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<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Dan, et al,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Dan posts an Op/ED piece that
says:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">"...we will announce to the world that bringing
democracy to the Middle East is too big of a task for us. But more
significantly, we will signal to future presidents that as voters, we are
unwilling to tackle difficult challenges, preferring caution to boldness,
embracing the mediocrity that has characterized other civilizations.
The defeat of President Bush will send a chilling message to future
presidents who may need to make difficult, yet unpopular decisions. America
has always been a nation that rises to the demands of history
regardless..."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>The presidential choice is not so much
about big goals but how to achieve them. If democracy is ever to be
brought to the middle east, it will probably not happen in a decade but over
many, many years. It certainly won't happen by waging an unjustified war
based on obvious inept intelligence at the time and by killing many innocent
people and destroying a massive amount of infrastructure just to kill a targeted
few. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>If you missed it, here is a flash: We
were not greeted as liberators by embracing mobs of Iraqis as Bush and friends
insisted. If polls in such an unsettled region are any indication, about
85% of the Iraqis want as to leave now.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4><STRONG>First lesson in
democracy:</STRONG> <STRONG>All adults, save felons, get to vote and
are allowed to run for office, not just men.</STRONG> However, the Bush
administration kowtows and kisses the asses of the Saudis and others who
prohibit women from voting and from holding office. There has been no
reported action by the Bush administration to condemn this policy or, heaven
forbid, attempt to change it. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>The rule for Bush Foreign Policy is:
If they have oil and are willing to sell it to us, they are our friends
regardless of anything else.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Also myopic is the phrase: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT><FONT face="Verdana Ref"
size=4><FONT size=3></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4><FONT size=3>"...embracing the
mediocrity that has characterized other civilizations..."</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4><STRONG>Are we (America) the only ever
non-mediocre civilization?</STRONG> Is there anyone else on this list that
finds such a statement to be incredibly egomaniacal and certainly
counter-productive to creating increasing necessary goodwill with other
nations?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>All presidential elections are
important. All presidents can radically change or reverse the country's
direction. The subject is much too complex to be reduced to a "being king
of the block" mentality. The choice is, as ever, about method
and attitude, as well as many, many different, sometimes
conflicting goals.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref"
size=4>
<DIV><BR>Wayne</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Art Deco (Wayne Fox)<BR><A
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">deco@moscow.com</A><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">From: "Dan Carscallen" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:predator75@moscow.com"><FONT
face="Verdana Ref">predator75@moscow.com</FONT></A><FONT
face="Verdana Ref">></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">To: <</FONT><A
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com"><FONT
face="Verdana Ref">vision2020@moscow.com</FONT></A><FONT
face="Verdana Ref">></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2004 11:12
AM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">Subject: [Vision2020] "Election Determines Fate of
Nation"</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref"><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">| Fuel
for the fire<BR>| <BR>| DC<BR>| <BR>| <BR>| > Subject: "Election
determines fate of nation"<BR>| > written by Mathew Manweller <BR>|
> Central Washington University political science professor..
<BR>| <BR>| > "Election determines fate of nation" <BR>|
> <BR>| > "In that this will be my last column before the
presidential<BR>| election,<BR>| > there will be no sarcasm, no
attempts at witty repartee. The topic<BR>| is <BR>| > too
serious, and the stakes are too high. <BR>| > <BR>| > This
November we will vote in the only election during our lifetime <BR>|
> that will truly matter. Because America is at a
once-in-a-generation<BR>| <BR>| > crossroads, more than an election
hangs in the balance. Down one<BR>| path <BR>| > lies
retreat, abdication and a reign of ambivalence. Down the other<BR>| <BR>|
> lies a nation that is aware of its past and accepts the
daunting <BR>| > obligation its future demands. <BR>| > <BR>|
> If we choose poorly, the consequences will echo through the next
50 <BR>| > years of history. If we, in a spasm of
frustration, turn out the <BR>| > current occupant of the White
House, the message to the world and <BR>| > ourselves will be
two-fold. <BR>| > <BR>| > First, we will reject the
notion that America can do big things. Once<BR>| a <BR>| > nation
that tamed a frontier, stood down the Nazis and stood upon the<BR>| <BR>|
> moon, we will announce to the world that bringing democracy to
<BR>| > the Middle East is too big of a task for us. But more
significantly,<BR>| we <BR>| > will signal to future presidents
that as voters, we are unwilling to<BR>| <BR>| > tackle difficult
challenges, preferring caution to boldness,<BR>| embracing <BR>|
> the mediocrity that has characterized other civilizations.
The<BR>| defeat <BR>| > of President Bush will send a chilling
message to future presidents <BR>| > who may need to make
difficult, yet unpopular decisions. America has <BR>| > always
been a nation that rises to the demands of history regardless<BR>| <BR>|
> of the costs or appeal. If we turn away from that legacy, we
turn <BR>| > away from who we are. <BR>| > <BR>|
> Second, we inform every terrorist organization on the globe that
the<BR>| <BR>| > lesson of Somalia was well learned. In Somalia
we showed terrorists<BR>| that <BR>| > you don't need to defeat
America on the battlefield when you can<BR>| defeat <BR>| > them
in the newsroom. They learned that a wounded America can become<BR>|
a <BR>| > defeated America.Twenty-four-hour news stations and
daily tracing<BR>| polls <BR>| > will do the heavy lifting,
turning a cut into a fatal blow. Except <BR>| > that Iraq
is Somalia times 10. The election of John Kerry will serve<BR>| <BR>|
> notice to every terrorist in every cave that the soft underbelly
of <BR>| > American power is the timidity of American
voters. Terrorists will <BR>| > know that a steady stream
of grizzly photos for CNN is all you need<BR>| to <BR>| > break
the will of the American people. Our own self-doubt will take<BR>| <BR>|
> it from there. Bin Laden will recognize that he can topple
any <BR>| > American administration without setting foot on the
homeland. <BR>| > <BR>| > It is said that America's
W.W.II generation is its 'greatest <BR>| > generation'. But
my greatest fear is that it will become known <BR>| > as
America's 'last generation.' Born in the bleakness of the Great <BR>|
> Depression and hardened in the fire of WW II, they may be the
last <BR>| > American generation that understands the meaning of
duty, honor and <BR>| > sacrifice. It is difficult to
admit, but I know these terms are <BR>| > spoken with only hollow
detachment by many (but not all) in my <BR>| > generation.
Too many citizens today mistake 'living inAmerica' as <BR>| >
'being an American.' But America has always been more of an idea than<BR>|
a <BR>| > place. When you sign on, you do more than buy
real estate. You <BR>| > accept a set of values and
responsibilities. <BR>| > <BR>| > This November, my
generation, which has been absent too long, must <BR>| > grasp
the obligation that comes with being an American, or fade into<BR>| <BR>|
> the oblivion they may deserve. <BR>| > <BR>| > I
believe that 100 years from now historians will look back at the <BR>|
> election of 2004 and see it as the decisive election of our century.
<BR>| > Depending on the outcome, they will describe it as the <BR>|
> moment America joined the ranks of ordinary nations; or they
will <BR>| > describe it as the moment the prodigal sons and
daughters of the <BR>| > greatest generation accepted their
burden as caretakers of the City<BR>| on <BR>| > the Hill."
<BR>| <BR>| > > > > Mathew
Manweller<BR>| <BR>| <BR>| <BR>|
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