been moved in both directions concerning the validity for going there and the way we departed. 

But in all that time, I have never intentionally defamed or denigrated a member of the armed services.  Even when I was one.  (Well, I might have said something less than sterling about a couple of them during boot camp.) 

Jeepz

Jeepz

Didn't presume you were putting the Mouse down. What I was saying is no one I've ever talked to within a VFW Club EVER questioned what we did or why we did it. Now that's not to say everyone I've ever met/talked to within the confines of a VFW or American Legion were flag-waving, John Wayne apple-pie-eating rabid patriots.

My point has more to do with the attention left-wing appeasers get from the press and Hollywood. And, those with an agenda like the Ketchup King...

Boon Mee

p.s. maybe there's a way for all of us to post our DD214's around here so we know - you know what I mean?

[Jeepz]

mouse~

All I actually meant was that I had one. Nothing major intended. I get a bit too witty for my own good sometimes.

Boon Me~

My DD214 just says I did my time, went where they told me to, did what they trained me for, and left with a clean record. No major ribbons, awards, or citations.

My draft status 3Y when I argued my way into the Navy, and as we left Honolulu headed west on a kinda tubby LPD, I got a letter from the draft board stating they had converted me to 4F status. I found that a bit amusing.

Jeepz

[mouse]

no problem guys. no offense taken just did not know where you guys were coming from

[Georgie-Porgie]

Dear davidm I notice that you do not have an avavtar and have therefore supplied one for you to use.

http://members.cscoms.com/~mglatz/bush.htm[/url]

You know, there are rumors that Georgie-B was doing recon missions with The Seals near Hue during his missing time from flight school.

If davidm doesn't want one of these for his avavtar, I would be highly honored to use "The Turbanater" as mine! Only one problem, I'm no computer whiz. Can anyone tell me how to use an avatar? Do you cut and paste it, or what?

[Boon Mee]

Dear davidm  I notice that you do not have an avavtar and have therefore supplied one for you to use. 

http://members.cscoms.com/~mglatz/bush.htm[/url]

one problem, I'm no computer whiz. Can anyone tell me how to use an avatar? Do you cut and paste it, or what?

Georgie

Do a Google for one of the hundreds of free avatar sites out there and export something you like to your "Control Panel".

Yeah, where is the Gent???

[mbkudu]

Don't be fooled into thinking that there is any difference between Dems and Repubs. G.W.Bush was born in New Haven Connecticut and went Yale U. He was a member of the Skull and Bones society. This not some quaint little fraternity. If you do your research you'll find that some of the world's greatest corporate criminals and corrupt politicians have come from this "secret society".

John Kerry as well went to Yale and is a member of the above mentioned society. These two men are cut from the same fabric, cast from the same mold.

There really is no hope for America and the world for that matter, if people like this are allowed to lead this nation. They have such a tight grip on the globe that it may take decades to break free from it. I'm really not sure where the answer lies.

Many of my friends say, "Just vote for Kerry, Kucinich doesn't have a chance against Bush." Well I have a conscience and will vote in the primaries, but if it's Bush and Kerry in the end, count my vote out.

[Thaiquila]

There IS a difference between the republican and democratic parties!

People stupid enough to vote for Bush this time are voting for:

radical neocon preemptive strike war strategy

massive defecits which will in short time use all of the money for entitlement programs, such as social security and medicare

diminished workers rights

diminished civil liberties and personal privacy rights

harassment of media freedom

radical Christian right wing intervention in a country that is supposed to be secular, such as restriction of stem cell research, supression of safe sex education, opposition to legal abortion, and active discrimination against homosexuals

tax cuts for the rich, when the rich should be paying more now in a time of huge defecits and global conflict

Do not believe the bull from the Nadar apologists. There IS a difference.

And there is hope to unseat the Bush regime:

The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows Massachusetts senator and potential Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry leading President George W. Bush by a 53% to 46% margin in a trial-heat matchup among likely voters.

[Boon Mee]

People who are smart enough to vote for GWB know that the deficit is a non-issue - one of the greatest President's America has ever had - Ronald Reagan proved that.

No, the US economy is growing at a healthy 4.1 percent and employers have added more jobs in February than any month since late 2000. And, manufacturing expanded for the 10th straight month. Polls actually have Bush ahead by two points factoring in the Nader vote. Come on Ralph!...

Boon Mee

[Thaiquila]

People who are smart enough to vote for GWB know that the deficit is a non-issue - one of the greatest President's America has ever had - Ronald Reagan proved that. 

No, the US economy is growing at a healthy 4.1 percent and employers have added more jobs in February than any month since late 2000.  And, manufacturing expanded for the 10th straight month.  Polls actually have Bush ahead by two points factoring in the Nader vote.  Come on Ralph!...

Boon Mee

Reagan (and also the Bush neocon ideology) deliberately ran up deficits with this specific goal: FORCE the end of all of the FDR New Deal social programs because there is NO MONEY to pay for it.

Reagan didn't succeed in this goal. Bush, with a second term, is very likely to succeed in this goal.

If you want social security and medicare to be trashed, vote for Bush. Lest you call this scare tactic politics, merely read the history of what Reagan was trying to do.

Nadar is not a factor. The democrats are energized and realize that Nadar was indeed the spoiler in 00, and the vast majority of previous Nadar voters now know that his line about there being no difference between Bush and Gore was a disgusting lie.

[Boon Mee]

If any of y'all considering on voting for the Ketchup King you might want to check out the following before making your final decision:

Retired Army Col. Glenn Lackey has some words for anti-war presidential candidate John Kerry: Dear Mr. Kerry. (Hat tip: T. Jefferson.)

Dear Mr. Kerry;

After spending only four months in the country of Vietnam, you testified before Congress in 1971 with these exact words about incidents you say you witnessed: “They personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blew up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Viet Nam.”

Spread that on a farmer’s field where it will do some good. I spent a year there in 1968-69 in a combat arms unit. I was a Field Artillery Forward Observer in an Infantry company and I saw combat every day until I was wounded. When I returned from the hospital, I was assigned to an artillery battery. I saw brave men fight and die; I saw brave, good men pass out all their rations to hungry kids, build churches and schools, donate to orphanages, cry silently at the sight of villagers slaughtered by North Vietnamese, but I never saw anything approaching the war crimes that you happened to witness as your boat sped by villages on the river bank. If you witnessed atrocities and did not report them, you are guilty of aiding and abetting. If you lied, you are simply unfit for leadership at any level. The most serious incident I witnessed was a young sergeant who grabbed the arm of a Vietnamese woman during a village search. An older, more experienced noncommissioned officer knocked the sergeant to the ground and told him, somewhat forcefully, that that woman was someone’s mother and would be treated with respect. That’s it, Kerry, that’s my confession - I didn’t report the incident.

I have children, and my children have children. They will, perhaps, stumble upon your words, much as one might stumble upon a pile of dog droppings. I do not relish the thought of having to explain that your “experiences” are either a bald-faced lie, or you belong to that less-than-1% of Viet Nam veterans who committed war crimes/atrocities. Either way, your words do great harm to the institution of the Senate, my home state of Massachusetts, the Armed Services in which I proudly served for 27 years, and the very country that you aspire to lead.

Is it true that you single-handedly prevented a vote on a Senate version of H.R. 2833, the Viet Nam Human Rights Act of 2001 - a bill that passed the House by a vote of 410-1? There are many who believe that our failure to speak decisively on that issue cost the lives of thousands of Montagnard tribesman in Viet Nam. Where do you stand on H.R. 1587, the Viet Nam Human Rights Act of 2003? Will you support a parallel bill in the Senate? Is it true that you served as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on MIA/POW Affairs and in that role you fought hard to limit the expenditure of funds to investigate sightings or search for remains? You have, I believe, been a steadfast, staunch and vocal advocate for normalizing relations with Viet Nam. Could it be that your beloved first cousin, Mr. Forbes, CEO of Colliers International, recently signed a contract with Hanoi worth billions of dollars? Any truth to the rumor that you didn’t really fling your “hard-earned” military medals over the White House fence in a juvenile fit of pique as you say you did, but rather, you threw your roommate’s medals instead?

I know dozens of retired military professionals. None of them support you - there is a reason for that. They all served honorably and well, and they all believe that you did not. I know war heroes, and you, sir, are no war hero.

Col. Glenn Lackey

If Kerry is the best that the Democrats can come up with, GWB is going to have a cake-walk in November. Shades of Walter Mondale & Michael Dukakis - it'll be a rout!

Boon Mee