Hope For 2008
Far be it for I to presume that I know anything about politics or U.S. history, given that I've read less books than the average eighth grader, but since there are more blogs than people reading them at this point and everyone else is weighing in, well, I figured I'd give my opinion too. I've noticed that many people (based on their bumper stickers mostly) are fed up with the "lying" and want "regime change" and "impeachment" and basically seem to believe the sky is falling. Of course, I live in the East San Francisco Bay Area and currently work in Berkeley, California, so I'm not generally hearing the opposing view from the 20% or so of Americans who still think President Bush is doing a good job.
Regardless, I strongly disagree with impeachment and believe the only responsible and acceptable attitude for a privileged American is one of optimism, hope, and thankfulness that we live in such a great and strong country. I was completely opposed to the impeachment of President Clinton, as I am completely opposed to the impeachment of Bush. Bush has, in my opinion, been a disappointment, but the idea that he is a liar is a little harsh. Of course, he IS a liar, as all successful politicians are sometimes required to be creative when articulating truth (or something like that). The idea that we should expect all politicians to be 100% honest is ridiculous. We would never vote such a person into office. Honesty is relative in politics. A person who is relatively honest and trustworthy obviously is better than someone who is not. Blatant liars like Alberto Gonzales, of course, should be dismissed and people who are more relatively honest should replace them.
When I ask liberals what Bush has lied about, their first example is usually weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I don't believe Bush even lied about that. The intelligence indicated that they were there. When inspectors finally went in, they found evidence that WMD's had been there - empty containers and such. General Georges Sada who defected to the U.S.A. from Saddam's Iraq stated that he personally witnessed WMD's being secretly evacuated from Iraq to Syria shortly before we finally went in to overthrow Saddam. Anyways, i won't waste any more time defending Bush except to say that he has done well with the economy (low unemployment, steady growth, low taxes et cetera). After all, I, too, am looking forward to the end of the Bush Dynasty and a new hope for our standing in the world.
One thing that Bush most certainly did lie about was when he said he would be "A Uniter, not a divider." That irks me and I have to say I totally understand why liberals hate the man and resent the fact that he not only won and/or stole the first election, but amazingly was re-elected. I can imagine the sense of defeat many people have felt for the past severals years (although I don't condone defeatism). Putting that all aside however, for once in my 32 years I am finally and truly excited about an upcoming presidential election. For once it seems that most of the front runners are actually pretty good, as we lead up to 2008.
Among the Republican first tier contenders, Giuliani is acceptable to me. A socially liberal Republican from New York is an interesting combination. He's not my first choice, but he'll do, I think. I actually like McCain a lot. I think if McCain gets the party's nomination, he will be our next president. I dislike Mitt Romney, but I think he is the only contender I don't like. I dislike him because he seems to me to be a little bit of a flip-flopper, although not nearly as bad as John Kerry. I also dislike several of Romney's positions. Among the second tier Republican candidates I really like Ron Paul, who is actually a Libertarian registered as a Republican. Huckabee is so-so. He is a nice guy at least, but i don't think he really has a chance anyways.
Among the Democrats, I think only three are contenders - Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. I don't dislike any of them. That's refreshing isn't it? Of them, Edwards is my least favorite, however. Hillary Clinton has the support of her husband when she needs it (we hope), and it would be nice to have our first woman president, so that's something interesting. I really like Bill Clinton, so another Clinton could be a good thing. I really look forward to hearing more from Barak Obama, and it would also be interesting to have our first African American president. From what I've heard so far, I think Obama could breathe new life into the political process in America.
Anyways, that's what I have to say about that right now. I'd love to hear that others are feeling similarly optimistic as well. If you are one of those who have been feeling kind of down-trodden for the past seven years, consider that there are many other wonderful reasons to live and be happy, besides who is in The White House and after all, it won't be long before we can pick someone new and that new someone just might be pretty good.
Regardless, I strongly disagree with impeachment and believe the only responsible and acceptable attitude for a privileged American is one of optimism, hope, and thankfulness that we live in such a great and strong country. I was completely opposed to the impeachment of President Clinton, as I am completely opposed to the impeachment of Bush. Bush has, in my opinion, been a disappointment, but the idea that he is a liar is a little harsh. Of course, he IS a liar, as all successful politicians are sometimes required to be creative when articulating truth (or something like that). The idea that we should expect all politicians to be 100% honest is ridiculous. We would never vote such a person into office. Honesty is relative in politics. A person who is relatively honest and trustworthy obviously is better than someone who is not. Blatant liars like Alberto Gonzales, of course, should be dismissed and people who are more relatively honest should replace them.
When I ask liberals what Bush has lied about, their first example is usually weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I don't believe Bush even lied about that. The intelligence indicated that they were there. When inspectors finally went in, they found evidence that WMD's had been there - empty containers and such. General Georges Sada who defected to the U.S.A. from Saddam's Iraq stated that he personally witnessed WMD's being secretly evacuated from Iraq to Syria shortly before we finally went in to overthrow Saddam. Anyways, i won't waste any more time defending Bush except to say that he has done well with the economy (low unemployment, steady growth, low taxes et cetera). After all, I, too, am looking forward to the end of the Bush Dynasty and a new hope for our standing in the world.
One thing that Bush most certainly did lie about was when he said he would be "A Uniter, not a divider." That irks me and I have to say I totally understand why liberals hate the man and resent the fact that he not only won and/or stole the first election, but amazingly was re-elected. I can imagine the sense of defeat many people have felt for the past severals years (although I don't condone defeatism). Putting that all aside however, for once in my 32 years I am finally and truly excited about an upcoming presidential election. For once it seems that most of the front runners are actually pretty good, as we lead up to 2008.
Among the Republican first tier contenders, Giuliani is acceptable to me. A socially liberal Republican from New York is an interesting combination. He's not my first choice, but he'll do, I think. I actually like McCain a lot. I think if McCain gets the party's nomination, he will be our next president. I dislike Mitt Romney, but I think he is the only contender I don't like. I dislike him because he seems to me to be a little bit of a flip-flopper, although not nearly as bad as John Kerry. I also dislike several of Romney's positions. Among the second tier Republican candidates I really like Ron Paul, who is actually a Libertarian registered as a Republican. Huckabee is so-so. He is a nice guy at least, but i don't think he really has a chance anyways.
Among the Democrats, I think only three are contenders - Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. I don't dislike any of them. That's refreshing isn't it? Of them, Edwards is my least favorite, however. Hillary Clinton has the support of her husband when she needs it (we hope), and it would be nice to have our first woman president, so that's something interesting. I really like Bill Clinton, so another Clinton could be a good thing. I really look forward to hearing more from Barak Obama, and it would also be interesting to have our first African American president. From what I've heard so far, I think Obama could breathe new life into the political process in America.
Anyways, that's what I have to say about that right now. I'd love to hear that others are feeling similarly optimistic as well. If you are one of those who have been feeling kind of down-trodden for the past seven years, consider that there are many other wonderful reasons to live and be happy, besides who is in The White House and after all, it won't be long before we can pick someone new and that new someone just might be pretty good.
posted by arix pename | 11:43 AM
1 Comments:
i suggest you review some of my posts, like:
who hearts harpers
and
get yo harpers on
and
headphones
not that your points on optimism aren't great. i agree. optimism is all we gots. but some of those crazies are crazy. i assume one can show the dems saying all kindsa crazy assed shit, too, but i don't get those emails.
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