Help me with my brother's liberal screed

I apologize for the length of this e-mail. I keep getting forward from everyone espousing various political views and decided to put my own into print.

Individual Rights and Fiscal Responsibility: Or How An Old Republican became a Damn Liberal Democrat.

It is the 60th anniversary of D-Day and on the History Channel I am watching young men die to protect what they believe in i.e. to protect freedom and the American way. This, of course, got me thinking of just exactly “What are freedom and the American way”? This led me to wonder de integro about the current state of politics in America, which in turn led me to contemplate the different political parties.

I am basically an apolitical person. Oh, I vote most of the time. It is just that I don't get too involved in the day to day running or even monitoring of political events. I, like so many others, find politics boring and mundane. I have always expected, even though I realize quite naively, that "things" will “run themselves” as they should. That people, whether elected or appointed, will do what they should do because that is what you are supposed to do. After all, one definition of democracy is that more than half the people must be right more than half the time. A democracy cannot work if people do not do what they are supposed to do. For example, every April 15th the average citizen tells the government what they owe in taxes: not the other way around. In other words, I expect my fellow Americans to do what is "right". Now, it is not even necessary that what they think is "right" is what I think is "right". That's how democracy works. With this in mind let me make some observations about our two major political parties.

In 1966 I registered, much to my father's dismay, as a Republican. I did this because I was, and am, a great believer in the rights of the individual. I believe that no one, government, church or any other group has the right to make me behave a certain way. I don’t mind suggestions, actually I do but I am willing to put up with them, I just want the final decision to be my own. In other words I do not need a mother. I already have one and usually ignore her advice too: sorry mom.

I have always believed that “he who governs less, governs best”. At a reductio ad absurdum level, I still believe we should be able to drive around with a beer in our lap as I did when I grew up. I believe there should be a legal limit to how much you can drink and still drive but until I reach that limit I should be able to do whatever I want. I believe I should be able to take any drug I want, have sex with whomever I want (as long as it is mutually acceptable) and in general do any thing that does not adversely affect someone else’s rights. It is my soap and my body and I should be able to wash it any way I want!

Now, I know that this is a slippery slope. My right to swing my arm ends at your nose. Unfortunately, not all determinations are this easy and it is the legitimate responsibility of the government, acting as a neutral third party, to establish these limits. That is the true duty and responsibility of a government. To judiciously set limits. I realize I must give up some rights because of the overlap of some of these areas. I am willing to put up with this curtailment of rights in the name of society as long as the areas of overlap are appropriate and kept to a minimum.

The second, but less important reason that I registered Republican is that I was a fiscal conservative. I still am in most ways, but as I have grow older I have began to look at things in a different light. I have begun to believe that what is conservative in the short run may not actually be conservative in the long run. Spending a small amount of money at the right time may save a lot, or in the case of capitalism generate a lot, in the future. In other words, I have come to the belief that in a democracy it is wise to invest in people. If a democracy only works because of the people then it is the appropriate job of the government, the managing arm of a democracy, to invest in its people. As the motto of the state of New Mexico says “ crescit eundo “ it grows as it goes. Empowering and helping the needy citizens in a democracy will, in the long run, help everyone. At the risk of turning the entire idea into a cliché, “a stitch in time saves nine”.

Now, you are saying, another slippery slope. I agree. Where do we draw the line between “investing in the people” and “enabling inappropriate behavior”? How do we separate lending a hand from a handout? This is a thorny and sometimes subjective problem. However, as Caesar would say “ abusus non tollit usum”, i.e. abuse is not an argument against proper use.

Welfare is, in many ways, very much like a large WPA project. Most of the money actually goes to the middle class people that hand it out. The system itself takes most of the money to run itself. But this is not necessarily bad when done appropriately. It ultimately makes for a stable middle class, which is after all, the backbone of any successful nation. It puts money into the hands of the middle class where circulation of said money begets more money! It also gives even the poorest in our society a reason to “buy into” and protect that society. This stability is a very small price to pay for the limited abuses. Few countries on this earth have the stability of our great nation. Besides, unfortunately, the average CEO now awards himself millions of dollars in salary, because he can, from a company he does not even own! Talk about abuse!

When I registered to vote in 1966 it was the Republican Party that more closely represented these viewpoints. The two main party platforms of that party were that the role of government and government spending should be kept to a minimum. This most closely coincided with my beliefs so in my early years I voted mainly (but not always) for the Republican candidate. Unfortunately things have changed mightily since 1966.

Currently, the Republican Party is in a stranglehold from the religious right. Because of this they are no longer the party of individual rights. Given their way they would stop us from doing almost everything. The damn blue noses would make us give up drinking if they could, but so far they have not been successful, so instead they continue to harass us to death with DWI and other anti-alcohol legislation. Now, there is even a nationwide seat belt law for you and your passengers: click it or ticket...they can add “stick it” as far as I am concerned. I will wear my freaking belt if I want to. It’s my freaking head and as an adult in a democracy I am allowed to do stupid things if I want. Now, before you give me that tired old argument that I may incapacitate myself and be a burden on you, tough shit. That is one of those things you have to put up with to live in a democrat society. That is not sufficient justification for you to curtail my rights and force your beliefs and agendas on me.

The fact that I put myself at risk doesn’t give you the right to keep me from hang gliding, riding my motorcycle, with or without my helmet, being a maniac on my ATV or jet ski or any of the 100 other things I choose to do that someone may not want me to do. Unfortunately, because of numerical superiority the government can, and more increasingly the conservatives (AKA the Republican Party) do, try to stop me from doing all sorts of things they don't want me to do. The government may be able to fine and punish me, but that doesn’t make it right. Because a songbird sings prettier when it is blind is not sufficient reason to pluck out its eyes.

I haven’t even gotten into pro-choice and the plethora of other decisions that have been or would be taken away from me; stem cell research, genetic engineering, assisted suicide. One of the major differences between the United States and the Middle East is the separation of church and state. If the conservatives had their way I would not even be allowed to teach evolution in my science class. I would have to teach their Christian fairly tale of Creation in my science class as if it were science. The U.S. Attorney General, John Ashcroft, is a fundamentalist Christian. He has tried in every way to inject Christian beliefs into the political arena. He threatened Oregon with loss of fund because of their laws on assisted suicide. He, along with G.W. Bush, have given millions of US taxpayers dollars to church supported charities that push the Christian agenda.

Muslims do not separate church and state. Their religion and their politics are inexorably intertwined. Our country was based on separating the two and until recently we were pretty good about it. Christian fundamentalist, like the Muslims would have us mix the two. Hell, even the Pope got into the act and said Catholic politicians must incorporate Christian ideas into their politics. In fact, some priests have refused John Kerry communion because he is pro-choice. The tyranny of mixing government and religion is so pervasive and pandemic in world history that you would think we would have learned by now to avoid that petard. Not the religious zealots of this current administration. They would have us back in the Middle Ages along with the Muslims.

Now lets look at the money. The Republican Party, the former fiscal party, now spends more then any Democrat every thought of spending. I am including a graph here to show the spending of the different presidents since 1976.

As you can see, starting with Jimmy Carter in 1977, the National Debt was starting downward and was around $90 billion. It rose dramatically starting with Ronald Reagan in 1981and by 1985 was $280 Billion! An increase of 300%. George Bush continued the trend and by 1991 the debt had risen to over $430 billion! Almost 5X’s that of Carter, and 2X that of even the free spending Reagan!

Clinton, following all modern democrats reduced the debt. George W. has even managed to outspend his father. Given the war in the Middle East the estimated debt by 2006 is expected to be $600 billion!

It is still true that Republicans will never invest in the people but give them a weapon system, any weapon system and they will spend like crazy! I wouldn’t mind it if more of the money actually went to the American soldier. I have always stood squarely behind military personnel. My father spent 21 years in the USAF. He became a Canadian citizen and went to North Africa with the RAF so he could fight for democracy before we even got into WWII. When we got into the war he came back into our Army Air Corp. He won the Distinguished Flying Cross, numerous Purple Hearts, at least 14 other awards and decorations and was a Disabled American Veteran. He was in seven major (by definition someone must die for a plane crash to officially be listed a major) plane crashes. In the last one he was the only survivor of a crew of seven. He received a check for $90 a month from the government for his disabilities every month he ever lived. What a welfare sponge! Hell we could have spent that money on a weapons system! And that is currently one of the chief differences in the two parties. The average GI never sees the money the republicans spend. The average private is eligible for welfare! The money goes for some weapons system with cost overruns that are higher than most 3rd world countries Gross National Product.

The Republican Party was the party that defended personal liberties and fiscally responsibility, at least in 1966. No more. The roles of the two parties have totally reversed. It is now the Democrats that stand for personal liberties and fiscal responsibility. My aims are the same; it is the parties that changed.

I was recently forwarded an e-mail that ran down John Kerry. You know, he is that guy that won the Silver Star in Nam. They ran the man down because of all of the weapon systems he had voted against. It sure guaranteed him my vote.

And that my friends, is how an old conservative goes from republican to democrat.

Here is some more educational material for you:

History is important to remember....

Liberals claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war. They
complain about his prosecution of it. They say that too many people have died. They say that "Iraq never attacked us" and weren't a threat to us. One liberal recently claimed Bush was "the worst president in U.S. history."

Let's clear up one point: Bush didn't start the war on terror.
Try to remember, it was started by terrorists on 9/11/2001, when they attacked us, on our land.

Let's look at the "worst President" and "mismanagement" claims. Lets look at Democrats who have served as Commander in Chief of the military, and compare their decisions to those of President Bush.

Let's see....Woodrow Wilson (a Democrat) in 1917 asked congress to declare war on Germany. Germany did not attack the United States. U.S. ships were attacked abroad. The argument against war, was that Germany did not do anything that Britain had not also done. Britain had also attacked some of our ships. Some Senators said the wealthy Wilson would benefit financially from war, which was the "real reason" for him wanting to join the war. 9 out of 10 Americans who sent their sentiments to their Senators, were against war with Germany. 10,000,000 lives were lost in WWI, an average of 2,500,000 per year. 58,000 American military lives were lost in our one year of involvement.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (a Democrat) led us to fight the Germans in World War II. Germany never attacked us, Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000 American military lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year. American involvement in the war was strongly protested at home, by celebrities, some Senators, priests,businessesmen and others, including famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, who formed a group called, "America First Committee". An advertisement from the group said, "The Last War Brought: Communism to Russia, Fascism to Italy, Nazism to Germany. What Will Another War Bring To America?"

Harry S. Truman (a Democrat) finished that war by being the only person in history to order down, WMD in the form of a Nuclear bomb on innocent civilians--twice. 270,000 Japanese civilians died in the bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Truman (a Democrat) got us involved in Korea. North Korea never attacked us. From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,333 per year.

John F. Kennedy (a Democrat) orchestrated an attempted overthrow of the Dictator of Cuba. Cuba never attacked us. They had no WMD's. The JFK administration orchestrated a military operation, using Cuban exiles, with the objective to overthrow the Castro government. Yet, when the exiles tried to invade Cuba, at the Bay of Pigs, the US did not back them up. We broke our promises. We stranded them. The JFK administration at first lied about their involvement. All of the Cuban exiles were jailed or lost their lives. Castro remained in power, and has abused his people for 40 years. 4 American pilots were killed. JFK (Democrat) involved our military in the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us. The "cold war" escalated during this administration.

Lyndon B.Johnson (a Democrat) turned Vietnam into a shameful quagmire. From 1965-1975, 3 to 4 million Vietnamese on both sides were killed, in addition to another 1.5 to 2 million Lao and Cambodians who were drawn into the war. Johnson (Democrat) never had a plan to win the war, nor a strategy for getting out. 58,235 Americans died in that war, at an average of 4,853 per year.

Jimmy Carter (Democrat) pulled us out of the Olympics, and hurt the American farmer when he halted the sale of wheat to Russia in response to the soviet invasion of Afghanistan. His brother was given $250,000 from the terrorist nation of Libya. He allowed 50 diplomats at our embassy to become hostages of terrorists in Iran. For 5 months Carter (Democrat) allowed those people to be held, while he attempted "diplomatic" and "economic" pressure to free them. This failed. His ill planned military rescue attempt ended with 3 damaged helicopters and 8 dead military troops. The hostages were held for over 14 months. When Ronald Reagan (a Republican) was elected President, the captors fearfully offered to negotiate release of the hostages. They were freed while Mr. Reagan (Republican) took his oath of office.

William J. clinton (a Democrat) went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent, Bosnia never
attacked us. The WTC was bombed On Feb. 26, 1993 killing six and injured 1,000. clinton (democrat) implemented a policy of "continued monitoring." 5 people were caught and convicted of this bombing. Other conspirators got away. clinton (Democrat) made no changes in policy to prevent additional attacks. On June 26, 1993, clinton (Democrat) attacked Iraq. He lobbed a missile into Iraq, said to retaliate against an alleged assassination attempt on Former President Bush (41). It accomplished nothing. The alleged assassination attempt was never proven in a court of law, or in the United Nations. It was based on intelligence information. The bomb killed between six and eight persons and injured approximately 12 others. The bomb site was never proven to hold any illegal WMD. In April 1995 Timothy McVeigh, detonated a bomb outside the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. On November 13, 1995 a bomb was set off in a van parked in front of an American-run military training center in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, killing five Americans and two Indians. On June 25, 1996, terrorists attacked the U.S. military complex and Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, killing 19 Americans and wounding hundreds more. Early indications were that the explosive used in the bombing of the Khobar Towers came out of the Becca Valley in Lebanon. A year later, however, clinton (Democrat) restored full diplomatic relations with Lebanon including lifting travel restrictions and trade restrictions. On Sept.3 1996 clinton (Democrat) again attacked Iraq with 27 cruise missles, in retaliation for the Iraqi army's assault on Kurdish areas in a United Nations "safe haven" in northern Iraq. In response to terror attacks on our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania On Aug. 7, 1998, clinton (Democrat) became the first President to PREEMPTIVELY send missiles to "suspected terror targets" in Afghanistan and the Sudan, killing many civilians, and inflaming citizens around the world. The habit of missle attacks which were not approved of by the UN, were widely condemned by most international governments. Overwhelming world reaction determined that the missile strikes would either be "ineffective" in fighting the threat of global terrorism or would have the deleterious effect of unleashing even more "extremism" and "violence" against the United States. (ref: 9-11-01) It was never proven that these targets were weapons factories as the Administration claimed. No proof of weapons were ever found. clinton (Democrat) was offered Osama bin Laden three times by Sudan and he declined. In 1993, clinton (Democrat) expanded the limited humanitarian mission in Somalia, to include rebuilding the nation. The UN "peacekeepers" embarked on a war against Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aideed. clinton (Democrat) included our troops in this war. Aideed and the Somalis never attacked us. In October, the forces of Aideed brought down two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters, in Mogadishu and precipitated a vicious daylong firefight, wounding 77 and killing 18 Americans, whose naked, mutilated bodies were drug through the streets. This horrifying act was broadcast around the world. This, despite clinton (Democrat) sending former President Carter (Democrat) to negotiate peace talks with Aideed. Afterward, clinton declined to bring Aideed to justice, when offered his capture by frightened clan allies, instead clinton (Democrat) decided to cut and run--quit the mission in Somalia. In fact, two months later to the day, US soldiers were escorting Aideed to the Mogadishu airport by motorcade and flying him to Addis Ababa in a US Army airplane! Aideed remained in power until Aug. 1995. Clinton's retreat broadcast a signal of weakness around the world. It sent a message to our foes, that America will change her policies if terrorists kill our people. During the war with Aideed, the clinton administration sent Mohamed Aideed's son, Hussein to Somalia as a Marine Corps translator. He left the military, and remained in Somalia, becoming a warlord himself and being responsible for the deaths and displacement of 50,000 Somali's. clinton (Democrat) invaded Haiti. Haiti never attacked us. A brokered deal instigated by former President Carter (Democrat), allowed clinton (Democrat) to send in our military to place Jean-Bertrand Aristide in power, knowing full well what a despot the man was. This is one of foreign policy’s all-time worst liberal bungles. Today, the disastrous results of Clinton’s experiment in Caribbean colonialism are painfully evident. On Oct. 12, 2000, terrorists bombed the USS Cole as it sat in the Yemeni port of Aden. The bomb killed 17 U.S. sailors. American officials quickly linked the attack to bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Nothing was done.

Read more on clinton military policy here:
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jcjoyce.htm

After being in office for only 4 months, President George W. Bush, (a Republican) had to deal with an international crisis. One of our military planes were intercepted by a Chinese aircraft. The Chinese crew died. The American crew had to make an emergency landing in China, where they were "detained" for 11 days. They were all released without international incident. On 21 June 2001, just before the American statute of limitations would have expired, a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, indicted thirteen Saudis and an unidentified Lebanese chemist for the 1998 Khobar Towers bombing. In October 2001, four participants in the 1998 embassy bombings, were captured and convicted in U.S. federal court, and sentenced to life in prison without parole. In the two years since terrorists attacked us, President Bush (a Republican) has liberated Three countries from oppressive regimes, (Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti.) He crushed the Taliban, crippled the terrorist organization al-Qaeda and put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran and North Korea without firing a shot! Our POW's in Iraq were successfully rescued; while Saddam Hussein, a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people, was captured! We lost 600 soldiers, an average of 30 a year. Bush (Republican) did all this abroad, while not allowing another terrorist attack at home. Our nation was given a shot right in the heart of our financial district. The terror attacks of 9-11-01 could have caused a major collapse of our economy. But, through the efforts of President Bush (Republican) and his leadership, this did not happen. Taxes are lower, interest rates are lower than they have been in 50 years. The economy is in an upswing. Factories are operating at a 20 year high. The stock markets have been climbing, the DJIA is just a few hundred points away from a record high. New jobs are being created. And really, most of us do not have to live our lives any differently than we did before the attacks.

Worst president in history? Come on; use the intelligence God gave
you.

A REPUBLICAN (Lincoln)put an end to slavery. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 would never have passed without A REPUBLICAN (Everett M. Dirksen ) and REPUBLICAN Senators who voted to end a DEMOCRATIC filibuster on the bill! A REPUBLICAN (Nixon) put an end to the Vietnam war. A REPUBLICAN (Reagan) put an end to the "Cold war", without firing a shot----

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.