four more years....

[Harpoon]

Oy....


Well let's just say I'm not too pleased with the results on a number of fronts both "semi-locally" and nationally.


Really do feel like I need to vent some stuff some place, but there are two issues that I know I must speak about with the utmost care, tact, and delicacy, the other one is religion....


So I'll keep my thoughts to myself, however I will say this:

I "woke up" in the hospital to watch British and American troops trying to pull down a statue of Saddam Hussein in Bagdad. While I think it's a good thing that Saddam is now in US custody and can't be a tyrant anymore, killing people simply because he perceived them to be a threat to his wealth and power or because he just didn't like them, I think Bush was dead wrong to turn a war on terrorism into a crusade to finish what his father was "politically" afraid to do 10 years before. I'm also DEEPLY disturbed by the documented connections between the Bush family and the Bin Laden family, including Osama, and Saudi oil.

While Kerry wasn't all that great of a choice either, choosing to ride whichever wave he thought would best carry him through whatever issue was presented to him regardless of what he said before, I know at LEAST that he wasn't in leagues with those that would plot to kill Americans out of hatred and jealousy.


Ok, guess I vented anyways, sorry.

Will go dig up a hole to hide my "non-catholic" arse in for the next four years.

 

[Sherry]

Harp, I'm with you, buddy, at least on the local election front. I'm still so mad about our Congressional race that I can't see straight. (Kodiak, are you still out there? You may sympathize (or may not) with me on this one.) Anyway, the day is done, the results are in, and all we have to do is wait four more years

 

[ericaj]

teh hand we are dealth

teh hand we are dealth

Hi Sherry and Harpoon,

I also agree with the "getting through the next 4 years" i just can't get myself to think past the fact that we are being lead by a republican majority again. Ross will probably yell at me for posting my views.. but I couldnt resist. I guess I must go dig a hole and hide my non - catholic self too.

Just thoughts.

 

[MarkU]

Whether it is due to an attitude/personality change since my AVR, the natural aging process, phases of the moon & tides, or whatever, I find that I am becoming much more liberal in my political views in recent years.

I feel particularly betrayed by the "compassionate conservative" promises of four years that have not been kept. That and the doctrine of self-righteousness that seems to justify our actions in the world these days.

Oh well, at least we figured out how to count votes in FL this time. And of course we rewarded the main culprit of the hanging chad fiasco, Katherine Harris, with a second term in the Congress...

 

[PapaHappyStar]

I am not a US citizen and here is my perspective:

Internationally a lot of people are afraid of what this result means, it is a critical time for world politics and one can safely say globally a lot fewer people are hopeful with the Republicans in power.

 

[hensylee]

Mark, my son in Sarasota is keeping me posted on the Harris 'swerve' - it may have helped her, you think? (publicity) But they are going to bury the guy. They threw the book and it hit him squarely between the eyes. His life is now in the dump. I don't think the incident deserves the punishment. It may get worse for him. Course he should have thought better and not gotten involved in 'politics'. No place for a sane person to be these days.

 

[MichyB]

I'm sure I will get yelled at for this post, but I'm disgusted at the election.

Leaving terrorism aside (which, as someone who was in NYC on Sept. 11th, I am stunned that the rest of the country voted Bush when most of us in NY voted Kerry) ... having had a scare with pulmonary hypertension, I am awestruck that every single person who either has, or knows somebody who has, a serious illness did not vote Kerry.

Stem cell research is the wave of the future. It will be as significant to medicine as immunizations. They may even be thinking of making heart valves out of them. For people opposed to it, well then they can opt not to accept the cures found by this remarkable innovation. But, to deny the rest of us the possibility of all that medical science has to offer ... it's just beyond me.

According to the docs I do not have PH. But the experience of thinking that I did changed me forever. I read somewhere about a woman with advanced PH going up to Kerry at a rally and telling him that it was too late for her but that she was voting for him for others. Kudos to California for putting stem cell on the ballot ... looks like they will have to lead our nation in the right direction.

 

[Ross]

I won't go over my opinion as I cannot do it without screaming. Let's just say I'm extemely unhappy about the results and pretty much terrified at where we are going over the next four years. I honestly feel betrayed by many fellow countrymen. I'm 100% sure that if the medicare reform act was fully implemented right now, there wouldn't have been one person on Social Security that would have voted him back in office. People do not know the surprise that awaits them around the corner. The whole election would have had a different outcome.

 

[Nancy]

All politics aside, Joe had severe PH over a year and a half ago and was close to death. Due to the addition of Tracleer (pills) to his medication regimen, his PH has now improved markedly and he is improving slowly each day. I am very impressed with the ability of this medication to make the necessary changes in his pulmonary system. The medication works on the cellular level, changing abnormal muscular cells which have populated the pulmonary arteries to normal cells which are supposed to line the pulmonary artery lining.

So, with or without stem cells, there are now medications which can help PH, even severe PH, and there are even more and improved ones in clinical trials and awaiting FDA approval.

So it doesn't matter who is in office, research is still going on, and is developing needed meds.

 

[Karlynn]

Stem cell misinformation

Stem cell misinformation

The stem cell debate has been one that people waged from emotion (whether for personal reasons, or political gain) with little basis in fact on what they actually know embryonic stem cells will do. They have no evidence that fetal stem cells will effect Parkinsons, Alzheimers or paralysis. There is more knowledge that embryonic stem cells (fetal) are highly volitile and unstable, causing many problems when tested on lab animals.

Fetal stem cells show little or no promise, according to many well known scientists. They are expected to go the way of fetal tissue implants - a lot of hope but no concrete findings that make scientists believe anything positive will be possible. Contrary to what most people think, the government has not placed a ban on testing stem cells, or even fetal stem cells. The lines of fetal stem cells for testing have not even come close to being used up, as a man from the NIH reported a month ago. In fact, not many scientist or testing groups are even asking for them. This, the NIH man reported, is most likely because most scientists in this area believe it to be a dead-end road. This is the first time the Federal Government has actually funded this research - so the talk on banning it is just a well-used ploy that creates an emotional response.

Please take notice that when the talk of stem cell research was used in the political campaigns that the words Embryonic or Fetal were left out, when this was what they meant. The most inflamatory words were left out because it just sounded better to say that stem cell research has been banned. Unfortunately it also led many to believe that all stem cell research was fetal.

The area of stem cell research that is proving promising is the use of our own stem cells. A man in Great Britain lost half his jaw from cancer. Scientists grew a jaw implant from the man's own stem cells and used it to reconstruct his jaw. Now that's promising! The greatest hope comes from adult and umbilical cord blood stem cells. There is no evidence to assume that embryonic stem cells will cure anything that adult or cord blood stems cells cannot. So why do some insist on traveling down this path. Could there be another agenda (or group) that this benefits??

Bottom line, whatever the hope of what embryonic stem cells will cure, the use of adult and cord blood stem cells goes well beyond that. http://www.stemcellresearch.org/facts/treatments.htm.

Several other countries have also acknowledge the slippery slope that embryonic stem cell testing and use will take us down. Believe it or not, France is one of them. Germany is another. They have banned the testing and have banned cloning for embryonic material for such research.

IMHO we've spent well over a year listening to a lot of misinformation on a lot of issues from both political parties. It will take us another 2 years to dig around and find the actual facts, if we take the time to do so. Gosh I just love politicians.

 

[bvdr]

Oh well, I still love you guys anyway. Four more years?

 

[Karlynn]

Oh well, I still love you guys anyway. Four more years?

I'll echo Sweet Betty's remark.

 

[Glenda]

Ditto, I still love you guys too. Regardless of who won or who didn't win. We need to continually pray for our president and the leaders of our nation. I sure wouldn't want their job! !

 

[Tom F.]

Former military officer, corporate lawyer, I tell you I fit the description of who ought to vote for Bush but I did not. My fears for the future are:

1. Wave after wave of judicial appointments, including on the Supreme Court, of judges that are on the far right. I fear these judges will rule time and again in ways that reduce individual freedom, all in the name of God and country. These judges will change the direction of this country for the next 30 years.
2. Record budget deficits that cripple future economic growth. These deficits will require that the federal government borrow more and more to keep going. Like today, a great deal of the buyers of government debt will come from overseas, making us the largest debtor nation in the world. And the bill will be left for our children to pay.
3. A return of the military draft. With every active duty Army division in Iraq, recently returned from Iraq, or preparing to deploy there the math simply does not work out any other way.
4. Increased isolation from the international community.
5. A horrific end to our military intervention in Iraq. And perhaps before that, ill-planned military action in still another part of the world.
6. Decreased government attention and spending on those who are at the end of life (the old), the beginning of life (the young) and the edge of life (the sick and needy). Claiming one is "pro-life" yet doing nothing to create jobs, decent housing, health care, and education is absurd.

I hope I am wrong, dead wrong, and if anyone wants to points to anything that has happened in the past four years that suggests that my fears are unwarranted I will eat my words.

 

[Les]

I was formulating my response to this thread but abandoned it after I read Tom's post. Extremely well stated, Tom. I cannot add anything else other than the concern I have for our physical and fiscal well-being over the next four years.

 

[bvdr]

Tom, I believe that you do have these fears. I am not politically astute and am certainly not one who likes any type of argument but I think sometimes concerns evolve into fears and fears into emotions that make it hard to objectively view situations.

I welcome the appointment of qualified judges that judge on the existing law. I want my freedom preserved as well and believe by the appointment of judges that aren't activists.....meaning judges bent on changing law...we have the best chances of doing it. I believe Bush will pick fair judges.

Federal deficit is unbelievable isn't it! I don't believe Bush has addressed this enough. I don't think Kerry would do it either though. Regardless of who is in control it is unacceptable as it is. Our children and grandchildren should not be expected to pay off our debts.

Military Draft? No, I don't believe there are any plans for the return of that. I don't accept the premise that there simply isn't another way.

International Isolation? Maybe so. No one likes being at war. We do not like being at war but sometimes very unpopular choices have to be made. There will always be disagreement over this war as there is with any war. America has paid a price for acting on principles but I hope history will show it to have been an honorable move and one that liberated people and nations.

About future military interventions? I hope not. We don't know the future. If however we must, we need to have someone there who can make that call.

Regarding government spending for those on the beginning, ending, and edges of life? There are just so many dollars to go around. As unpalatable as it is, some form of medical rationing is going to be inevitable. Our health care in this country is very advanced and we are the recipients of much of it. It is not perfect nor close to it. Much of our costs are due to CYA procedures and to cover the uninsured and the high costs of malpractice premiums. In many ways there is now an adversarial relationship between health care providers and recipients. Government has proven itself to be very inefficient developing and handling of programs. Once something has been in use in government it takes a monumental effort to change it even in small ways. As Ross pointed out, the medicare program is a prime example. This doesn't make me want the federal government to take over control of my healthcare. We have insurance and I am very thankful for it. Throughout our lives we have made sure we had coverage even if it meant me working night shifts and doing without other things so we could pay the premiums. We also make insurance available to our employees and their families because we believe it is the right thing to do. I don't know the answers about what to do about those of us who are in such a high risk/high use group that we are totally uninsurable. Maybe there is a role for government in this area. I want government to have as small of role as possible in my life.

Tom, you are entitled to every one of your opinions and I respect you for voicing them. I think Bush has done an admirable job in the past four years and expect the same for the next four. I think he makes decisions based on principles rather than polls and emotions and I am comfortable with that. We live in such a complex time and one that changes rapidly. I believe a leader needs to be well grounded and, of the two candidates, Bush was my choice.

 

[Dee]

I knew if I waited long enough, someone would come along and say what it was that I wanted to say, but didn't know how to go about it. Thank You Betty!!!

I do too, believe that Bush has done a fine job the last 4 years considering what he was up against!! I don't know that any President could have done a better considering the circumstances!! He was also left with a lot of Clinton's mess to clean up. I have faith that Bush will do the right thing in the next 4 years also.

The terrorist are after us, there's no doubt about that, but it's not because Bush is President, it's because we're Americans, they don't like us, because we stand for Freedom!! No matter who the President is, we will always have to be aware of and deal with terrorism.

I also believe that everyone has a right to their oppinion, and admire them for voicing them. Based on the facts, my choice for the next four years was Bush. The people have spoken and that's what voting is all about.

Good job Betty!! And I do too still love you all, no matter who you voted for!!

 

[Rain]

Okay Ross..... whatever.

Okay Ross..... whatever.

Thank you, Betty, for stepping forward with the ?unpopular? choice (in this thread). Other?s (cough, Kerry, cough, cough) might be tempted to keep quiet, go with the flow or even change their views.

I?m not brilliant with words... so my simple response to all this whining is ?see Ben?s thread?.

Congratulations President Bush.

 

[ShezaGirlie]

All I know is what I see...

All I know is what I see...

I remember the bodybags on the TV news every night during the Vietnam War. Why aren't the bodybags from the kids killed in Iraq shown now?

I remember (in the past) getting off a plane at Chas de Gaulle Airport sporting a sweatshirt with USA on it. I got off a plane there a couple of months ago and wouldn't have dreamed of wearing something that identified me as an American.

I was in Shannon, Ireland at the airport last month and there was about 300 American kids all decked out in their fatigues in the gate area. They were on their way back home from a year in Iraq when the plane made a re-fueling stop. They were just kids...just kids -- I visited with some of them. I wonder how many were going home as "cargo?" Why don't we see the bodybags?

Taking the tube in London....you think I want to 'look like' an American? I think not! I try to blend in as best I can wherever and whenever I go abroad.

Americans don't understand "religious wars" and we never will. Who are we to change the culture of any country? It can't be done....religious wars have been going on for 3,000 years and we're gonna change them???

We live in one of the most progressive countries in the world and still have about 40 million people without access to healthcare by way of insurance??? What's wrong with this picture?

 

[Karlynn]

Let's take a look at what my Fear list would be had the results of the election been different.

My fear that:

1. My husband and I would end up paying more than the 32% of our income in taxes that we already pay and that our friends who own small businesses would lose them because they were looked on as being ?wealthy? by a president who would have been the wealthiest president in history and only paid 12.4% of his and his wife?s income in taxes.

2. Because of the extent we are taxed our personal savings would severely decline. Our savings is our retirement. My husband will get no retirement from the company he works for, nor will I. It?s up to us, and the more the government takes the longer our working years stretch out.

3. Medical costs would continue to soar due to lack of interest in Tort reform from a president who?s #1 contributor to his campaign, as well as to the DNC is the American Trial Lawyers Association.

4. Iraq would not be viewed as a war that cannot be won and that the people of Iraq would have to suffer the aftermath of a president who gave it the ?Vietnam? answer.

5. Our benches would be flooded with left leaning individuals who believe they have the right to legislate from the bench.

6. Our military and intelligence budgets would be gutted by a president with 20 years experience in the senate of trying to do that very thing.

7. The administration would look to a corrupt UN as the premier authority on how to defend and protect our country.

All that being listed, I will say that I did not vote my fears, I voted my hopes.

Reagan did his best work in his second term. I'm a praying that Bush will also follow suit. I am not completely thrilled with everything that President Bush did in his first term. I would be a mind-numbed robot if I was. I had only one personal issue with Sen. Kerry, and that was that he never commented, let alone apologized to his fellow vets for his remarks branding them all war criminals. Besides that, I felt he was sincere in his desire to serve our country as president. I just believed his goals were not the better choice.

Some of my best friends were Kerry supporters and they don't hold my vote against me, nor do I theirs. We had some raucous debates and each made some consessions. And then we would have some wine!

Cheers!