"Quanta...like spit in the dust of a baseball field" - Cody

May 14, 2004

Guest Entry: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

The following views expressed are the author's comments, which I agree with on the whole.


ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. It's time to convince our Republican friends that we have been duped as a nation. We were lied to about Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, lied to about their supposed terrorist ties, led into a war where people are dying and our leaders claim that the Geneva Convention agreement we signed (that states that we cannot torture POW's) is not necessarily violated when our prisoners are beaten and raped, to the extent that 25 have DIED since 9-11. Our economy is in the crapper, and the average Joe is doing MUCH worse than under Clinton, no matter what they think about his blowjobs. Since Bush's "War on Terror", we are much LESS safe, as basically, the whole Muslim world now hates us and wants to start a holy war, with scores of young Bush-hating Muslims joining terrorist groups in retaliation. BUSH IS NOW A LIABILITY, not a leader, even for Republicans. If Bush is elected, we are ENSURED of being attacked again, because THE WORLD HATES HIM. This is more important than any policies that the people clinging to party loyalty support in Bush. Even if you are a right-wing Christian, who cares if Bush is anti-gay if he causes your kid to be drafted or your bus to be blown up by a terrorist who HATES BUSH? We need to be screaming this to every conservative in the nation and handing them a voter registration form. But we aren't. Why not??? "I don't have time." Bullshit. It takes one minute to make a contribution, one minute to forward an e-mail, one afternoon out of the more than 150 before the election to hand out voter registration forms.

Less than 6 months until a critical election, I am seeing many liberal people frustrated and angry about Bush and the damage he is doing to this country (and around the world). But I don't see much action, particularly among my peers in the younger generation. When I volunteered for the MoveOn "Bake Back The White House" fundraiser, I was the only person under 50 there. When I went to listen to the MoveOn panel about how we can win this election, I was the only one without gray hair in the audience, even though it is young people who will be drafted when Bush moves on to fight Iran or North Korea. None of my friends who are members of MoveOn supported these events. Everyone is outraged, but when I have asked even the most vocal of liberal friends if they have donated even $20 to the Kerry campaign, the majority says no. Friends and family are unwilling to join me in doing these things, and even mock my urgency, not wanting to talk about such "depressing" things. And this, when the country is equally divided between Republican and Democrat, just as in the last election (we are even more closely divided this election). There are 16 Floridas this time around, 16 swing states that could go either way and will decide if we will have four more years of war, loss of teachers, closure of schools, environmental damage, loss of abortion rights, loss of jobs to overseas, corporate corruption, gay bashing, etc. We NEED to talk about such depressing things, because otherwise we will be experiencing them for four more years.

Isn't this important enough to DO something, even if it just means forwarding political e-mails to people in swing states (see list at bottom) and donating money (whatever you can afford) to the Kerry campaign? Isn't that the very minimum you should be doing? The Republicans are out there FIGHTING for those swing states. They are convincing the demographic that SHOULD be ours, the young people, because we are not there, screaming as loudly as they are. Their people are on college campuses, at basketball games, NASCAR races, and pouring donations into Bush's coffers. Where the hell are we?!!! Did we forget that Bush (at least according to their 'official' tallies) won the last election by only 538 votes? 538 votes that were sitting on their asses at home watching T.V. because they didn't register to vote and didn't think they were part of the political system? 538 people who could have been convinced if WE, the liberal Democrats, had been in their faces with voter registration forms, convincing them of how critical it was to vote for Gore. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON??? Do we want a repeat performance? It's time to get mad and aggressive.

This is my attempt at a call to arms. It is time to get political, people, and not just verbally. We need to get off our asses and do everything we can to stop those monkeys from leading us into World War III. If you do just one of the things below, and FORWARD this e-mail to other liberals, it's a help. Let's not look back in six months and say, "If only…". We still have time now. I know for some of you, I'm preaching to the choir. Keep doing what you're doing! But for those that haven't yet gotten involved, here's your chance. It's critical. Let's get off our asses and take back the country. It is do-able. We are neck and neck with the BU**SH** campaign. Time to pull out all the stops.

Best,

Mieke

Swing states: Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Missouri, Florida, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Arkansas, Maine, Iowa, New Hampshire, and West Virginia.

1. Contribute whatever you can afford to the Kerry Campaign. You can do this online and by secure credit card by going to: https://contribute.johnkerry.com/

2. Get voter registration forms and hand them out. Call your County's Registrar (under "Registrar of Voters" in the County Government Offices section of the government pages at the front of the phone book). You can go in to the Registrar's office, fill out a form, and get registration cards and instructions for holding drives.

3. Join http://www.moveon.org , but more importantly, GET INVOLVED in their activities and fundraisers.

4. Buy The League of Pissed Off Voters' "How To Get Stupid White Men Out of Office" or Move On's "50 Ways To Love Your Country", and follow some of the examples set forth in those books.

5. Contact people you know in swing states and try to get them involved in getting the word out. Maybe go to a swing state closest to you for a few days with some friends and try to register voters at college campuses, concerts, ball games, etc. You could also do an Internet search and find a liberal organization in a swing state and offer to help them.

6. Print flyers that highlight the issues and importance of voting, and bring them, along with a stack of voter registration forms, to places such as local health clinics, bars, etc. Ask http://www.bostonvote.org for info on how to do this. They have revolutionized the political climate in Boston with their program to increase voting among the (usually democrat) poor and young.

7. Lend your support and time to people already organized for the cause. I'm REALLY impressed with Davey D's ideas. This guy gets up at 4:30 A.M. to do his website, and has some great ideas to target the young ethnic demographic. You MUST read his article: http://p076.ezboard.com/fpoliticalpalacefrm21.showMessage?topicID=305.topic
Also visit his website: http://www.daveyd.com

8. Hold a fundraiser and donate the money to the Kerry Campaign or MoveOn. Garage sales, bake sales, bike-a-thon, anything that has to do with your area of interest or expertise can be a fundraiser. For all my entertainment industry friends, use your power!!!

Posted by cbsisco at May 14, 2004 04:59 PM
Comments

While it is a given that much of the world hates the U.S., is there actually any evidence that the hatred has risen in the Muslim world? The only survey I've seen (from the one year mark) suggests the opposite:

"Majorities in the Muslim nations surveyed hold negative views of the United States, though opinion has softened. In all four of these nations, fewer respondents hold very unfavorable opinions of the U.S. now than did so last year. For example, 45% in Turkey now hold a very unfavorable opinion of the U.S., down from 68% last May. There have been comparable declines in intense dislike of the U.S. in Pakistan and Jordan. Strong dislike of the U.S. moderated in Morocco as well, though not as much as in the other Muslim nations surveyed."

http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=796

That doesn't, of course, take into account the recent prison scandal, the effects of which remain to be seen. But even that may not seriously dent the already low opinion of the U.S. much.

I guess this isn't really that surprising:

"The abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of U.S. soldiers draws intense reactions from some who left Iraq to find freedom in Washington state, but prolonged outrage isn't one of them.

While some local Iraqis are bothered by the images, others welcome them.

"It's a terrible thing and it adds more wood to the fire," said Hussein Al-Muhanna, who came to the United States in 1993. "(But) to me, it's not the issue I have to worry about. To me, the main issue is Iraq's future."

Imad al-Turfy, another Everett resident, shows no sympathy for the prisoners, saying their treatment paled when compared with the horrors inflicted under Saddam Hussein's regime.

"They raped our women. They killed our kids. So there's hatred between us, the people here, and the people in Iraq," he said, referring to the Shiite Muslims who emigrated and the Sunni Muslims who ruled Iraq under Saddam.

"Anything coming to them would make me happy.""

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/172421_iraqreax07.html

Actually, the prison scandal is probably generating more animosity in the Muslim world around Iraq than within it, at least judging from the Iraqi blogs I've seen.

In any case, links to contradictory polls appreciated.

Regards,

Geoff

Posted by: Geoff at May 14, 2004 10:48 PM

Geoff,
Welcome to Cementhorizon. I'd love to know who you are. How bout you introduce yourself.
-Gene

Posted by: gene at May 15, 2004 08:01 AM

polls schmolls.

Posted by: Kristina at May 16, 2004 02:06 AM

[I wrote something really sardonic and sarcastic about it being ironic that Geoff is citing sources here but has been bashing me for doing substantially the same, but Gene made me feel guilty for being such a bitch.]

Gene, your kindness to Geoff is truly inspiring. Perhaps I, too, should strive to be a more gracious and sociable hostess... but I'm just not that kind of girl.

Posted by: Kristina at May 16, 2004 02:45 AM

I just figure, since Geoff is commenting all over the place, it would be nice to know who he is. So come on Geoff, speak up. Let us in on the secret.

Posted by: gene at May 16, 2004 03:46 AM
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