I was struck by this editorial in the The Guardian. It is the truth. That's why we're in Iraq.
George Bush and al qaeda are matched sets. Al qaeda wants one world domination, Bush and company wants one world domination. So do all the people who use terrorism around the world. The only question for all of them is who will be on top.
We wanted to know why we went to iraq. Gore tells us. I think this is the truth. The republicans have trumpeted their entitlement to be on the top of the heap and all of their policies are driven to preserve the wealth of their constituency. The republicans are entitled to govern; this is what they believe. They want to write the rules that the rest of us will live by. It doesn't trouble them that some republicans get caught with their hands in the trough or that some republicans get caught doing some dirty tricks. This alone should warn you against voting for the people who do not have scruples.
The problem is that the military is probably not the best solution for all of this, and Bush and company totally muffed the occupation of Iraq and are on the way to muffing the occupation of Afghanistan. They were not willing to commit sufficient resources, and they were not willing to commit to policies that would facilitate the occupation.
What do we do now? Our choices are poor.
The Democrats have seized upon the occupation of Iraq and been uncomfortable about how to deal with this president's decisions. It is a mistake to focus on Iraq as the defining issue because Bush's best option is becoming clear - leave Iraq. yes, Bush will cut and run.
Candidates shouldn't run on the Iraq issue because the Iraq issue will be disappearing by the 2008 election. There are other defining issues that will shape the 2008 election. and if the Democrats depend on Iraq as the big issue, the republicans might be able to pull a 2008 victory out of defeat.
The democrats need to quit focusing on Iraq and start focusing on those issues that will be in the forefront in 2008, such as the economy, outsourcing, immigration, world domination, health care, social security, the environment.
I am a dissident republican. but if Gore runs, he can count me in. None of the republican candidates are hitting high notes for me. Gore has not exactly been consistent in the past, but his mistakes are small compared to the mistakes of the Bush administration and compared to the ridiculous position of apologizing for the Bush administration missteps. Gore would never had made the mistakes that the Bush administration has made. And as far as I am concerned, Bush's mistakes have taken us to a position of possibly ending our American experiment.
troublemkr, aka Suzanne Hamlet Shatto, describes herself as "a moderate republican" whose been "active in politics" "for many years." You can sometimes find her chatting at The Boston Tea Party.
