[lit-ideas] Re: Need some help...
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 11:38:52 +0900
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
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