From: Curt Hibbs <curt@...>
Date: 2004-11-02T22:59:02+09:00
Subject: Re: [OT] US Presidential Election

What a well-reasoned and thoughtful statement. I certainly don't have all
the answers, but I sure wish these questions were discussed more (or at all)
in our political discourse.

Curt

daniel cremer wrote:
>
> On Tue, 2004-11-02 at 15:44 +0900, Hal Fulton wrote:
>
> > The main reason I'm answering is that I'm tired of keeping
> quiet. For more
> > months than I can count, I have felt surrounded by people
> (online and off)
> > who not only believed the opposite from me, but (which is the
> worst part)
> > *assumed* that I agreed with them.
> >
>
> Thanks Hal. I understand people's fear of this creating a division,
> However I must say that it helps me. I typically feel angry at Bush.
> Getting the opinion from intelligent people whom I respect, such as
> yourself, helps me understand what people are thinking. It doesn't
> change my mind, however it does calm the anger and engage me at an
> intellectual level.
>
> As for my own point of view.... As a US citizen who has lived abroad for
> a long time I've sampled information from various sources, and I simply
> believe that a lot of people in the US do not understand this "war on
> terror".
> I don't believe it's safe to portray a pure evil that is plotting
> against the USA. This is not because I doubt the existence of evil-doers
> but because it avoids many many key questions. Though there certainly
> are extremist leaders that do not deserve any compassion, you must ask
> yourself why is there a flow of people ready to blow themselves up
> amongst innocents or fight an ill-equipped battle against US troops that
> have vastly superior fire power ? Saddam loyalists are not the ones
> ready to lay their lives on the line. The people offering themselves as
> cannon fodder are idealists. Even though you may not like them, or their
> cause, one must ask why they wish to fight in the first place, and how
> come we fail to engage their sense of idealism.
> The people in charge of the foreign policy now are the same people who
> before let the Taliban take over in Afghanistan. They know more than
> they are willing to discuss. Portraying Kerry as a slime-ball is
> misleading when you consider the fact that you are faced with a
> government that simplifies everything until they can repeatedly drill it
> into everyones head with one line slogans. This is not conviction. It is
> avoiding questions. Questioning our policies is not a weakness but the
> strength on which democracy is built and should stand.
> Fighting terrorism is a challenge. However for me the challenge is not
> simply how much it's going to cost in human lives and billions of
> dollars, but how to fight the battle and where do we fight the battle.
> Guantanamo Bay, Abu Gharib, a huge deficit, the eroding of civil
> liberties, the continuous meddling of the government with it's citizens
> lives... these for me are the current wave of neo-conservatism, not the
> traditional conservatism that defines a great part of the US.
> I hope that when people vote they are aware of this.
>
>
> 	-Daniel
>
>
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