Originally Posted by The Captain
Jimmy Carter was probably the last truly honest man in politics and for that, he was thrown under the bus by both sides. What he's shown, in his work since being President, is that his ideas: alternatives to oil, global empathy, being up front on issues even despite the problems, do work and would have probably saved this country a lot of heartache if he'd been able to put them into place. Granted, he lost re-election to Reagan mostly because Reagan was a better politician, but we have to ask ourselves, does a better policitian mean a better president?
Here's my problems with Bush, in a nutshell:
1. The War On "Terror" - Whatever happened to it? It was our top priority for a while, a real legit case for war and now, seems to be completely on the back-burner.
2. The War In Iraq - There are no two ways about it, we as a nation are in Iraq for reasons other than what was first given. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and all the crew made their case way back in 2002 and then reinforced it in 2003 that Iraq had WMD's, but now, two years later, the search was called off because none could be found. So, why are we there? To help make Iraq a Democracy? I thought Bush and his crew weren't nation-builders, as he's said time and time again. There are way too many variables that have not even begun to be addressed here.
3. Accountability - I've always believed, when you make a mistake or are wrong in some way, you take responsibility for it, apologize and perhaps even give up your place in power or career to make amends for it. The BBC did this when it had false evidence, CBS did this when it had false evidence, yet why has this Administration been given a pass on so many mistakes or miscalculations? You can argue that Powell is a casuality of the misguided war in Iraq, but he wasn't the only one involved there.
4. The Self-Righteousness - "Either you're with us, or you're against us". I've heard this phrase more times than I can recall and each time I can only wonder, why do they think the world is in black and white? Why do they feel that on every issue their way is the right way and every opinion that differs must be wrong? Is it the religious aspect that they use, or is it something else?
Two further points:
On a message board, words are about as much action as one can take. I understand your point about it seeming like everyone is complaining about this or that, but I don't view it as complaining, more as various points of view being expressed and only when you don't agree with a particular point of view is it categorized as complaining.
Is it me, or does it seem like Conservatives in this country, despite all their overwhelming power currently, still seem so insecure? It seems like they are still trying to belittle and put down opposition despite the fact that they are in the majority at the moment. I don't quite understand this. Rather, I'd figure they'd try to be compassionate toward other opinions now and perhaps try to bridge the gap at least, so that they can ensure prolonged majority status, otherwise, I forsee the current Conservative majority to swing back down to an even stance with Liberals in a few years, just as it happened in the 90's in the other direction.
Words, in my mind represent someone who is thinking about issues and in most cases, can back up where they are coming from. Complaining is just saying that you dislike someone and that's it, nothing deeper or more profound. The single greatest problem our country is facing right now is the widening lack of compassion, whereas we no longer even see the other side as people, but as a label, as a "Liberal" or a "Conservative" or a member of the "Religious Right" or a "God-Hating Leftist" when deep down, we're all human beings first, Americans, English, German, Frence, etc, etc second, and Liberals, Conservatives, Independents last.
Take care all.
