Text 8396, 98 rader
Skriven 2005-02-01 17:47:12 av Ed Connell (1:379/1.6)
   Kommentar till text 8368 av Stan Hardegree (1:379/1.2)
Ärende: Re: Proud Democrat
==========================
Hey, Stan.

 EC>>  I loved it that Pat Sajac (sp?) of Wheel of Fortune just blew up when
 EC>> he compared Kerry's remarks with the images and stories he was getting
 EC>> from Iraq.  He wrote a column for some journal that concluded that
 EC>> Kerry is trash.  I forget his exact words, but that was his message.

 SH> Sajak says.....

 SH> Name Calling

 SH> I am about to call someone a name.

 SH> This is not a decision I've reached lightly. Name-calling is not in my
 SH> nature. True, I have cast more than my share of aspersions on others,
 SH> but I have tried to do it with humor, or, even when I was seriously
 SH> upset, I tried to modulate my tone.

 SH> This is not to say that I don't get angry, but I'm not a screamer. I
 SH> tend to sulk and plot revenge. I'm sure there must have been times
 SH> when, as a child, I called someone "stupid" or "ugly" or "fat" or some
 SH> of the other hateful things that children often say, though I don't
 SH> remember specific instances.

 SH> And, yet, I'm about to call someone a name.

 SH> I've always been interested in politics, a rough-and-tumble field where
 SH> name-calling is not unusual. I enjoy reading and writing about
 SH> politics, and I have some strong opinions, some of which I've shared on
 SH> this page. However, I try to keep my politics in context. I discuss the
 SH> subject here, or at overtly political venues. My quarrel with
 SH> celebrities and politics is not that they voice opinions, but that they
 SH> often foist those opinions on others in inappropriate settings. I've
 SH> had some tough things to say about people when I've spoken at some of
 SH> these events, but, again, I don't think I've ever just flat-out called
 SH> someone a name.

 SH> Until now.

 SH> This sudden shift in my policy is a result of the Iraqi elections. I'm
 SH> not sure how anyone could look at the lines of voters who, quite
 SH> literally, risked life and limb to exercise a right many Americans tend
 SH> to take for granted even without terrorist threats and suicide bombers.
 SH> I don't care what your opinions of George W. Bush, the Iraq War or the
 SH> War on Terror might be, this was, on a strictly human level, a moving
 SH> event for a region of the world where democracies are not exactly
 SH> flourishing.

 SH> Every voter in those lines was, in ways big and small, a hero, and
 SH> should be admired and supported. How could anyone look at voters
 SH> dancing in the streets and proudly holding up their blue fingers to
 SH> indicate what they had so bravely done, and not be moved? It seems to
 SH> me that Sunday was not the time to attempt to minimize or trivialize
 SH> what millions of Iraqis did that day. That could wait at least 24
 SH> hours, couldn't it?

 SH> Enter Massachusetts Senator and former Democratic Presidential
 SH> candidate John Kerry. Here's a man who should know something about
 SH> heroics, as he reminded us a thousand or so times during the campaign.
 SH> On the very day Iraqis were voting, most of them for the first time in
 SH> their lives, here's some of what Kerry had to say on NBC's "Meet the
 SH> Press": "It is significant that there is a vote in Iraq, but ... no one
 SH> in the United States should try to overhype this election. This
 SH> election is a sort of demarcation point, and what really counts now is
 SH> the effort to have a legitimate political reconciliation, and it's
 SH> going to take a massive diplomatic effort and a much more significant
 SH> outreach to the international community than this administration has
 SH> been willing to engage in. Absent that, we will not be successful in
 SH> Iraq,"

 SH> More Kerry: "It's hard to say that something is legitimate when a whole
 SH> portion of the country can't vote and doesn't vote." (Sound familiar?)

 SH> What a marvelous way to pay tribute to those trying to embrace
 SH> democracy! I know he's bitter, and I know he's not going to say
 SH> anything that would appear to endorse any of President Bush's policies,
 SH> but couldn't it have waited a day? Or couldn't he have at least
 SH> included a kind word of encouragement or congratulations to the
 SH> millions of Iraqi citizens who voted before he began to belittle the
 SH> process and the turnout?

 SH> His dour demeanor on "Meet the Press" and in another interview Sunday
 SH> contrasted sharply with images coming from Iraq, and his comments
 SH> sounded small and petty. You would expect something more from a man
 SH> who, less than three months ago, lost a race for the Presidency of the
 SH> United States. It was a despicable performance. So now it's time for me
 SH> to get this off my chest.

 SH> Mr. Kerry, you are a jerk.

 SH> There. I feel better.

Thanks to both you and Tim.  The whole thing was worth reading.



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 * Origin: Procrastinate NOW, don't put it off for tomorro (1:379/1.6)