Why Don't I Shut UP?

Okay, I'm not the kinda person who believes what i'm told.  Meaning, i just don't take your word for it.  Normally, I try to see things for myself (if at all possible).  And in the middle of an election time everyone needs to try and do that.  I try to tune out what EVERYONE else is telling me.  I try to push out all the bashing and rhetoric that flies around between the Elephants and the Donkeys.  And for you faithful to my blog (and i really do luv ya!), you know that I am not a huge fan of G.W.  But I did not vote during his election so I really have no room to complain about how he GOT into office.  But from that point forward, I'd hoped that he'd win me over.  During the 911 attacks I think his response was adequate.  I believe he acted in the best interests.  But anything after that point has rubbed me the wrong way.  There are alot of folks (specially in conservative PA) that will latch on to a candidate for one or two reasons that really don't hold a huge impact on the larger reality of the United States and a nation.  You hear it..."I'm voting for Bush because he believes in God.  I"m not voting for Kerry because he came from a family with a ton of money and couldnt' possible know my poor-ass plight.  I'm not voting for Bush because he was a coke head.  Kerry is liberal wussbag...I'm voting for Bush because my family is Republican and always will be (that one is my favorite ignorant response of all time...its kinda like saying "hey, i don't want to be a trash man but my daddy was one so i'm diving onto the back of that stinkin' truck blindly.")

But the bigger picture isn't so much focus on one issue to sway a vote.  I think you, as a voter, as a parent, as a citizen...whatever...its YOUR responsibility to look at the world.  Look at where we are right now and ask yourself "okay, who is going to be the man to move us in the right direction?  Who will take us down the better path through the next four years?  Who is going to pick up the flag and dust it off (because its dirty, ladies and germs...its been stepped on alot lately whether you like it or not)?

I don't want to get into bashing Bush because he can certainly do a well-enough job for himself.  And to tell you the truth, I was more of a fan of Kerry because he was the alternative to Bush. 

That was until last night when I heard him speak at the Democratic Convention. 

What I saw up there at the podium was not someone stumbling through lines on a teleprompter.  I didn't see someone scrambling to win over your vote.   I saw a man who (to me) seemed genuinely concerned for the United States.   Concerned for the idea BEHIND the United States.   Concerned for the people that make up the United States.  Concerned about how the rest of the world SEES the United States.  John Kerry came across as a people person last night and that was a very VERY refreshing idea to me. 

I'm going off memory here so if I get something wrong please don't ride my arse over it but the truth of the matter is that Kerry is sending a message.  The message goes out to the soldiers in Iraq, to the parents working two jobs and still not making ends meet, to the folks who've lost their jobs because the US can out-source them foreign countries for half the cost, to the huge percentage of us that cannot afford medical care, to the folks who have been affected by the recent attempts to TWIST the Constitution.  That message is this:  Help Is On The Way. 

Let me repeat:  Help Is On The Way.

One of the biggest things that Kerry hit on that really turned me from an Anti-Bush person voting for anyone BUT Bush to a Kerry fan was this:   Kerry said (and again I"m going from memory) that the U.S. should be a country that the world looks up to, not fears.  If we want to fight and win a war in Iraq we need to re-align with our allies.  And finally we should never fight a war because we WANT to...only, repeat..ONLY, if we need to.  Kerry said something that should hit a never to the fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters of military troops.  He said "I will never take this country to war unless I can look in a mother's eye and say without doubt that it was something that could not be avoided."

I'm sorry about the whole rattle...his speech just seemed to energize my belief and I hope that before you cast your vote either way, you take the time and watch Kerry's Democratic nomination speech.  Watch Bush's speech...don't listen to the commercials or the radio or what anyone else forces into your head.  Make your opinion and, for the love of your children and the better of your country, vote!  If you're one of those people (like I was) who says "what difference can I make?" and does not vote, you're condemning yourself and the folks around you to an additude that breeds apathy.  You're basically giving up your right to be heard. 

PS:  If you'd like to watch Kerry's speech online or read a transcript please go to this link:  http://www.dems2004.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=luI2LaPYG&b=125934&ct=158807

posted by Michael Witmer @ Friday, July 30, 2004