A soldier's election plea

I was unsure what I was going to blog about today and it hurts to type and pains me to see all my typos right nw, so I was grateful in so many ways when this email arrived in my inbox this morning. Unfortunately, AoD and I have been caught in the midst of an ugly family political battle - left vs. right sides of AoD's aunts and uncles. However, this was a nice little part of the crossfire today.

The following post was sent to AoD from his aunt and here is what she said:
I thought that I would share this e-mail with all of you. I am very proud of our son for what he has written below. So if you disapprove of this message that I have included please don’t direct you attack on me send them directly to (AoD's cousin). I am sure he would welcome the feed back whether it be good or bad.

Son– Thank you for sharing these e-mails with me. I am very proud of you as a soldier representing our country but also as my son. Love – Mom

I'm not sure of his rank, MOS or even where he is stationed, but he is only 20 or so.

Here was what he had to say:

Was there ever a time in history when America had such a crappy choice for president?

The election is just days away, and it's time to get serious about what to do with that vote of yours, now that you've heard the claims, seen the ads and gotten sick to your stomach. The question we're asking each other is not "Who are you voting for?" but, instead, "Who are you voting against?"

I know many of you have issues with President Bush. I openly admit I do. But that doesn't justify the big mistake Americans will make if they if they elect John Kerry. Now is not the time to give the president the royal "screw you," no matter how disappointed, betrayed, fed up, or entitled you feel. Take me, for instance. The minute I saw the World Trade Center struck, I suspected the federal government may have had advance information or - dare I say - that we did something somewhere in the world to spark it. You don't have to persuade me to be suspect.

Let's talk Iraq. I believe the only reason we're there is economic. WMD? Please! Couldn't Bush have come up with a better line? Of course they have weapons of mass destruction. They got them from us at some point, didn't they?

The president should have just said: "Yep, we're going in, kicking some butt, taking names, and taking whatever else we damn well feel like - because we can, and because Clinton didn't have the nads to get the job done when he could have and should have."

At least we would have respected him. Someone with spine.

There's no doubt Bush has an agenda (what politician doesn't?), and there's no doubt Bush has lied.
But I believe Kerry's a bigger liar than Bush, and a different kind of liar. His agenda is far worse and far more dangerous. If Americans vote for Kerry just because they're angry at Bush, they will inadvertently be inviting in a demon of mass destruction more devastating than they ever dreamed of.

It's time to stop reacting emotionally and start thinking clearly. This is serious. What do you think it means when a candidate's fellow Democrats jump the fence and vote Republican? It means you better open your eyes.

Being mad at Bush does not justify a "grudge vote" for Kerry. If I had a serious problem with my wife, would that entitle me to jump in bed with her rival? Or would it be my obligation to do everything possible to address and make an effort to truly understand the issues, and what my part in those issues was?
Then, and only then, if we still didn't see eye to eye, I believe we have every right, and obligation, to leave that relationship. And when we do leave, I hope to heaven, we choose a better partner. Not someone who's just going to tell you what you want to hear to get you to go to bed with them and then their going to throw you away.

And like my father told me, you hear more truth not by listening to what a man says, but by watching what a man does.I think that people should pay attention to the character of a man's wife, for that is the true reflection of the man.

Take Kerry's wife ... please. It's going to take more than those Bo-Peep curls to smooth that out. I hope Americans don't sweep her inexcusable projection she made to the first lady under the rug. "She hasn't worked a day in her life!" Freud would have been clicking his heels and yeehawing over that one. But did the Democratic-sheeple see through that? I don't know. Couldn't they see it was Teresa's own truth slipping out as plain as the nose on her face? Hard to say, because they are so steeped in this feeling of being swept up in unity that this country lacks, they will overlook it to belong.

I say watch everything. Watch what people do. Watch how people treat people, when they think people aren't looking. Watch the track record. Kerry's record chokes for itself. Watch the eyes. Watch if the eye contact is easy and steady when a direct question is asked, or if it seems strained, broken, or shifts. Watch attendance. Watch temper. And yes, watch the wife, but watch the whole package, and watch your intention.

Is it really Kerry you want? Or is it any token Democrat? Or is it to punish Bush?

Some people will say anything, whether it's true or not. Some papers will print anything, because they want you to believe, and act, and vote a certain way - it doesn't mean there's truth in it. Yet, we humans still have the inclination to want to ignore the red flags. It's a phenomenon that researchers call the ostrich factor. An untrained eye cannot spot the difference between a genuinely great guy and a con artist/sociopath's charming, charismatic personality. The trained eye can, but sometimes chooses not to. Go figure. Could Americans be so naive as to believe Kerry means what he says? Or maybe they don't care. I was looking at an Associated Press photograph of some "healthier" Kerry supporters with big round stickers on their heads. These women look like the only thing they are committed to is getting a refill on their Big Gulps, Birkenstocks, and finding out when their next meal is going to be handed to them. I don't think they would care who ran for president, as long as he's a Democrat and these bennies keep a comin'. They'd vote for Kerry no matter what. You could hypothetically tell those women that Kerry was a felon guilty of the most heinous crime. They probably wouldn't hear you. It's already common knowledge Kerry tossed his war decorations, claimed U.S. troops were committing war atrocities, and that he was being directed by the enemy in a time of war. That doesn't seem to phase them.

Now if this came out about President Bush, they'd have their elastic waistbands in a knot. Not to say that President Bush has never disappointed me.The debates are a prime example. "This oughta be good," I thought. "Bush'll show 'em." It went from bad to worse as I watched the professional liar, Kerry, put his sociopathic-transferable skills to good use, pulling one B.S. nugget after another out of his New Englandular posterior.
Bush just took it. He let me down ... again.

I was shouting at the TV from the 18th story of the Roosevelt Hotel, same way you'd yell out to protect the woman about to get bludgeoned in a murder movie. You know, the endangered girl gets the bright idea to check out the strange noise in the basement at night all by herself, unarmed, with a serial killer on the loose. You scream to her: "Call the police!" "Turn on the light!" "At least pick up a tweezer!" "Whatever you do, don't open the door ... (to John Kerry)!" Of course, she doesn't listen, and now lies in a pool of her own blood, plucked from head to toe. Too bad, so sad.

That's how I feel right now. Americans aren't listening. They're so mad at George Bush, and so determined to show him how mad they are, that they're going open the door to Kerry and hurt themselves in the process.
It's like having a beef with God, but instead of clearing the air, you turn your back on Him, hold a grudge, and make friends with the enemy, inviting Satan over for lunch.

Think of your ballot like this:
[__] FOR Kerry - John Kerry, Democrat
[__] FOR Kerry - Ralph Nader, Independent
[__] FOR Kerry - Undecided, not voting, Mickey Mouse, or anyone else
[X] AGAINST Kerry - George W. Bush, Republican

We need to vote against Kerry, then make our voices heard after the election and bitch at Bush.
In the meantime, there's still time left to influence the election. If what I've said rings true, then share it with others. Talk, write, e-mail, but most importantly vote - against Kerry.

Then you can say with a clear conscience you were a part of the movement responsible for keeping him out of office, and from preventing your son, or grandson, or even nephew from getting killed overseas because John Kerry doesn't know what he wants and will just bend over and take it from the terrorists, and your taxes from being hiked. That you stepped up to the plate and did whatever you could to stop something deeply wrong from happening.

~~~~~
I couldn't have said it any better.