I Was Wrong About Bush

What a difference 10 months make. Last November I broke the unwritten rule that requires journalists to be neutral political observers when I got embroiled in the controversy over the presidential election and publicly supported Al Gore.

It was not just with friends that I passionately argued the election had been stolen and that Mr. Gore would be the better president. I was one of the signatories to the pompously titled "Emergency Committee of Concerned Citizens 2000," which took full-page ads in the New York Times demanding a revote in Palm Beach County, Fla. I wrote op-eds for Salon.com and the New York Daily News. On television talk shows from MSNBC to Fox News's popular "The O'Reilly Factor," I made the case for Mr. Gore. In thousands of e-mails, I urged voters to deluge Clay Roberts, director of Florida's Division of Elections, with appeals for a recount.

They are thanking whatever God they have that there is a tough and adult administration in charge and NOT one of their soul mates.

Hello friend! You've done stalwart work keeping the late night Romper Room known as FR "real". ;^) Although, having lurked around FR this mid-day past, any rancorous discourse and "vibe" during this shift is NOTHING compared to the tsunami of suspicion, conspiracy, disillusionment, impending peril and despair that colors the view of the daytime crew. YIKES! Someone should tell some of these folks ... "hey, you're not interesting enough to warrant the intrusive Federal monitoring of your activities." Here's a hypothetical surveilance report on 99% of us: "Surveilance report- Day 4 ... no change in subject's daily activity. Bitter, home during the day on computer, posting on Free Republic.com web site. Highly aggreived by something or someone. Subject is non-sensical and imbalanced, but presets no imminent threat. Recommend the immediate termination of surveilance. Please. I beg you."

Re: your post - I would agree with you regarding 70% of those who voted for Gore last November. They will support this Administration as loyal Americans. They are the trade unionists, the farmers, the Catholics, senior citizens, the apolitical good folk, the Suburban yuppies, the Gen Y pollyannas etc. who vote Democrat reflexively. The folks who watch "WWF Smackdown" "Ally McBeal" and "Survivor", play fantasy football, go to work daily for their families, and do the right things in life. The other 30%, from my observation, will soon emerge to try to actively undermine this President and our vital War effort. They fall, IMO, into two categories:

1.) The venal selfish Democrat hacks who see this horrible mass murder as a dangerous movement of the political discourse away from crass partisan demagougery against Bush and the GOP. They are afraid that any Bush success in protecting Americans will negatively influence their single mission to reacquire political control in 2002/2004 elections. Any ascension of Bush in this affair, presents a real financial threat to their very, very lucrative livliehoods as the architects, operators and beneficiaries of a $1+ trillion annual entitlement spoils system. Their payday relies on domestic discord, divisiveness and grievance.
2.) The counterculture elite who developed their world view during the Vietnam War and have waged a subsequent campaign to infiltrate and corrupt American institutions, foment racial, cultural and class divisiveness, and subequently aquire political power. They viscerally hate America.

This significant group of liberal Americans will emerge soon to oppose whatever measures George W. Bush takes in this historic battle. In their minds ... the 6800 fathers, mothers, husbands, wives etc. who were brutally murdered two weeks ago are victims - not of evil butchers and lunatics who wish to kill us - but rather they are the tragic casualties of an evil,corrupt capitalist/imperialist America.

They won't prevail this time. Best Regards!

We all know polls can be misleading but the one thing I see in them all is the American public knows this will not be a quick war. They still approve of President Bush with over 90% so the message has gotten out that we will take some hits along the way.

I agree with you america-rules. As frustrated as we can get with our politically disengaged and ignorant fellow citizens - they have common sense. This terroristic scheme was so brazen that no-one - here or anywhere else around the world - could ignore the "potential" of the threat any longer. It's here, it's real, it's accepted. The hubris of this outrage will be the undoing of the network. Just like the "St. Valentine's Day" massacre was so high-profile it mandated the elimination of Al Capone. It was the "World" Trade Center. 80 nations lost their citizens in the attack. We will take casualties, military and citizens here, but America will prevail. The thugs need to be killed, the despots removed by their people, and economies need to be rebuilt in a 21st century Marshall Plan. We'll win.

I have been wondering where you have been. Welcome back!

Thank you sir. I've been focusing on my bidness - it's a challenging scene out there right now, and everybody (who's smart) is working a little harder and smarter at the task. Given the recent events in the markets, I sure hope that your portfolio is adequately positioned to ensure your retirement can be enjoyed in the style and manner you deserve!!! You wouldn't want to rejoin the work-a-day fray just right now. God, we've been spoiled the last 20 years, eh?

I haven't run into you online since that doltish Bircher mole-man suggested that our political alliance was really a more intimate and "alternative" relationship. What a pantload to make such an outrageous assumption!

I just have to share, however .... that mean man's words are no reason for you to stop calling, ignore my balloon-boquet deliveries and, most hurtful, to turn your back to me - during our Liza song - at "Club Cabana Boy"! ;^) Best Regards friend - Texasforever? Damn right it will be!

The usual myopic simpletons here will continue to hysterically hyperbolize and rail against proposed domestic security measures that may be necessary to ensure our ongoing survival.

Very thoughtful and good post--with the exception of the gratuitous insult quoted above.

If a National I.D. card will serve to ferret out illegal interlopers living among us and dedicated to our destruction - then let's do it.

Some of us hysterical, hyperbolizing, myopic simpletons (HHMS for short) question the conditional clause there. A big "if", and it does seem to meet the agendas of some of the more ...statist... of our legislators, while flying under the radar screen. But, of course, any negative conclusions I or someone else might draw from that may be dismissed as rantings of an HHMS.

I need an ID card to get into Sam's Club for God's sake.

Yes, but Sam's Club doesn't have federal marshals, FBI, NSA, or Lon Huiruichi. The copy of the Constitution I have limits (or attempts to) the federal government. I find no mention of Sam's Club. You see, going to Sam's Club is voluntary. A national ID is not. But, there again, I am a demented HHMS.

A Cabinet Department dedicated to "Homeland Security" ... it's about damned time.

I thought we had one--it's called the Department of Defense.

There is a difference between our necessary vigilence to protect our Constitutional rights - and the unfounded paranoia that paralyzes one from acting to ensure one's survival.

Ah, careful there: this HHMS agrees with you! Where we might have a disagreement is over the term "necessary".

See, I understand your points, disagree with them politely (and probably not effectively, but so what), and move on. It's not necessary to marginalize others' viewpoints with HHMS slurs, or, for that matter, terms like "vast right-wing conspiracy", "raghead" or other pejoratives that have been used by people throughout the political spectrum.

Stunning.

Last November I broke the unwritten rule that requires journalists to be neutral political observers when I got embroiled in the controversy over the presidential election and publicly supported Al Gore.
It was not just with friends that I passionately argued the election had been stolen...[snip]
Of course, I did not know whether the election had gone for Mr. Gore or George W. Bush. As a partisan, I did not care.

So Mr. Posner admits that, as a journalist, he put professionalism aside and spewed propaganda without any knowledge or concern over if what he was saying was true.

He should be fired and denied further employment in the field of journalism.

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