Political Rant

[HonestAl]

I watched Kerry's speech last night (as much as I could stomach)....why is it that we always have a choice between tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber? A choice like this is no choice at all. The only consolation is that if Kerry is elected it will save us from the disaster of having Hillary to deal with in 4 years. Bush appears to be the lesser of two evils but it would be nice to be able to vote FOR someone rather than voting down the greater evil.

[Mr 5 0]

I'm a conservative Republican and so I didn't even bother to watch the Kerry speech but I did see many excerpts and comments on it. Naturally, I think John Kerry is a joke.

Basically, we have a very clear choice this election. The choice between a semi-conservative Republican president and a very liberal Democrat. President Bush is no 'dummy' as the liberal media has tried to present him. That's a discredited canard that his actions belie. He has been a decisive leader in the very necessary War on Terrorism (9/11 really did occur, even though Democrats want to pretend it didn't) and although the invasion of Iraq didn't go perfectly and mistakes were made, as they always are in a war, it was successful and a body blow to the terrorist organizations in many ways, including the loss of an ally and a safe haven for terrorists to hide and plan how to murder even more Americans. The terrorist 'swamp' is slowly being drained in Iraq and that nation is on it's way to real freedom, always the enemy of the terrorists, who are, in reality, totalitarianists. That's why they're fighting so hard there and why we must defeat them and why we want to do that in Iraq; not in Los Angeles or New York or Chicago. Iraq is not the entire war on terrorism but it's an important piece and something that had to be done, WMD's or not....and even Senator John F. Kerry thought Iraq had the WMD's.

To see President Bush as 'the lesser of two evils' makes no sense to me at all. He inherited a sagging economy that 9/11 devastated, yet, with the help of his tax cuts for all lof us, the U.S. economy is booming and jobs are coming back at a hectic rate, over 250,000 a month. The liberals should love Bush: (Although I disagree with these actions): as he poured money into improving our public schools and he introduced a Prescription Drug benefit for Medicare receipents. All this while being in charge of the war in Iraq and fighting off a constant barrage of attacks from the left, mostly within the liberal media. President Bush has kept his word and has done a remarkable job in a very tough period of our national history. The Democrats have basically stood on the sidelines, booed him and called him 'stupid' and 'a liar' as he did the very best he could for his country - and successfully so. The economy is much better than when Bush took office and the war in Iraq is winding down as the Iraqi's take control of the security of their own country. Bush is an affable, honest and sincere man who has served well in his presidential term and deserves another four years to do even more.

To compare Bush and Kerry and find them the same in any way is ridiculous. Kerry is a two-faced pandering politician who says one thing and does something else the next day. Despite his tough talk at the convention he is a dove on our national defense and will raise our taxes - and don't for a moment buy the lie that he'll 'only raise taxes on the top 2%', either. He's a Democrat! They always raise taxes...on all of us. Kerry and Bush couldn't be more different, in both temperment and personality as well as in political ideology.

Look at it this way: who do you honestly think the terrorists really hate and want to lose? Vote for him.

[Dark_5.0]

As always Mr 5.0, well said. Watching Kerry's speech was the best stand up comedy I have seen in a long time.

[HonestAl]

Mr5.0,
You are right, they are not the same but neither one of them can deliver a speech worth a damn. I watched Bush's speech on Fri. AM, if I had not just gotten up, I would have fallen asleep. Boring and droning as he is it is better than the blatant lies that Kerry expects the public to swallow. One of these two will be leader of the free world, wouldn't it be nice if they could deliver a speech better than a 6th grader? I wish I could get excited about Bush because I believe he is the better choice, but if you believe that they are not both consumate politicians intent on achieving and maintaining power at the cost of anything that stands in the way, you are not being realistic.

[Mr 5 0]

Originally posted by HonestAl :

Mr5.0,

You are right, they are not the same but neither one of them can deliver a speech worth a damn. I watched Bush's speech on Fri. AM, if I had not just gotten up, I would have fallen asleep. Boring and droning as he is it is better than the blatant lies that Kerry expects the public to swallow. One of these two will be leader of the free world, wouldn't it be nice if they could deliver a speech better than a 6th grader? I wish I could get excited about Bush because I believe he is the better choice, but if you believe that they are not both consumate politicians intent on achieving and maintaining power at the cost of anything that stands in the way, you are not being realistic.

President Bush didn't enter elective politics until he was 47, a scant ten years ago, so he never developed the 'consumate politicians' glib speech-making abilities. Senator Kerry, who is 60 years old, has been making speeches since 1971, when he was a very visible and vocal protestor of the Viet Nam war and first ran (unsuccessfully) for congress in 1972. Kerry has held elective office, including 19 years as a U.S. Senator since 1977. Unfortunately for Kerry, his basset-hound face and stentorian delivery renders his speeches as possibly even less effective than President Bush.

Frankly, although public speaking talent is obviously helpful in politics (ask former tort lawyer John Edwards who sounds like a TV preacher, amen) it just shouldn't be the huge factor it seems to be, today. I think part of this focus on a politicians speaking ability comes from eight years of the loquacious Bill Clinton who could always be counted on to have a quick answer to any question (even if he was lying at the time) and to keep people interested when he spoke. Well, except at the 1988 Democratic convention where he spoke forever and in doing so, made a fool out of himself, which didn't seem to hurt his chances of getting the Democrat presidential nomination four years later.

Yes, President Bush is not a glib or 'dynamic' speaker but he's direct and sincere and generally easy to understand. John Kerry is simply a bore and usually comes accros as an arrogant snob, which I believe he really is. What's a lot more important is: what are these men saying? That's what should count and, ultimately, what will count. In any case, in the speaking department at least; Kerry and Bush cancel each other out as neither are inspiring speakers. Since one of them will be president for the next four years we had best adjust to the fact that we won't be much entertained by their speeches but we still may learn something, as we did after 9/11, when President Bush rallied the nation, even without a great speaking style. Which is why, in the bigger scheme of things, public speaking talent is less important than it's made out to be, as long as the speaker is real and not a phony. Oops; on that premise, maybe Kerry is in more trouble than we realize. Too bad. ; )

As for the two men being power-hungry: in the case of President Bush, I strongly disagree. George W. Bush had a full life before he entered politics and he isn't a career politician in that sense. He doesn't need to be president to boost his ego, as I believe Kerry does. Bush wants the job, of course, because he wants to implement his plans and reach his goals for the nation, based on his political ideology, just as Kerry does with his ideology. However, if Bush lost the election I don't for a moment believe he would be shattered or that not being re-elected would be the tragedy it might be for other men. President Bush is a well-balanced man and while he certainly wants to be re-elected, it isn't all about 'power' for him. Not that he doesn't enjoy the power of the presidency, I'm sure, but that isn't the driving force of his life, in my opinion. Kerry meanwhile leads a party that has a visceral hatred toward President Bush. They really believe he 'stole' the 2000 election even though it's been proven many times that he would have won no matter how the votes were counted. The Democrats revile Bush and clearly think he's 'beneath' them in every way. They hate his Texan drawl, his confident stride, his folksy demeanor and especially, his vocal Christianity. I don't think the Democrats are all that excited about Senator Kerry, they just want to force Bush out of the White House. That's their real goal, aside from re-gaining political power in Washington, D.C. I also believe they will fail. I pray they will fail because a wimpy, ultra-liberal Democrat like John Kerry sitting in the seat of American power worries me...a lot, in this age of terrorism. Bush may not be glib, he may not be smooth all the time but he's no wimp and he does what he says he'll do; from a tax cut to hunting down terrorists wherever they hide. He deserves to be re-elected.


.

[Crazy Horse GT]

well i think we should have kicked so day-um insanes azz in 91 when i was there, but, we didnt i cannot vote for kennedy, doh lol, i mean kerry, a WAR hero, who just videotaped his short tour in nam, then came home & pulled a jane fonda act, he's as stupid as al gore, good god, whats he gonna do a bout the 2 war front's we are in - protest them?, wuss. that's about all i got to say about that, heheheh.

[Crazy Horse GT]

i cant vote for kennedy, uh i mean kerry, the so called war hero, who videotaped his short tour in nam, then came back home & pulled a jane fonda act, screw him, yeah they shoulda let us finish iraq in 91, but the almighty un, wouldnt, al gore, kerry, they shake out the same too me, what's he gonna do protest the 2 war front's we have going on now??? wuss.

[joe4speed]

I agree with Jim's(Mr 5.0) posts. It's also exactly how I see and feel about Kerry and Edwards. I can't stand pretty much everything about Kerry, I believe he will do more harm than good if he gets elected for president. George Bush will have my vote without a second thought.

[rwhite65]

I also agree witn Mr. 5.0, I see very little issue with the fact that Bush is a not so perfect speech giver. What he does say..he does....that counts with me.
Ryan

[HonestAl]

Maybe I could be more enthused if I didn't hear blatant lies like "Islam is a religion of peace"

[Mr 5 0]

Originally posted by HonestAl :

Maybe I could be more enthused if I didn't hear blatant lies like "Islam is a religion of peace"

Fair enough - but the fact that this president has taken the War on Terrorism to the terrorists, has overseen the decimation of a major portion of the al-Qaeda network and disarmed Saddam Hussein's Iraq tends to cancel out his generalized positive comment about one of the world's major religions. We don't want to fight a religion but the terrorists that have hijacked the religion for their own ends. Fighting a religion that is 1400 years old with over a billion adherents is beyond futile. That was very likely the rationale for the Bush comment that "Islam is a religion of peace". He can say that even as the U.S. military goes about killing the terrorists in Iraq and elsewhere that do not treat Islam as 'a religion of peace' but as an excuse for murder. For those Muslims, Islam is no shield and we give them no quarter as they attempt to hide behind the 'religion of peace' while they behead innocent people. You see, it's all in the interpretation.

[andy669]

Hey Al. Where did that picture in your avatar come from?

Andy

[HonestAl]

Originally posted by andy669
Hey Al. Where did that picture in your avatar come from?

Andy

I believe that it is Burcham's car, I got it from an email from NMRA....wish I could say that its mine but it ain't so...

[andy669]

Heh, I just scrolled through my emails from NMRA and found the same one.

FYI, that is my buddy Craig Baldwin in the Wild Strawberry Red coupe next to Tim Matherly. That picture is less than a week old. It was taken July 24th during qualifying at the Joliet race.

Back on topic though. Both Bush and Kerry visited here yesterday, at the same time! Talk about a clusterfuck. Dang near every road in downtown was closed, as was the parking ramps. While they were here, there were 3 bank robberies within 1 hour of each other. I guess the robbers had their thinking caps on seeing how every available law enforcement person was in the downtown area.

Andy

[HonestAl]

Originally posted by andy669
Heh, I just scrolled through my emails from NMRA and found the same one.

FYI, that is my buddy Craig Baldwin in the Wild Strawberry Red coupe next to Tim Matherly. That picture is less than a week old. It was taken July 24th during qualifying at the Joliet race.

Back on topic though. Both Bush and Kerry visited here yesterday, at the same time! Talk about a clusterfuck. Dang near every road in downtown was closed, as was the parking ramps. While they were here, there were 3 bank robberies within 1 hour of each other. I guess the robbers had their thinking caps on seeing how every available law enforcement person was in the downtown area.

Andy

Too bad the bad guys aren't always stupid