I never, ever villified Kerry for his military service. Nor will I, given present knowledge (please, I'm not implying anything. But I don't have crystal ball, either). I believe the medals were properly awarded and that his service in Vietnam was exemplary.

The people who nitpick this or that wound are just that, nitpicking. Its like that trivial, stupid, witless microscopic analysis of Dubbie's 'Bama service. I don't give a flip. Want to learn about Dubbie? Read the frigging 9/11 Report. Look at what he has done to (or for) the country and decide if you want more or less of that. That's a heck of a lot less cryptic than service records.

But I don't think medals or military service give the voter a clue as to what kind of president he'd be. I think its interesting but trivial in comparison with his record in the senate and what he may propose in the run-up to election.

So far, I have heard little except he ain't Bush. I fully understand that's all the qualification many voters require for improved governance. I'm looking for a tad more.

the rest of your innuendo and stuff is well, venomous crap of the sort that demeans rather than educates. Thanks for nothing.

Goo d thing you're not one of those awful neocons who'll say anything.

B

There is currently no monopoly on venom on either side. It is going to get a lot worse. This "swift boat captains" smear that Fox and Drudge are currently cooking up is going to cause this to get really nasty. They are choosing the battleground - a smear of a veterans war service. They are going to get it back in spades. Don't give me any speeches on venom.

Go ahead and hang your collective heads you silly Republicans. How can you not love a political party that has it's own clown??

because somebody's a fool and an ass and says rude things doesn't demand that a thinking man respond in kind.

Lest an observer be unable to differentiate them.

DISINGENUOUS?!?!?!

For 8 years the republicans scream that Clinton was a draft dodger, then they smear McCain for his service, calling him "the manchurian candidate" and smear Kerry because his three purple hearts and SILVER FREAKING STAR wasn't good enough.

Really, conceed the whole military thing and move on, it's embarrassing.

I'll give it a shot.

War aside, here we go...

On education: Bush's no child stuff has not had the desired effect, rather forming an un-funded mandate that places accountability for uniform standards on underpaid teachers and actually cuts funding for the neediest schools when they do poorly rather than trying to help. The results have been unfavorable at best, and rather than helping the kids with smaller classroom size and more individualized attention, he has created a system of teaching for the test.

On the environment: besides repealing many of the progressive long term goals intending to give cleaner air and water, Bush's team coined a new term, 'clear skies', to make folks think he was helping. Inference is: if a sky is 'clear' it must be good for you. Ever heard of odorless, colorless pollutants? Not to mention the national park system gutting he's done or his ANWAR desires.

On the economy: No politician deserves credit for the clinton-era boom, because it was largely an artificial bubble due to internet booming. Bush cannot be held responsible for 9/11's fallout on th economy either. However, the fact that he went from billions of surplus to trillions in debt in just a few short years proves that he is not capable of managing the budget responsibly. There are important things to fix, and he's done little to fix them. Bush has created policies that assist corporations in sending jobs away from the US, in the name of 'free trade'. The premise that good, higher paying jobs will replace the manufacturing jobs has not come through, though to be fair it is a LONG-view theory of growth. Unfortunately, with increased unemployment, a baby boomer population whose savings' have been depleted about to retire, and no new major industrial job growth ideas except sending a man to mars, W has proven he cannot do this job.

Support for troops: under bush, vet benefits have been cut, including those for those vietnam era vets who are just about to need some of the benes. Nothing of the morale issues present if not prevalent amongst the troops.

International leadership: This is easy, because he has completely changed the face of american foreign policy. It needed a shake-up, but not this way. Even the mightiest knight has chinks in his armor, and can be struck down the same as a squire when he stands alone. Surrounded by friends, the nation is truly stronger. (go watch lord of the rings, you'll see) We've also excused ourselves from environmental and nuclear test-ban treaties amongst other things. Leadership moves forward, not backwards.

Imposition of social values: Bush has a clear goal of legislating social values during his term. Marriage ammendment, Stem-Cell research prohibition, etc, are all part of this nonsense. This is not the job of the government. His religiousness bothers me personally, but I understand I am in the minority in this issue.

Tone: fear and scare tactics to keep the masses behaving properly have become the norm. security measures that are absolutely rediculous have been sold to the public as preventative measures against a terror attack that could happen anywhere. most of this fear is artificial and impossible to perpetuate. The nation cannot have it's baseline 'alert' never drop below 'elevated' for 3 years unless someone is being dishonest. Reality is, maybe in a few big cities/targets there is an elevated risk, but in Dubuque, nobody is coming to get you. W enjoys the perception of risk because it makes him look busy protecting us from it. smoke and mirrors, helped by a marketing department in the whitehouse. no responses about 9/11- I know it actually happened and was horrible. but using those feelings to indoctrinate fear in the masses while simultaneously diverting resources away from solving that crime is rediculous.



Now, I have no proof that John Kerry will be any more dependable in these areas, but I am certainly willing to give him the chance. He has been floppy at times- who hasn't? The nature of our democracy is compromise and if he can manage that process, perhaps our bipolar populace can heal a bit. He basically stole Dean's platform when his had no legs, and has used his connections and long experience to get to the top of the ticket. I don't care that he actually follows NASA protocol when visiting the space center, and I am happy he plays hockey. I've tried to read interviews he's given in smaller publications (espn the mag, for example) for a better sense of who he is, and I think that at base, he is a smarter individual than is W. To me, that matters. I think he will have a greater moment of pause to consider fully the conseqences of action, but I do not doubt that if those consequences merited, he would act. I don't care if the president actually ever served in the military; only something like 2% of college educated men his age did. That is too narrow a pool from which to pick a president. However, his service record is impressive, and certainly more-so than W's, or clinton's for that matter. I believe his committment to the environment is strong, and that he can strike a balance between our capitalist business structure and ensuring that we'll have a place to live, breathe, eat, and drink when our grandchildren are alive. I think he understands fully the different forms that families can take, and does not judge these entities by anything but the consentual nature of their construction. I think he understands that while it would be nice if certain programs were privatized, the government can reorganize some things for the benefit of the populace. I think he has a better plan for healthcare. I think he has a better plan for education. I think he has a better plan for balancing the budget- remarkable that the Dem is more likely to do this than the repo, but that is the truth. And, finally, when he speaks- when I see the expressions on his face- when words come out of his mouth, I can feel equally the preparedness and practice, but I can tell he has command of the issues. This is sadly lacking in the incumbent, and what with only two choices, I'm rather saddled with his challenger. For whom I'll gladly cast my vote.

__________________
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Redline Monocog 29er
2011 Mini Cooper Clubman
2005 Honda Element EX

www.djugurba.com
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"Now, I have no proof that John Kerry will be any more dependable in these areas, but I am certainly willing to give him the chance. He has been floppy at times- who hasn't?"

Lots of people have decided to vote believing that being "Not Bush" is better than being Bush.

The definition of "Yella-dog" Democrat.

B

I could write a litany of reasons why I am voting for John Kerry. He offers a progressive agenda that seeks to employ some of the ideas that I find appealing. First is his desire to restore the top marginal tax rate to Bill Clinton's level of 39.6%. Aside from a more progressive tax structure and other economic issues, I know John Kerry will not appoint radical conservative justices to the federal bench, but rather reasonable candidates (as they must be confirmed by a Republican Congress).

I dont doubt that John Kerry was in Vietnam on some misguided effort to enhance his own glory --- but the bottom line, regardless of his personal motivations, is that he volunteered and he served with honor. This cannot be said about many leading chickenhawks in Washington (Bush, Cheney, Hastert).

Bottom line is Kerry was not my first choice, but he has presented a positive and progressive agenda that is very appealing to me.

Bush served with honor. There, I said it and you said it couldn't be done. He has a piece of paper (DD-214) that says it, too. Heck, I've got one of those babies. Ain't a big deal. You could even get one. Have you got one, smart boy?

B

Yes, he was honorably discharged. I do not believed he served with honor... not being able to prove that you even showed up is not serving with honor in my eyes.

Elect the flake, to eject the snake.

Fairly succinct, and it reveals the rather tepid support for the actual candidate.

No, I don't have one. I was lucky, my draft number was over 300. But, if had one and had served honorably I would be less generous than you with your assessment that Bush, having a government form executed in accordance with procedures served honorably when he cannot even prove he was present and able for substantial periods of time. The evidence he had political strings pulled to get him a secure assignment is indisputable. Those same strings can make a duly executed government form spit out into the mail at least as easy as they got him the cushy assignment. Why anyone who actually did serve honorably would view a government form filled out by an administrator under these circumstances as tangible evidence is beyond me. Sounds like another unsolicited excuse for George W. Bush.

Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Works for me. Although I liked Edwards' speech tonight more than I expected. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

You know, I expect more from you. I give an honest look at these guys, and you can do no better than ignore what I've written and resort to name calling.

If you've got to choose between a rotten apple you've tasted and an apple that looks and smells like it is fresh, chances are, you're not going to be ridiculed for trying the better looking/smelling apple. Do you have PROOF that it will be better? Of course not. You can only judge by what you have seen and the evidence you are able to collect. Does the nasty taste in your mouth from having tasted the rotten apple color your opinion? Sure. Not rotten is always better than rotten. Electing to choose something meerly because it is not the known bad quantity is not the american ideal, or even desireable. However, using the fact that it is not the known bad quantity as an element of the decision making process only makes good sense.

There are those who have no considered reasons for liking Kerry specifically over Bush, but if you even gave a cursory read to my original post prior to your outlash, you'd see that I am not amongst these. I even started out the entire excercise by taking war off the table to attempt a more level playing field. Given the totality of the circumstances, with even an elementary look at just simply the economy and how Bush's policies have gutted the future, it is not hard to find the Kerry platform attractive. As I said, he was not my first choice even amongst his primary contenders. But he has come to a central platform that is attractive independent of his place in history opposite Bush:

Is "Bush must be better than Not Bush" any different than the yella-dogs? No- it's not. Can we oust those in our country who make decisions in this fashion? nope. they are the majority.

It is not hard for me to imagine a candidate who could have secured the demo ticket whom I would have thought a poorer candidate for president than the incumbent. Some of the men in the primary would have produced this dynamic. I'd have been forced to keep the known quantity. I am glad that this is not the situation that saddles us today. A genuinely qualified, intelligent, and admittedly flawed human being is the nominee. He's not perfect, but he has the experience and plans to lead the country in a direction I'd rather like to see it go. I'll do what I can to see he gets his opportunity.

__________________
Cannondale ST600 XL
Redline Monocog 29er
2011 Mini Cooper Clubman
2005 Honda Element EX

www.djugurba.com
www.waldenwellness.com