As I promised …<\/p>\n\n
\nFrom Chicago<\/p>\n\n
Andrew,
\nI don’t need to wait 2 years to tell you you’re wrong. I can, with
\ncomplete confidence, tell you right now that you’re wrong. We should
\nNOT <\/span>re-elect Bush. We cannot afford to reelect him. Quite apart
\nfrom the dire position he has led us into in Iraq, we Americans (I’m
\nin Chicago) have so much going on internally that simply can’t
\nwithstand another four years of a Bush White House.
\nI’ll just mention the Supreme Court. There are at least
\nthree judges who have stayed on for this term of Bush’s so that he
\nwouldn’t have the opportunity to stack the court with right-wingers.
\nThey’re old and want to retire, but have held on to keep Bush and his
\nright-wing fundamentalists at bay.
\nIf a newly-elected Bush has an opportunity to get at the
\nSupreme Court, I predict that we will lose abortion rights entirely;
\nour essential freedoms, already markedly abused by the so-called
\n‘Patriot Act’, will continue to be chipped away; anti-gay legislation
\nwill go forth. This is quite apart from the budget, already in
\nconsiderable disarray.
\nMaybe in a strange way another 4 years of Bush will serve the
\nworld well, in that it will bring about a quick end to the supremacy
\nof the American state. There are many countries in the world who
\nwould welcome that. Is that what you’re hoping for? Because I
\nbelieve with all my heart that we cannot survive another four years
\nwith these scoundrels at the helm.
\nThe most recent polls show that the more educated Americans
\ndon’t think that a quick withdrawal from Iraq is the answer. They see
\nthe shades of grey and the potential for disaster. I myself feel
\nvery conflicted: it was a mistake to go in in the first place, so why
\nshould we dig that hole deeper by staying in. On the other hand, we
\nwent in and ‘broke’ the country…can we now in good conscience leave
\nit, broken?
\nYou’re wrong in urging support for Bush. The world is too
\nfragile to withstand 4 more Bush years. It would be calamitous.
\nPlease, no.
\nMary Sinker
\nChicago<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nFrom a parallel universe …<\/p>\n\n
Andrew Brown’s piece is as usual clever and ironic – has he not missed an
\nobvious possible alternative course of action though? If Kerry is elected
\nin November, might he not re-enlist UN help with Iraq and Afghanistan,
\nstart the difficult job of repairing diplomatic relations with Europe,
\nreaddress the role of NATO, <\/span>and begin some initiatives for calming and
\nreclaiming the moderate Islamic world’s faith in America? That to my mind
\nwould be much more helpful than having Bush in power and colliding
\ninevitably with this Nemesis he refers to.<\/p>\n\nI’d be interested to hear what he says, if you get the chance to pass this
\non. Thanks
\nGordon Carver<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nI think it is too late for all that stuff. The time to do it would have been when we invaded Afghanistan. I still think that this was the great missed neo-colonial opportunity. To restore Afghanistan as a functioning state would have done all the Friedman-type things that toppling Saddam was supposed to do. there would also have been a certain logic and elegance to it, since it was our arming and encouragement of the people’s mujahedin which did so much to destroy the country in the first place.<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n\nFrom Annapolis, the first appearance of Godwin’s law:<\/p>\n\n
Sort of like “nach Hitler uns”, which didn’t work out very well for anyone.
\nSurprisingly facile for Brown.
\nI voted for Dick Gregory in 1968. The popular vote for Dick Gregory
\nexceeded the number of votes by which Nixon defeated Humphrey. In 2000
\nthere were those who followed the same course with Nader, and we got Bush.<\/p>\n\nSteven A. Bookshester
\nAnnapolis, Maryland<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nEven in Stockholm comes a kindly phrased reproach.<\/p>\n\n
Andrew Brown, I don’t need two years to find out whether you’re wrong.
\nYou’re wrong now. Your position is a dilettante’s. Iraq is a ghastly
\nmess, but it’s only one of Bushes many. Kyoto and terrorism are two
\nother areas where he is jeopardising the world. And surely, tactical
\nvoting is the last resort of the cynic. Or the cynical liberal. Talk
\nabout what you conscience tells you, then tell us. Anything else is
\njust journalism for titillation.
\nAll the best from sunny Sweden (you’d miss it now — remember ‘mellan
\nh<\/p><\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As I promised … Continue reading