[Vision2020] Reasoning and the vote (was Bush and war and Iraq)

[Art Deco aka W. Fox]

Joan, et al,

>From Today's LA Times OP/Ed:

"If elections were solely a job performance review, President George W. Bush 
would lose in a landslide. He has been a reckless steward of the nation's 
finances and its environment, a divisive figure at home and abroad. It's fair to 
say that Bush has devalued the American brand in the global marketplace..."


"...Bush's lack of seriousness - and his stubborn refusal to alter course in the 
face of altered circumstance - explains his administration's notorious hostility 
toward expertise of all kinds. Whether it is his own Treasury secretary telling 
him his tax cuts are no longer affordable, intelligence analysts raising doubts 
about a supposed Al Qaeda-Saddam Hussein tie, or his proconsul in Iraq clamoring 
for more ground troops, Bush has a way of freezing out expertise he deems 
inconvenient. The terribly botched occupation of Iraq - and the lost opportunity 
it represents according to the president's own assessment of the stakes in that 
conflict - is the price the United States pays for its president's obstinacy..."



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Joan Opyr
  To: Vision2020 Moscow
  Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 10:14 PM
  Subject: [Vision2020] Reasoning and the vote (was Bush and war and Iraq)


  Ted, Dick, Pat, et al.,

  You know what frightens me?  Voters like my 82 year-old grandmother.  She 
voted early on Friday, and she voted for Bush.  Why?  Because her 81 year-old 
boyfriend, Mr. Royall Beavers (yes, that's his real name) flew on a bomber in 
WWII and, based on his Birdseye frozen war expertise, he advised her that "you 
don't change horses in mid-war."  Now, never mind the mixed metaphor; the 
important thing is that my grandmother cites this as her one-and-only reason for 
voting for George Bush.  She didn't watch the debates.  She didn't read the 
newspaper -- she never does except for the obituaries and the Family Circus. 
She didn't watch any political programming on Fox, or CNN, or PBS.  She also 
didn't have any idea who she was going to vote for until Royall called her on 
Thursday night and they reminisced about their high school days, 1937 to 1940, 
and the time he spent on that WWII bomber.

  My grandmother votes in every election.  She's voted for Republicans, and 
she's voted for Democrats.  She voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976 because he was a 
Southern Baptist.  She voted for Ronald Reagan in 1984 because he was "better 
looking" than Walter Mondale.  Ditto for George H. W. Bush over Michael Dukakis 
(who had the added disadvantages of being both short and Greek).  She voted for 
Bill Clinton, twice.  Why?  The Southern Baptist thing again; oh, and because 
she thought he was "so handsome," even if that Yankee wife of his was so stuck 
up she couldn't stand her.  In 2000, she picked Bush over Al Gore because she 
liked Laura and she suspected that Tipper dyed her hair.  (The shame!)

  Had John Edwards been at the top of the ticket this time around, I know that 
my grandmother would have been torn.  She voted for him in the primaries (she's 
a registered Democrat) because "he's from North Carolina."  Had they been in the 
running, my grandmother would have voted for Clay Aiken or Andy Griffith or our 
state bird, the cardinal, for the exactly same reason

  Now, dear Visionaries, why am I subjecting you to this history of my 
grandmother's highly subjective voting record?  BECAUSE SOMETIMES PEOPLE MAKE NO 
SENSE.  THEY ARE NOT RATIONAL.  THEY DON'T LOOK AT THE FACTS, THEY DON'T WEIGH 
THE OPTIONS, AND THEY DO NOT MAKE REASONED CHOICES.  THEY CLOSE THEIR EYES AND 
PULL THE TRIGGER.  For nearly sixty years now, my grandmother's participation in 
the democratic process has consisted of playing pin the tail on the candidate. 
This is the price of universal enfranchisement, and while I am generally willing 
to pay it, it does occasionally seem a little bit steep.  This year in 
particular, if I could have had my grandmother (not to mention Mr. Royall 
Beavers) declared non compos mentis, I'd have put them in a home with a 
collection of Matlock videos and an out-of-date calendar and not let them out 
until November the 3rd.  Maybe.

  Oy.

  Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment

  PS: Some reasons to change horses in the middle of a war:
  1) Your horse is drowning.
  2) People keep shooting you off it.
  3) The glue factory called.
  4) Your horse is defective, all ass and no head.



    ----- Original Message -----
    From: Tbertruss at aol.com
    Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 10:17 AM
    To: dickschmidt at moscow.com; rwiza at hotmail.com; vision2020 at moscow.com
    Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Bush and War with Iraq


    Dick et. al.

    The amazing fact is, there are die hard Bush supporters who will admit that 
Bush and his administration "lied" about some of the reasons for going to war in 
Iraq, yet they will still support him, believing the war in Iraq was still a 
good idea for other reasons, and that it has made America safer.

    I think one argument that might make some Bush supporters question their 
loyalty is to make the case that the war in Iraq has actually increased support 
for anti-American terrorism in the Islamic world, making America less safe.

    However, what is revealing is how little the moods and opinions of the 
Islamic world are given any attention by the presidential candidates, 
demonstrating the insular, "we are the center of the world" attitude that is 
part of the reason the US is so hated in many parts of the world.

    I've argued with hard line militarists who want to solve the terrorism 
problem with military force, and I pointed out we would need to bomb and/or 
invade numerous countries with a total population of over a billion people to 
wipe out all the Islamic world's recruiting for Al Quada style terrorism.

    Better tighten your wallets, this could get expensive, though investment in 
military sector stocks might help.

    Ted Moffett

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