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As a World War II vet with a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star medal, I am raging with anger at the latest despicable trick of the Republican Party. To flood the convention hall with bandages that have a purple heart printed on them is contemptible. For many servicemen, the Purple Heart was received posthumously.
Dirty tricks? This was sacrilegious.
The continuous theme of the Republican convention has been to attack, degrade and humiliate Sen. John Kerry. The delegates are acting very immaturely with their purple bandages and their flip-flops. Can we take a poll on how many delegates graduated from Romper Room? There doesn't seem to be many other diplomas in that crowd.
Sen. Kerry certainly has some issues with his 20 years in the Senate. President Bush certainly has some issues as well while presiding over our country for the past four years. These four years have been mediocre at best. Even his dad's four years were more memorable than these.
I do agree with Dick Cheney's theme that this is a very important election for us all. I am voting for no more years of mediocrity. We can do better.
Vice President Dick Cheney's attack on Sen. John Kerry's qualifications has three major deficiencies. First, Cheney's hands-on, up close and personal contact with war was pre-empted by "higher priorities" with five separate deferments. Second, he was the cheerleader in chief for attacking Iraq due to, according to him, the nearly imminent use of weapons of mass destruction by the Iraqis and Saddam Hussein's active support of al-Qaida, both warnings now proven to be fallacious.
Finally, the oft-repeated accusation, by Cheney and others, that under Kerry some foreign governments, unnamed, will have a veto on U.S. defense policies and associated military operations should be treated with contempt. It is an insult to the American people to think that we are so stupid that we would believe such a ludicrous lie.
As a Purple Heart and Bronze Star decorated veteran of Vietnam, I am outraged at the use of the purple heart bandage by the Republican delegates at their convention. They may have been shooting at Kerry but they hit us all.
Re: Republican National Convention.
What an uplifting four days! And already the gloom-and-doom liberals are trying to cast a pall on the festivities.
Zell Miller was labeled a turncoat by Democrats for giving the keynote address. He did not desert his party; it deserted him. The voices of moderate Democrats fall on deaf ears among the liberals who usurped control of the party in 1968.
E.J. Dionne Jr., liberal apologist and columnist (Cynicism, skepticism, division and diversion, Sept. 3), tried to spin Dick Cheney's criticism of John Kerry's comment that "he will forcefully defend America - after we have been attacked" into a distortion of what Kerry "really" said: "Any attack will be met with a swift and certain response." Sounds like after-the-fact to me.
At least three times, liberal lackeys tried to disrupt the convention. One caused a commotion during the chief of staff's speech; two did so when the president was speaking. Outside, one attempted an attack on MSNBC analyst Chris Matthews. Apparently, liberals support the notion of free speech only when the speech is to their liking. How many Republican supporters tried to disrupt the Democratic convention in Boston?
I think a telling comparison of the two parties can be made by those rallying around the candidates. Kerry's supporters included Carol Moseley Braun, Al Sharpton, Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton, none of whom you would want your child to emulate. President Bush's supporters included John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, George Pataki, and Gen. Tommy Franks, any of whom you would wish your child to adopt as a role model.
This election should be a no-brainer. The only question is whether the Democratic Party will at long last purge itself of liberals and their bankrupt, failed philosophy and return to its roots.
During the Republican Convention, George Pataki, governor of New York, thanked the nation for helping his state after Sept. 11, 2001, saying on that day "all Americans became New Yorkers." And of course, after that day, it was widely noted that the entire free world became Americans. People everywhere suddenly recalled what America always stood for, a beacon of hope and freedom, and grieved along with us.
What a shame that in a few short years George W. Bush managed to utterly squander all that political currency. Rather than join with the nations of the world in an attempt to win peace and overcome terrorism through example and dialogue, he thumbed his nose at allies new and old, and decided America doesn't need the rest of the world or its opinions and sensitivities; we were quite prepared to go it alone. And thanks to his incredible political arrogance, that's just what we did. Unfortunately, he turned our resources away from our real enemy, Osama bin Laden, to chase Saddam Hussein's imaginary WMDs.
Now, not only did we fail to strengthen the new alliances engendered by the cowardly attacks of 9/11, we have alienated even our staunchest traditional allies. The United States, under Bush, has gone from leader of the free world to the world's biggest schoolyard bully, and driven moderates throughout the Middle East right into the arms of the radical fringe.
In the process, he's spent a thousand American lives and who knows how many Iraqi lives. Iraq is no closer to the American ideal of democracy than it ever was, but it is far less stable.
Is our country any safer? Is our stature among the nations of the world enhanced? Are we better off now than we were four years ago? Will we benefit by four more years of George Bush's tunnel vision? No, no, no and no.
Re: Opening battle cry: Remember Sept. 11, Aug. 31.
Your paper quoted John McCain as saying the invasion of Iraq was "necessary, achievable and noble." One of the definitions of "noble" is "admirably conceived or executed." How can McCain tell the public (honestly) that the war in Iraq was admirably conceived or executed? It's incomprehensible and diminishes his stature.
While civil disobedience and other more confrontational demonstrations made headlines during the Republican convention, the real news was the peaceful march on the Sunday before.
Major networks, however, gave it 30 seconds of coverage at the most. Only C-Span was able to give television viewers most of the six-hour march and the wide variety of signs, placards, flags, balloons and buttons stating individuals' opinions, from the war in Iraq to Bush's economic failures.
Even Fox News admitted there were more than 100,000 marchers, all of whom were united by their objections to George Bush's actions and inactions during the last 31/2 years. Although GOP pundits tried to blame John Kerry for any disruptions, there were, in fact, more Green Party, Socialist Labor Party and Ralph Nader placards than there were ones for Kerry.
That, indeed, is Kerry's problem. How does he tap into the depth of antiwar and anti-Bush sentiment in the country? He needs to show more of the spunk he showed as a young antiwar spokesman.
Perhaps he needs to announce that he will "go to Iraq" when elected, just as Eisenhower pledged to go to Korea. And perhaps state that he will not stay holed up in an airport with an artificial turkey.
If those whiny protesters would spend half as much time and energy looking for jobs as they seem to have to protest and cause disruptions, then there would be nothing to protest, would there? Ooops! I guess that defeats their purpose, eh?
By the way, do you ever wonder why these misfits always seem to be able to come from all over the United States to do this? Where do they get their money? Unemployment compensation? Workman's comp? Rich mommy and daddy? It isn't cheap flying or driving from one protest location to the other or eating or finding places to sleep!
Funny, too, how you did not see anything like this for the Democratic convention. Conclusion: Republicans have better things to do than cry and complain about supposed inequities. They do not believe in the cult of victimization. They are too busy working for a living and helping the economy.
Watching Sen. Zell Miller's keynote address to the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night was like watching a B horror movie. Sen. Miller's almost violent attacks on Sen. John Kerry and nearly anyone who has ever questioned President Bush went well beyond political decorum. Miller's gist that anyone who dares counter George W. Bush is basically guilty of treason was irresponsible and repugnant. Would Miller dare stand before parents who question why their child died in Iraq and repeat what he said on that stage?
What are we as a nation if we don't question the actions of our presidents? A patriot doesn't blindly wave the flag, but debates and weighs the pros and cons of foreign policy before proceeding. To dissent is one of the most important rights we as Americans have. The brow-beating Sen. Miller administered on Wednesday can only work to turn away swing voters from a Republican Party more and more Americans are realizing has no interest in composed debate or real solutions.
Re: Pat Oliphant cartoon, Sept. 3.
What editorial point does Pat Oliphant expect to make by referring to our president in his cartoon as "the idiot"? I would be willing to wager that he would never have the guts to say that to the man's face. Even though I view it as just an infantile cheap shot, it still upsets me to see our president referred to in that manner.
The growth of international terrorism continues to pose a real threat to Americans, both at home and abroad. Unfortunately, it has now become apparent that President Bush is pursuing global terrorism while enduring the enemy at home. The question is: Who are the enemies of our home front?
While I embrace the First Amendment, I won't argue that Americans don't have a right to protest in dissent... they do. However, I feel there is a fine line between dissent and subversion.
As we approach the 2004 election, we can expect that some of our fiercest attacks against our president will be coming from the tongues of Hollywood idiots. Supporters of Michael Moore and Jane Fonda, along with the mainstream media, have a goal to sabotage President Bush's efforts to fight terrorism. Shamefully, even while our troops are fighting for our freedom, these feckless malcontents will continue to oppose the great things America stands for.
Most Americans who cherish their freedom understand that we have many enemies that literally want to do us harm. As a military wife, I salute our military's basic premise: "The best defense is a good offense." Thankfully, our commander in chief, President Bush, responded swiftly by proclaiming a war on terrorism. I feel that if it were not for a number of unpopular but necessary measures to strength our homeland security, we would have fallen victim to another attack.
Let us all not forget that the threat to our safety remains a real threat still today.
President Bush and his administration keeps telling us that when we vote to keep in mind that "results matter." Considering the increased number of unemployed, the increased numbers of folks without health care, the increased numbers of our citizens living below the poverty line, the terrible increase in our nation's budget deficits, the Iraq mess that no one seems to be responsible for, and the overall mean-spiritedness and secrecy that exemplifies this administration, I would say there are many results to keep in mind on Nov 2.
Remember, please, that there were 19 hijackers and not one was Iraqi, so the 9/11 reasoning for the war hardly holds water. Look closely at these "results," and then vote wisely on Nov. 2.
Re: Misleading convention rhetoric, letter, Sept. 2.
Once again, the Times prints another letter talking about Bush's poor record. This is an excerpt from one of those letters:
"And you won't hear much about the economy, unemployment, health care, education, or the environment, since the Bush record is appalling in each of these areas."
I would like to address each of those areas from my perspective. The economy was heading down during the last part of the Clinton years. The attack on 9/11 hurt our consumer confidence which led the economy to recover more slowly than it should have. It is now showing clear signs that it is good and getting better. Unemployment is down. For those who lost their unemployment benefits, please remember that John Kerry could have cast the deciding vote to extend them but was too busy campaigning. While there are a number of people in the country without health insurance, it is rare to hear of someone being refused treatment in an emergency. Our education system is getting better all the time. Bush has made it clear that he won't bow to the pressures of the teachers' unions. He is actually making teachers, parents and schools accountable for the education that our kids receive.
As for the environment, one only has to look at California to find out what happens when you bow at the feet of the extreme environmentalists. They suffer power outages since they weren't allowed to build new power plants. They suffered massive wildfires because they weren't allowed to clear dense brush that fed the fires.
In closing: I am an independent voter supporting President Bush because I want a strong leader, a leader who believes in the USA being a leader, who believes in the American people and their future.
The Republican bait and switch is on. This week in New York, the GOP trotted out its "liberal" wing in an attempt to sway the moderate swing voter. To that group, I say be wary. What you saw this week is not what you will get if President Bush is re-elected. The corporate CEOs, right-wing hawks and evangelicals are now firmly in control of the party.
We get the government we deserve. Be an informed voter. Get your news from several sources. Just because Rush Limbaugh said so, or you saw it on Fox News, doesn't make it so. I, for one, hope we deserve better than what we've got.
Last night I had a dream. In my dream Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's speech to his party convention was rerun. In this version of his speech his Austrian accent was replaced with a drawl and he was introduced as Arnold Schwarzenworthy. It seemed so real, even closer to reality than his actual speech. Odd? Yes. It went something like this:
"If your tax write-off for your Porsche SUV is bigger than the U.S. family median income, you must be a Republican.
"If you want big government out of your financial business so it can be in the personal business of others, you must be a Republican.
"If you use foreign lease schemes to pay zero in taxes on billions of profit, you must be a Republican.
"If you think it's good to cut your taxes to leave your grandchildren a national debt to pay, you must be a Republican.
"If you find nothing perverse in the concept of a "free speech zone,' you must be a Republican.
"If you think policemen have nothing to fear from "hunters' with assault weapons, you must be a Republican.
"If your idea of wetlands preservation is building a retention pond in a subdivision, you must be a Republican.
"If you think you have the patent on patriotism and courage, you must be a Republican."
The speech went on and on. Finally I awoke, refreshed, and assured, I must not be a Republican.
Re: McCollum for GOP, Aug. 30.
I hope that this editorial, in addition to setting straight a terrible wrong, will hereafter serve as the ultimate deterrent to any office-seeker, anywhere, who steps across the line of decency and truthfulness in a political contest. The Times has done everything in its power to make sure that the end does not justify the means, when it comes to ruthless political campaigns, at any level. Such attacks are invariably made at the last moment to create great damage, with no opportunity for the target to respond. Thank you for responding immediately, for all of us.