From: "Florian G. Pflug" <fgp@...>
Date: 2004-11-03T03:56:24+09:00
Subject: Re: [OT] US Presidential Election

J. D. wrote:
> Well...the day isn't over yet.
> 
> Our president still has all day remaining to catch Osama.  If he 
> succeeds in catching the terrorist bastard, I will vote for Bush.
> 
> If our president fails to lead our country to capture Osama by the time 
> I step into the voting booth, then I'll vote for Kerry (it'll be my 
> first vote ever for a Democrat).
> 
> Yes, I'm oversimplifying but at some point you gotta vote for specific 
> and quantifiable results rather than the promises spewing out of 
> politicians' mouths (like 'I'm a uniter, not a divider' type of fluff).
> 
> Our country needs to hold elected officials accountable.  And our 
> elected officials need to hold their team accountable.
> 
> Who was held accountable for letting 9/11 happen to us despite warnings? 
>     Any individuals responsible for preventing such things get fired?
So, who is responsible?
Some poor guy who sat in front of a radar screen, the day it happened?
Some general, who could have ordered the planes to be shot down, but 
didn't (maybe for the sake of humanity?)
Some CIA-guy who underestimated the danger, ignoring the reports
he held in his hands?
Or the other CIA-guy, who could have overestimated the danger, despite 
having no reports in his hinds, but didn't
Or maybe those who watched people suffering in the middle east for 
uncounted years?
Or maybe those who used those suffering people for their political 
agendas (osama & co).

I guess it turns out, that sometimes, there is not one single person, or 
   even a group, or even an agency, or a whole country responsible for 
something terrible that happens. Sometimes, bad things happend, and all 
we can do is to try and carry on. Any maybe learn a few things along the 
way. Like, that nobody is safe, as long as there are so many people on 
earth suffering. Because as long as there are enough desperate people on 
earth, there will always be some pseudo-religious-leader-typ who tells 
those people to kill themselves, promising them reward in their 
afterlife. I seriously doubt that anyone who has a chance for a 
fullfilled _life_ will chose to kill himself for some promised 
fullfilled _afterlife_.

> Who has been held accountable for the massive screwup in Iraq (so-called 
> 'few week war that will pay for itself with oil' turned into longterm 
> fiasco where taxpayers and soldiers pay the price)?  Don't the group of 
>  people who pushed for the war have enough personal wealth to pay for 
> the whole thing?  Why the hell should we taxpayers pay when those who 
> agressively pushed for it are better able to do so?
> 
> Who has been held accountable for not enforcing our free trade 
> agreements so that our jobs are not outsourced to countries that do not 
> play by the agreed-upon rules of free trade?
> 
> Who has been held accountable for keeping the US-Mexican and US-Canadian 
> borders so damned unsecure after 9/11?  It has been several years now 
> and our borders are as open as ever.
> 
> Who the hell got fired for any of this?
Wow. The world would be really easy, if for every problem we humans 
face, it would just take the firing of the right person, and everything 
would turn out all right. I like that thought. I really wonder who to 
fire for the failure of democracy in white-russia. Or who should have 
lost his job to stop hitler from murdering millions of people.

> I think our president should've started firing people and replacing them 
> with those who produce desirable results.  Not doing so may have cost 
> him this election--unless he catches Osama early this afternoon.
I believe that you should realize that some things are beyond the power 
of even the president of the us. No president will be able to protect 
his citizens from every possible danger. And lettings him loose the 
election for not being superman is IMHO the wrong thing to do.

I fully agree, that Bush should lose this election - but for completly 
different reasons - mainly because I believe in team play, and not in 
one nation rushing forward, and starting wars all over the planet...

greetings, Florian Pflug