READY? HERE WE GO!
I am finding it increasingly difficult to understand how we can except to avoid serious conflict with a number of the strange forces haunting us as a nation today.
Some progress has been made.
We are fortunate to have a President who has strong standard of morality. Few Americans knew the depths to which we had fallen on that score alone. Even today, we prefer not to talk about it, but we are pleased with the fact that the problem has gone away. For a time, at least, the seamy side of White House living has been eliminated.
We are involved in election time at this moment which is going to tell us if we have, indeed, exorcised some of the qualities of decay which had become so obvious.
We are going into a national election which is going to be a rough exchange, and if the Democratic Party banner bearer, which now seems to be a “done deal”, the campaign is destined to be a rather weird one.
I was surprised to see John Kerry emerge rather early in the primary routine over some others who were not so regional in their political experience. John Kerry is known as a ”liberal” if we find it necessary to apply labels. Such tags do not tell, the entire story, however. He would have to be called a “Loose Liberal” because of his tendency to vote on both sides of many issues dependent on immediate advantages seemingly to be gained by such both-way voting. In the primary campaign it became quickly evident John Kerry could not run on his voting record. He made an error when he allowed his military experiences to be given hailing him as a “Viet-Nam War Hero”. He overdid it. He accused President W. George as having been AWOL from his assigned Air National Guard post on one occasion during the Viet Nam war. The charge was was met by publication of official military records for the date and time concerned This proved Kerry's charges to be false. The really, big mistake Kerry made at this point was to seem to vilify the National Guard as being a haven for rich men's sons and slackers. He seems to be totally ignorant of the fact that the National Guard, in absence of a national draft, is now and has been our main source - practically our only source - through several modern wars.
Other points of Kerry's military career will haunt him and hurt his campaign. He served a total of four months in his “tour” of Viet Nam and requested home assignment because he collected three purple heart decorations which gave him the privileged of requesting his return home. Only one of the purple heart decorations, involved more than primary medical attention and loss of time from work duty. Each time they are mentioned more and more veterans of all wars think of them as having been the “Band Aid” version, and an insult to all Purple Heart recipients. Kerry, upon coming back to the states, actively participated in anti-war demonstrations as a “peacenik” complete with long hair and rags and there are published lists of numerous American army atrocities he claimed to have witnessed during his stay in Viet Nam,but failed to report, deeds of theft, torture, murder, and rape of innocent civilians.. If this darker side of the Kerry background surfaces prior to the Democratic National Convention you can expect to see a new slate set before the American people.
That may well be the moment when a new personality will be called from the wings to save the Party and the nation - Hillary Clinton!
A.L.M. March 3, 2004 [c621wds]
