Posted on 10/25/2004 4:00:25 AM PDT by The Great Yazoo
While many people are urging us to vote -- regardless of for whom, for what, or for what reason -- there are very few urging us to do what is far more important: Stop and think!
Voting is not a matter of personal expression but a serious responsibility for choosing what course this country will take in the years -- and decades -- ahead.
Seldom have two Presidential candidates presented more starkly contrasting visions of what course to take, both internationally and domestically. But this election is not about John Kerry or George Bush or even about the next four years.
It is about a country at a crossroads and closely divided as to which road to take -- roads from which there may be no turning back for many years. We are talking about our future and the future of our children and grandchildren.
If you don't have the time or the inclination to give that the serious attention it deserves, then it is irresponsible to vote on the basis of watching a couple of men exhibiting their debating skills or watching TV anchor men spin the news to suit their politics -- or watching the shouting matches between spinmeisters on what are charitably called "discussion" programs.
If there are issues you care about, there are records of how John Kerry voted on those issues in the Senate and what George W. Bush did on those issues as President and as Governor of Texas before that. Never mind how they talk now. Look at what they did when it was time to put up or shut up.
On education, do you want to hear rhetoric and "plans" or do you want to know what the candidates actually did when the chips were down? Secretary of Education Rod Paige was a district superintendent in Texas when Bush was governor. What did he do? What happened to test scores in Texas? Test scores of black children? What is the "No Child Left Behind" Act all about?
How did Senator Kerry vote when the issue was making vouchers available to let parents take their children out of failing and dangerous public schools in the District of Columbia? It is all in the record.
If you can't spare the time from watching sit-coms to go check out a few facts one evening at your local library, with the help of your local librarian, then don't pretend that you are a responsible voter, or even a responsible parent.
Whatever your views, you can see the opposite views argued out on the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal versus the New York Times. Whether the issue is the Iraq war, higher taxes, or prescription drugs, you can depend on their editorials to be on opposite sides, along with most of their op-ed pieces.
Your local library probably has back copies of both papers or you can get them on the Internet. There is no excuse for ignorance -- or for having heard only one side, which is worse.
Words like "strong," "strength" and "stronger" ring out from Senator Kerry on the campaign trail and from his campaign literature and bumper stickers. But how did he vote on military spending during his two decades in the Senate?
Senator Kerry has talked about his time in Vietnam longer than he actually spent in Vietnam. Does his war record more than three decades ago give him lifetime immunity from all questions about military issues? Do those who rely on the mainstream media even know whether his war record is for real?
If a decorated combat veteran must be believed, then why are the many decorated combat veterans who served with Kerry in Vietnam -- and served longer -- not to be believed, or not even have their very different picture of him in Vietnam examined against the facts, instead of being dismissed?
Even Benedict Arnold was an American war hero wounded in combat but that doesn't stop us for criticizing him for what he did later.
Vice President Cheney has had to cast votes breaking ties in the Senate. How did he vote? It's all on the record. Or are you content to know what he says now or what is said about him?
If there was ever a time to stop and think, this is it. Slogans and images are no substitute for knowing what you are talking about -- and knowing what you are doing when you enter the voting booth on election day.
"Senator Kerry has talked about his time in Vietnam longer than he actually spent in Vietnam"
"Even Benedict Arnold was an American war hero wounded in combat but that doesn't stop us for criticizing him for what he did later."
Those are my favorite lines in the piece.
And still more plain talk from Dr. Sowell.
I'll bet Sowell has the same opinion I do of the so-called undecideds out there.
And not just the "undecideds" but those who vote a straight party ticket without bothering to find out just what their chosen party stands for. Every election there are stories about how some large percentage of voters who can't name their senators or who don't know who the VP is or how many branches exist in the federal government. The first one of these I can recall was written back in the early 60's and nothing much has changed. There are far too many ignoramuses out there casting votes that will effect crucial issues.
There used to be literacy tests administered in some states and if you failed these you weren't allowed to vote. These were dropped because they were aimed at denying African-Americans the vote. I say bring them back and apply them evenly to all. Just a handful of simple questions to answer and if you can't answer correctly you go home without exercising your ignorance in support of people you don't know and on issues you have never studied.
Amen! I am amazed at the never-ending supply of people who declare they are going to vote for Kerry, but can't name ONE thing he accomplished in 20 years in the Senate, ONE vote he made that had an impact ("gee, he actually voted FOR the war? I didn't know that..."), ONE promise he's made that appeals to that voter, or ONE issue he stands for, consistently or not.
These folks can't name the current Vice-President, don't know that GW funded stem-cell research, and don't believe that he has actually increased funding for first-responders and education. Yet in their man-on-the-street interviews they gladly take a few minutes from their shopping spree to declare they're going to vote for Kerry. Why? Because Dan Rather and perky Katie tell them to. (And Jimmuh Carter complains that the MSM is too pro-Bush.) Misinformed, ignorant, lazy and irresponsible,* but they're going to march to the polls on Election Day, by golly. (*Actually, it's no wonder Kerry is their guy.)
Or who vote for what their chosen party was 70 years ago (or against what the other party was 70 years ago)...
Ignorant, but filled with self-esteem. Courtesy of your local government school district.
By the way
Great tag line :)
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