Why "Stay the Course"?

Okay, so Osama is back. He's out there sending out more videos. Folks are quivering in their boots and thinking that we shouldn't make any changes to White House residency with all these scary people out there trying to get us.

Wait one minute. Think this through. Why is OBL still out there taunting us? C'mon, you know. Because GWB didn't follow through to get him. Osama ran and he did hide. So, OBL on video is yet another reason to oust Bush and bring in someone to shake things up.

If we really want to go out on a limb, why would OBL send out a video now when it could keep Bush in power? Maybe, just maybe OBL wants GWB to stay in power for another four years. Why not? Considering GWB's track record, OBL should want things to remain the same. Heck, if we go off and invade another country (Iran, N. Korea?), that would stretch our forces even further and make things even easier for OBL and other extremists to do as they wish.

Don't be scared. When you are in that voting booth, you can make a difference.

Do You Feel Safer?

GWBush and Dick Cheney are making a very big deal about how much safer we are with them at the helm of the US. I've always wondered how they could make that claim. Hmmm, weren't they in charge on 11 September 2001? The latest reports coming out of Iraq give another large blow to the President's credibility. Now that there are literally tons of explosives "missing" that were under UN seal and were reported to the US before the invasion. Somehow they were just left unguarded. In my mind, this is just another example of our misguided invasion that was executed without proper planning and without any real concept of what the mission would entail. I think I would prefer someone with a clue in charge.

Time Machine: Step Back to 2000

As we countdown to the 2004 election and hear GWB and his sidekick Dick tell us how well they are doing in the war on terrorism, it is interesting to see which party took terrorism seriously enough to address it four years ago in the party platform. No, it was not the Republicans. Here is an exerpt from the 2000 Democratic Party Platform:

Battling Terrorism. Whether terrorism is sponsored by a foreign nation or inspired by a single fanatic individual, such as Osama Bin Laden, Forward Engagement requires trying to disrupt terrorist networks, even before they are ready to attack. We must improve coordination internationally and domestically to share intelligence and develop operational plans. We must continue the comprehensive approach that has resulted in the development of a national counter-terrorism strategy involving all arms and levels of our government. We must continue to target terrorist finances, break up support cells, and disrupt training. And we must close avenues of cyber-attack by improving the security of the Internet and the computers upon which our digital economy exists.
As President, Al Gore will tolerate no attack against American interests at home or abroad: terrorists must know that if they attack America, we will never forget. We will scour the world to hunt them down and bring them to justice.

While fighting terrorism, we will protect the civil liberties of all Americans. Our justice system must guarantee fairness with procedures that protect the rights of the accused, even under the unusual circumstances of the investigation of threats to our national security. We must avoid stereotyping, for it defeats the highest purposes of our country if citizens feel automatically suspect by virtue of their ethnic origin. The purpose of terrorism is not only to intimidate, but also to divide and fracture, and we cannot permit that to happen.

Interesting, very interesting.

Another reason why I will vote for Kerry

From last night's debate, John Kerry directly addressed one of my biggest problems with the Bush administration. Mr. Kerry said, "I believe that I can't legislate or transfer to another American citizen my article of faith. What is an article of faith for me is not something that I can legislate on somebody who doesn't share that article of faith."

I've always been alternately annoyed and flaming mad that GWB wants the entire country, no, the entire world to be forced by law to follow his beliefs.

I'm currently reading American Dynasty by Kevin Phillips and it is really annoying me. Okay, there is the obvious annoyance of the entire Bush family. I knew that was coming when I picked up the book. I was just following the advice to know my enemies. No, what is annoying me is that this book could have been about 1/10 the length. The circuitous routes that Phillips takes to get to his points are getting really old. It wouldn't be so bad if the routes made sense, but he seems as though he has to throw in every mildly intresting or obscure throught that he has ever had and they don't even make sense together!

Today's random thought of parenthood: Even when doing something mundane like the homework that wouldn't have been assigned if dear son had been paying attention in class, a spark of why I became a parent shines through. The music teacher was out for a day and the director filled in. The children watched two scenes from Fantasia 2000 and then were to describe the music and what they thought about it. One of the pieces was Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. This is one of my all time favorite pieces and it was so fun to watch my 7 year old son's reaction to it. We didn't have a copy of the movie, but I played a CD for him and he was so into the music. He seemed as taken with it as I was.

Another memory of this music is that Fantasia 2000 was the first movie that dear son saw in a theater. He was only three years old, but loved the images and sounds. The only funny thing he did was to say "Oh! Dark!" every time the lights dimmed between pieces. Otherwise, he sat transfixed through the entire movie.