Monday, July 26, 2004
day 99/reason 2: the great divide(r)
I was very impressed tonight by Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic convention, and I was especially pleased by his references to Bush and Co. as being dividers, which I believe is true, and is another reason to vote against him in the fall.
They (Bush and Co.) have divided the US from from rest of the world by their policy of "prevention" (that is, striking Iraq even though it wasn't clear that an attack on the US by Iraq was impending). They are widening the divide between the rich and the poor in this county - heck, even between the rich and the middle class. They are trying to divide the population into those who believe in the "right" things, and those who believe in the "wrong" things. They are trying to take certain ideas (patriotism, military strength, etc.) and make it seem as though they the monopoly on those ideas.
In reality, people and situations are nuanced, and dividing the world into two camps serves no purpose but to distract from real solutions. If the people are fighting in the trenches about which party is right or wrong, or who hates whom, they won't have time to think about how poor their health care is, how bad their children's education has gotten, or what long-term solutions to gasoline shortages might involve.
We need a president who can get through the diviseness of the current political scene and bring people together from all political viewpoints to share ideas and create a vision of the future, both within this country, and between the US and other countries. I'm hoping that Kerry will be that president.
¶ 10:17 PM
I was very impressed tonight by Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic convention, and I was especially pleased by his references to Bush and Co. as being dividers, which I believe is true, and is another reason to vote against him in the fall.
They (Bush and Co.) have divided the US from from rest of the world by their policy of "prevention" (that is, striking Iraq even though it wasn't clear that an attack on the US by Iraq was impending). They are widening the divide between the rich and the poor in this county - heck, even between the rich and the middle class. They are trying to divide the population into those who believe in the "right" things, and those who believe in the "wrong" things. They are trying to take certain ideas (patriotism, military strength, etc.) and make it seem as though they the monopoly on those ideas.
In reality, people and situations are nuanced, and dividing the world into two camps serves no purpose but to distract from real solutions. If the people are fighting in the trenches about which party is right or wrong, or who hates whom, they won't have time to think about how poor their health care is, how bad their children's education has gotten, or what long-term solutions to gasoline shortages might involve.
We need a president who can get through the diviseness of the current political scene and bring people together from all political viewpoints to share ideas and create a vision of the future, both within this country, and between the US and other countries. I'm hoping that Kerry will be that president.
¶ 10:17 PM
