UPDATE:I've made the necessary spelling changes, and toned the language down to "PG-13." As long as the message isn't distorted, I'm fine with constructive criticism. Thanks to everyone for their input.
Hello. Welcome to DailyKos. Odds are that you're here following a certain local election that has been credited/blamed on blog sites like this one. Maybe you've been talking to a friend or relative about politics, and you decided today was the day that, instead of watching Fox News or listening to Rush Limbaugh, you'd see how the other side lives. Perhaps you just realized that gas prices will make it more difficult for you to get to your job, or for your child to drive around when they start college, or that Aunt May will have to cut her visits to the house to once a month.
Well, a friend of mine put it best when we were talking about politics, so let me paraphrase him: Your President Done Fucked Up.
You may have been led to believe that people like us are radical, communist, anti-American, freedom-hating wackos. You've probably heard people in the media say that these
recent elections spell certain doom. Let me be the first to say: "Nah." In a nutshell, we think that our country shouldn't be this way, didn't have to be this way, and can change for the better. Sounds simple, huh?
You may also have heard that sites like this is full of Bush haters. That's not accurate, either. I personally don't know the man to hate him. What I do know is that he's the worst American President to ever breathe oxygen. Why? Because the guy just doesn't listen. And that's why he ticks alot of us off.
Here's one small example: Iraq. Before George W. Bush got into office, here's what a previous president had to say about the country:
Trying to eliminate Saddam .. would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible ... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq ...there was no viable "exit strategy" we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land.
I know what you're thinking; "Who cares what Bill Clinton said?" Well, this quote came from George H. W. Bush. So if the President of the United States won't take time to listen to his pop, who was also POTUS, where does that leave everyone else?
This type of ignorance led the country down a dangerous path: we accused a country of aiding a terrorist organization and then invaded said country. We bombed the crap out the country. We killed people. We captured their leader like in a scene from "COPS."
Your President-the guy who oversaw this whole mess-kept you in your place by telling you that the people wanted this. That they were begging America to free them and start a congaline across the Middle East called Democracy. That doing this would make you safe. In addition, this President (and his people) told you that anyone who disagrees with him is a traitor and hates America.
Now seriously; why would someone who hates America...stay in America? Think about that.
...
By now you've seen the news on Iraq, Afganistan and the Israel-Lebanon conflict. People are still being killed. Innocent people. And not just the battlefield; there are stories of rapes and massacres, of soldiers and citizens alike taking the law into their own hands. Was this the "democracy" President Bush promised?
In response to what is little more than contained chaos, Bush has said that we must understand the "root causes." Like others, I doubt that he knows what these root causes are. I also doubt that many people will see this as an example of how Bush has completely, utterly screwed things up: if he knew the root causes, then why the hell didn't he factor this in when he was doing the war planning? Why are the holes in this strategy not only large, but numerous?
Maybe you think that Bush is an OK guy who just fell into the wrong crowd. "He just needs to get rid of Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld, and he'll be OK." I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but that's been tried too. In fact, a former President went out of his way to get Bush to remove Rumsfeld, but to no avail. Who? Why, his dad, of course.
But let's not dwell on the past; "if wishes were horses," right? Let's talk about now: no doubt you've heard talk about how bad Iraq has gotten since we first arrived there. If not, here's a sampling. Let's start with a senator from a heartland state like Nebraksa:
To pour more American troops into Baghdad, reversing a policy of five years or five weeks ago, is wrong. This isn't going to stop it. And I think where we go from here, with all the problems and inconsistencies, is a cold, hard assessment that Iraq is not going to turn out the way that we were promised it was.
Sounds like Bush Sr., doesn't it. Or maybe one of those "cut and runners" you may have heard about. Nope; this comes from Republican Chuck Hagel, who knows a thing or two about combat. But wait, I remember the President saying something about listening to "generals on the ground." So lets find one:
As John [Abizaid] said, it [civil war] certainly is possible. When you have levels of sectarian violence the way they are, it certainly is possible. That said, I think I know the Iraqis are determined not to go there. And they're determined to prevent that and they're taking, what I would say, were the appropriate actions along with us and their security forces, to ensure that doesn't happen.
Sounds like hope for the best, plan for the worst. But you'll note he did say it's in the realm of possibility. What does President Bush have to say in response?
I hear people say `Civil war this, civil war that.'The Iraqi people decided against civil war when they went to the ballot box.
This, kind visitors, is what we "hate." The utter ignorance and arrogance of Mr. Bush. The man has been in denial about the politics of the Middle East since his father wrote his book, and now, after specifying who he will indeed listen to, still ignores those who disagree with him.
Besides, I thought the voting was about freedom from Saddam, not civil war. We had a civil war after we got our freedom, and I don't recall anyone saying "I thought we settled this after the Boston Tea Party."
I'll close with saying this: please understand that we are not some fringe minority. We are among the 60% who oppose this war. We are among the 60% who disapprove of the direction this president is taking our country. We are rational. We are logical. We are pissed off. We are legion.
And what you have witnessed is just the beginning.