9/11 Investigation and Gay Marriage...Again

First things first...

Get over 9/11! I'm speaking to my fellow Democrats, liberals, ABB people, and radical moderates. You know who is responsible for 9/11? Radical right-wing Muslims with nothing better to do on a weekday. Was the Bush administration at fault? Probably,...but so were the previous 42 administrations.

We Americans, with our Jesus-lovin', money-makin', mold-the-world-in-our-image attitudes have been taunting would-be terrorists for centuries. Until recently, terrorist attacks were primarily regional activities, much like civil war or revolution. Europe is still fairly unfamiliar with foreign-based terror. The recent attacks in Spain are a rare exception, but of all Western civilizations, their religious zeal and contempt for Islam is second only to our own.

Stop pointing fingers at George Bush and company with regards to 9/11. They were simply continuing policies laid out for decades previous to their arrival. It is hard to imagine that such an attack could have been accurately predicted or avoided. Instead, focus on the Bush administrations post-9/11 actions. They successfully alienated a unified world, failed to capture Bin Laden, and led an unjustifiable invasion of Iraq for political gain. Bravo!

Now onto the familiar topic of gay marriage...

Liberals Unite! (but not right now)

Two important things are happening this year: The destruction of the Bush administration and the election of a Democratic President.

The first event must precede the second, but in order to do that, we need as many people/organizations going after G.W. as possible. So before you send your hard-earned money to John Kerry or the DNC, consider other organizations like Democracy for America or MoveOn.org. Do a google search and find a group of people who most closely follow your political philosophy and give donations to them. Republicans and conservatives have been doing this for decades, and we are just now playing catch up.

Consider the effect on the average undecided voter watching multiple television ads sponsored by different groups as opposed to the effect of one group or person sending a barrage of political messages to that individual's TV screen. I believe we will be more effective on the whole with this method. Continue to give to the candidate and the party, but reserve your more substantial contributions for your favorite groups. You will be much happier with your investment in the long run.

As a side note, I work for neither "Democracy for America" or "MoveOn.org" in any official capacity, although I do support both whole-heartedly.

Cheer Up Kerry! Why the Long Face?

Even though I once considered myself a John-Kerry-sorta-guy, I became a true believer in the kind of change that was the emblem of the Howard Dean campaign. Between media driven "Kerry frenzy" and less-than-polished performances by Dean himself, Sen. Kerry looks poised (at least at the current moment) to take the Democratic nomination. But before Theresa breaks out the Dom Perignon a word of warning: regardless of the nominee, beating George Bush will be exceedingly difficult. Here are some reasons...

1. Economic Growth--Even though "W" had very little to do with it, the business cycle favors him in a big way.


2. Money--Howard Dean gave us some hope in this area, but John Kerry can only mortgage his assets so many times. George Bush has and will continue to have an advantage in this area.


3. Iraq--Yet another achilles heel for John Kerry. The vote for authorization (for the Iraq invasion) was created for political cover. It looks like Bush might get one more chance to use it. Howard Dean has a different, less popular opinion, but at least it is different.


4. The Gore-Dukakis Combo--Howard Dean is a McGovern-Clinton type candidate: passionate, progressive, and innovative. John Kerry is boring, aloof, and liberal.

The nomination is not wrapped up as far as delegate counts, but that is little comfort. The media, not the average American, will decide who is newsworthy and electable. Our only hope as Democrats (should Kerry prevail) is that when the media is done flirting with the Senator they will not go back to loving Mr. Bush. After all, they had a love affair with Gov. Dean just a few weeks ago. Happy Valentines Day!