Hi John - That was beautifully said. You said it better than Kerry could. Stan Spiegel nauseous with worry in Portland, Maine ----- Original Message ----- From: "John McCreery" <mccreery@xxxxxxx> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2004 10:38 PM Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Need some help... > Marlena, > > Not a direct response to your query. But if you want something to send=20= > > to your relatives, feel free to use either of the following. > > (1-Written by an author in Japan) > > What will John Kerry's election mean to Americans living abroad? > > The obvious answer is straightforward, a feeling of immense relief.=A0It=20= > > will be simply and truly wonderful not having to cringe every time a=20 > non-US citizen friend mentions the Bush administration and asks about=20 > its arbitrarily walking away from international treaties, the missing=20 > weapons of mass destruction, the missing link between Iraq and Al=20 > Qaeda, the pictures from Abu Ghraib, the memos from administration=20 > lawyers claiming that the President may authorize torture and decide=20 > arbitrarily who is or is not an "enemy combatant," or-from the business=20= > > minded-the fiscal insanity that is putting the whole global economy at=20= > > risk. > > Along with that relief, there will also be a feeling of hope. John=20 > Kerry is an internationalist and an advocate of free trade. He has also=20= > > been a staunch defender of the natural environment and a vigorous=20 > advocate for ending both US and global dependence on the world's=20 > dwindling petroleum resources. Women will rest assured that this=20 > President will be a staunch defender of reproductive rights and very=20 > unlikely, indeed, to appoint Supreme Court or other Federal judges who=20= > > would threaten those rights. Educators will know that this President=20 > will not cynically support a program named "Leave No Child Behind,"=20 > brag about it in his campaign speeches, then deliberately cut the=20 > funding for it, leaving schools facing new demands without the=20 > resources to meet them and forcing school districts to seek increases=20 > in property taxes or cut other programs. > > Military personnel will know that John Kerry won't wrap himself in the=20= > > flag, waste taxpayers' money on carrier landing publicity stunts to=20 > announce the end of an unended war, accuse his opponents of failing to=20= > > support the troops-then turn around and slash veterans' benefits. They=20= > > may recognize, too, that here is a genuine hero, who went deliberately=20= > > in harm's way to save the life of a soldier for whom he felt=20 > responsible, and a man with the good sense to recognize when a war has=20= > > gone wrong and speak out against it. ("Treason!" shout his enemies.=20 > "Tell it to Generals Clark, McPeak, Odom, and Zinni," say his friends.) > > Members of the business community will also have reason for optimism.=20 > Instead of an administration with ideological blindfolds and a=20 > President Bush described by former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill as=20 > impervious to rational argument, even from members of his own party-the=20= > > deaf leading the blind-they will, instead, be able to work with a=20 > thoughtful pragmatist. President Kerry will know the difference between=20= > > strong convictions tempered by awareness of changing realities and=20 > blind faith in divine election. > > Make no mistake about it: the problems that face the world=20 > today-terrorism, ethnic conflict, genocide, epidemic disease,=20 > environmental destruction, depleted resources, and the awful poverty=20 > that affects more than half of humanity-will not go away on the day=20 > that John Kerry is inaugurated as America's forty-fourth president. But=20= > > Americans living in Japan will, like people everywhere, enjoy a=20 > rekindled hope-the hope that America will, indeed, "be America again." > > =A0 > > John L. McCreery > > International Vice Chair > > Democrats Abroad > > (2-Written by an author in Mexico) > > Why vote for John Kerry?=A0 What difference will it make? > > =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 By Alexsi Currier > > =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 In one sense the honest answer to that = > question is that it=20 > will probably not make a lot of difference. If you can envision the=20 > United States of America as a mighty ocean going liner, it is obvious=20 > that we are already underway, on a set course, with a full head of=20 > steam. There is a lot of momentum behind us. Even after the election we=20= > > will still be plowing through the carnage of the Iraq quagmire, the=20 > spiraling deficit, the stagnant economy, and the dwindling=20 > affordability of adequate health care. So in this one sense the=20 > election won=92t make all that much difference. Yet in another sense = > this=20 > election will make all the difference in the world, because it will=20 > decide who is at the helm, who controls the rudder, and who sets and=20 > steers the course. > > =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 This contest for command of our Ship of = > State is not just a=20 > choice between two helmsmen. It is not just a choice of Bush or Kerry.=20= > > It is a contest between two crews, two different views, and two=20 > radically differing ideologies. In illustrative simplification it is at=20= > > its root a struggle between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the=20= > > powerless, wealth and the commonwealth. It is the choice between=20 > government of the people, by the rich, and for the rich, or government=20= > > of the people, by the people, and for the people. It is a battle=20 > between the rights of wealth and the Bill of Rights, between money as=20 > the entitlement to rule and rule through the entitlement of the=20 > constitution. > > =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 John Kerry is a rich man, but he is more = > than that, and that=20 > is the difference that makes all the difference. He is an American who=20= > > believes in the commonwealth of our country. He volunteered to fight as=20= > > a common man with the common men of this country. When he returned he=20 > had the backbone to call the powerful of his land to recognize the=20 > hell, horror, and hopelessness that the Vietnam War had become.=A0 > > =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Now he volunteers again to fight for his = > country. He fights=20 > to restore the American ideal of proportionate taxation.=A0 No longer=20 > shall the rich be given millions in tax cuts, so that they can turn=20 > around and loan the money back again to the government at interest to=20 > cover the deficit caused by the loss of the taxes that they used to=20 > pay. No longer shall the little guy be taxed to pay the interest on the=20= > > national debt created by giving tax cuts to the rich. > > =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Again today he fights to wrest the helm of = > the Ship of State=20 > to steer us back into the family of nations, by working with the United=20= > > Nations, joining in the treaties on the environment, and respecting the=20= > > Geneva Conventions. He offers himself to represent the wishes of all=20= > > Americans to see that our service men and women are justly paid and=20 > benefited for their sacrifices. He volunteers to contest the entrenched=20= > > medical and pharmaceutical powers to assure healthcare for all our=20 > citizens. > > =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 So does a vote for Kerry make any = > difference? Yes! It does!=20 > It makes a tremendous, dramatic, difference because it turns the wheel=20= > > of our great Ship of State toward an international war on terror and=20 > the causes of that evil; poverty, disease, injustice, and exploitation.=20= > > It veers us away from concentrating the wealth among the few and takes=20= > > a tack back toward sharing the wealth among all Americans. Simply said:=20= > > It sets a course toward restoring to us a government of the people, by=20= > > the people, and for the people.=A0=A0 > > <end of article> > > Cheers,=A0=A0=A0=A0 > > John > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html