Dispelling the Myths of this Presidential Campaign

Sept. 15, 2004

Get ready for the onslaught of dirt. With only two months to go before the election, all reason and civility are out the window.
When listening to the attacks against Bush and Kerry on TV, I am left with the impression that the political parties think voters are dumber than Forrest Gump. The following are just a few of the top whoppers that the candidates are dealing us this election season with their fingers crossed behind their backs.

If they knew what they know now, each candidate would still have invaded Iraq. They may have said it, but don’t read their lips - George W. Bush and John Kerry are lying. No sane person would order thousands of American troops and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis to their deaths in a quagmire without any end in site.
The disaster we are experiencing in Iraq is a scenario that Bush and his advisors did not anticipate. The occupation of Iraq has the potential to stain Bush’s legacy worse than Lyndon Johnson’s escalation of the war in Vietnam.
On the other hand, Senator John Kerry voted to authorize the war in Iraq because he was afraid of appearing weak on terrorism, period. Anyone who voted against the invasion of Iraq in 1991, cannot have his vote in favor of the 2003 invasion taken seriously.

“W” – right or wrong? John Kerry’s new buzzword is the “W” in Bush’s name stands for “wrong.” What kind of infantile, silly slogans will the campaign strategists think up next? The “W” stands for “Walker”, dude. Before you know it, the Bush camp will be claiming the “F” stands for “flip-flop” in Kerry’s middle name.

Kerry is a flip-flopper. The flip-flop controversy strikes me as laughable. It is well documented how John’s Kerry’s positions have changed over the decades he has been in the Senate. In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned against nation-building and originally opposed the independent 9/11 commission and homeland security department – then changed his mind.
Let us pray that voters give us leaders who will adjust their strategy in the face of changing circumstances over those who continue down the same disastrous road hoping to save face. Give me a flip-flopper, anytime.

Bush isn’t smart. While it may be true that W. is the most in-articulate president in history, being tongue-tied is not the same as being dumb. The guy passed classes at Yale and Harvard and tested fairly well as a fighter pilot.
Think of him more as a sly fox. Bush has been underestimated his entire political career, but he always find a way to win elections.

Vietnam War activities are important for the 2004 election. If you, too, are of the generation that produced Bush and Kerry, you know how the mayhem of the Vietnam War era influenced millions of young people to do immature things they would not even consider, today. Are you the same person you were thirty years ago? Fifteen years ago? I am not even close… but let’s not go there.
Bottom line: it is not relevant today if George W. Bush served honorably or used connections to powerful people to enlist in the National Guard and take time off in 1972. Whether John Kerry was a Vietnam War hero or protestor, this ancient history will not affect his ability to be commander-in-chief.
Bush has admitted he isn’t proud of his partying lifestyle up until age 40 and Kerry suggests he might have been a little over the top when he returned home from the ravages of the war. Neither Bush nor Kerry is the same man today – so can we finally end the fighting in Vietnam?
Today, we have serious issues to resolve and mountains of current information in which to judge the candidates. It is up to each of us to sort out all of the nonsense and vote in this critical election.