Hmmmm...
I posted this last year, but I think it bears repeating.
This is taken from my friend Karen's blog (a while back) at pulpfriction.blogspot.com :
In 2000, Team Bush took over the Republican Party and laid out its promises to the American people. The following pledges and claims are taken directly from the 2000 GOP platform. Should we laugh or cry at promises made by an administration that has ruled through deception, endless war, politicization of intelligence and the Justice Department, outing CIA officers and the like?
Honest Government:
"Trust, pride and respect: we pledge to restore these qualities to the way Americans view their government."
Keeping Intelligence Free of Politics:
"Nor should the intelligence community be made the scapegoat for political misjudgments. A Republican administration working with the Congress will respect the needs and quiet sacrifices of these public servants as it stengthens America's intelligence and counter-intelligence capabilities."
Diplomacy and Maintaining Allies:
"The arrogance, inconsistency and unreliability of the [Clinton] administration's diplomacy have undermined American alliances, alienated friends and emboldened our adversaries."
Endless Military Missions, Exit Strategies and Troop Readiness:
"The current administration has casually sent American armed forces on dozens of missions without clear goals, realizable objectives, favorable rules of engagement or defined exit strategies."
"Sending our military on vague, aimless and endless missions rapidly saps morale."
"Even the highest morale is eventually undermined by back-to-back deployments, poor pay, shortages of spare parts and equipment, inadequate training and rapidly declining readiness. When it comes to military health, the administration is not providing an adequate military health care system."
Restoring the Rule of Law and the Justice Department:
"The rule of law, the very foundation for a free society, has been under assault, not only by criminals from the ground up, but also from the top down. An adminstration that lives by evasion, cover up, stonewalling and duplicity has given us a totally discredited Department of Justice. The credibility of those who now manage the nation's top law enforcement agency is tragically eroded. We are fortunate to have its dedicated career workforce, especially its criminal prosecutors, who have faced the unprecedented politicization of decisions regarding both personnel and investigations."
Gas Prices (then $1.55 per gallon):
"Today, gas prices have skyrocketed, and oil imports are at all-time highs...By any reasonable standard, the Department of Energy has utterly failed in its mission to safeguard America's energy security."
Me again. Keep in mind, this is what George W. Bush said when he was running for president--so he's bashing the Clinton administration.
He has endorsed John McCain. Now granted, the odds of me voting for a Republican...well, not good odds. But the person who bashed Clinton for high gas prices and damaging the government in the eyes of Americans? Telling me to vote for McCain? Uh. No thanks. But it means a lot that you tried.
Comments
Here's a curve ball maybe you weren't expecting: it was earlier. MUCH earlier. Dubya was a consultant for Poppy's (yeah, his dear ol' dad) campaign, and he turned him to considering the evangelical vote more closely. Poppy listened, because apparently Junior knew these people and how to court their vote.
U.S. public television (PBS) did a fabulous story on this. They have also pointed out that Dick Cheney was one of the Nixon President's Men, which should be VERY revealing when you consider Cheney took the same strong-arm tactics of the Nixon administration to bigger heights. "Tricky Dick" ain't really dead, and it's too bad that my generation and Gen Y/Next isn't terribly familiar with the schemes of his presidency. Tricky Dick's tricks live on with another Dick-- Dick Cheney.
I am not happy that Dubya endorsed McCain either. McCain used to be the darling of the Independents-- we were confident he was willing to stick it to the current Frankenstein monster the GOP currently is, when it was necessary. If he gets elected, well-- I hope he has the strength to sweep the neocon crap outta the White House.
I swear no allegiance to any political party. Sorry, but I see the Dems being just as broken as the GOP-- they were fractured and splintered ever since the Reconstructionist period (the years following the civil rights era). They continue to get spanked on votes in the Heartland because they haven't been able to serve up a pious man that would honor morals and values since Jimmy Carter. Yeah, that's right, I said it: Democrats are crippled by intellectualism.
I find federal politics disappointing sometimes. I am looking more with hope to the Top 2 primary being implemented in my state, since those political party rat finks took away our blanket primary. I'm really hoping it passes, so the political parties get the ass-kicking I think they deserve.