If Bush wants to compare flip-flops with Kerry—Bring it on!
By Mick Youther
The Bush Attack Machine started to define John Kerry as “a captive of special interests”. Then it came out that Bush had received more campaign contributions from Enron alone, than Kerry had received from lobbyists during all his years in the Senate; so the attack moved on to Plan B— defining Kerry as a flip-flopper and Bush as “steady and steadfast”.
They know that anyone who has been in the Senate for eighteen years will have a voting record that can be distorted to look bad. If a Senator voted against a bloated spending-bill that contained funding for breast cancer research, they can claim that Senator is against breast cancer research. Ask John McCain—they pulled that one on him in the 2000 primary.
Now their problem is that the attack on Kerry has resulted in lists of Bush flip-flops popping up everywhere. This is just a sampling of the kinds of things that are coming out:
• When Bush first took office, he said the economy was so good we should have huge tax cuts, but now he claims we were in a recession then and that is why we now have record deficits.
• Candidate Bush was very vocal in his criticism of nation building, but now President Bush is busy building nations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and it looks like Haiti is next. These nations are being built with our soldier’s lives and our tax dollars.
• Bush claimed his budget plan would reduce the National Debt. Instead, the federal debt has increased to almost $7 trillion.
• Candidate Bush promised to protect the Social Security trust fund, but President Bush has already squandered more than $350 billion from the fund. (Consortium News, 3/2/04)
• Bush said he would, “enforce fiscal discipline on Congress, because when spending is out of control, deficits increase and our economic growth is hindered...", but federal spending has increased 23.7 percent since he took office. (Bill Gallagher, Friends of Liberty, 12/11/03)
• Candidate Bush proposed regulating carbon dioxide, but two months after taking office, President Bush changed his mind.
• Bush opposed a Homeland Security Department when it was proposed by Democrats; but later embraced the idea and took credit for it.
• Bush said he would veto the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation, but changed his mind and signed it.
• Bush opposed an investigation of the attacks of 9/11—then he supported it, but his administration has done everything it could to obstruct the investigation.
• Bush opposed an Iraq WMD investigation, but then he's for it because he has to pretend he’s interested in why he was so wrong about Iraq’s WMD.
• When asked about gay marriage, candidate Bush said, “the state can do what they want to do,”—but now President Bush wants a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
• During an unsuccessful run for Congress in 1978, Bush opposed the pro-life amendment and favored leaving the abortion question to a woman and her doctor. Then, like his father before him, he customized his beliefs to become more electable to conservatives. (The Nation, 6/15/00)
• Bush promised money for first responders, but failed to provide the funds.
• Bush promised billions of dollars to help fight AIDS in Africa, but failed to provide the funds.
• Bush presented his “No Child Left Behind Program” with great fanfare, but failed to provide the funds.
• Bush continues to praise American troops, but continues to try to cut benefits for them and their families.
• Bush said, "The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden”, but changed it to, "I don't know where he is. I have no idea and I really don't care.”
To understand why steady and steadfast Bush would change his mind about so many important issues, you must understand the problem he faces every day. He has to somehow fool enough voters to be reelected, without actually doing anything for them or straying too far from the NeoCon’s agenda for the New World Order. So, if a majority of voters want something—like clean air, Bush is for it. He won’t follow through, or he won’t fund it properly, or he will do the exact opposite of what he promised; but he will continue to be for it. If a majority of voters oppose something; then Bush will oppose it too, but he will go right ahead and do it anyway—while speaking against it.
If that is the kind of President you want, Bush is your man. If you’d like something better, John Kerry is your man.
Posted March 20, 2004
Mick Youther is an Instructor in the Department of Physiology at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. You can email your comments to [email protected]
As a Veteran, I will never support Kerry! The man was a war hero when he served in Vietnam and then he came home and has been a disgrace ever since. The man flat out lied to congress about there being rampant war crimes committed by US troops, he then gave aid and comfort to the enemy by his leading of the anti-war effort, which the North Vietnam government has said repeatedly showed that their strategy of trying to bleed us was working, causing them to fight harder to continue to inflict casualties on us. He also flat out claimed that our POW's were lying about their treatment in the hands the Vietnamese govt. From what I've heard, before McCain reconciled with Kerry and became friends with him, he wanted to beat his ass. I think those of you who who support Kerry and his ideology of democratic socialism don't know your ass from a hole in the ground about what being an American is. Kerry and those who support him always attack America first when something goes wrong. You always want to emulate Europe and the laziness Europe's socialist democracies breed. The best of the Economies on the continent of Europe, Germany, has had double digit unemployment for the better part of the last 50 years since WWII ended, while you complain about 5.7 percent here and a cyclical recession that at its worst gave the US about 6.5 percent. If it was up to Kerry and all you supporters of him, the US would rapidly move towards nationalizing most industries, farming, and the medical system and we would soon be in the same boat as all of those great European nations with their perpetually rampant unemployment, labor strikes, rationed health care where you have to wait months to see a doctor in many cases, confisacatory tax rates on anyone who dare to succeed or own a small business, death taxes back to the level where 60 percent of what you work for all of you life is taken from your family when you die after you were already taxed on it while you lived. Now Kerry is talking down the economy, refusing to acknowledge the fact that because of the tax cuts Bush passed, our economy is growing at a sustainable 4.5 to 5 percent and there has been a steady increase in job creation for the last 6 to 7 months that has just exploded by 308,000 new jobs in March while the last two months were revised upward, more than doubling the original amount thought to have been created. You, Kerry, and all you Kerry supporters don't have a leg to stand on. You are all a bunch of traiterous cowards who deserve no respect and you your boy Kerry will be defeated in November.
As far as trying to paint Bush as a flip-flopper. That doesn't work! Bush may change his mind on policy or take a different stand than one he had in the past but at least he admits he has changed his policy and then stays steady on those changes until something may force a change. Kerry just flat out has several positions at once depending on what group he is talking to and then goes from on to another in the matter of months, weeks, days, and sometimes even from one hour to another he changes. What a dirt-bag!
lovelly rebuttal, non rebuttal actually.
300,000 jobs added ....over 2 million lost...looks like we still in the hole a bit.
guess it was mainlly manufacturing jobs also, actually wasnt really new jobs , bush reclassied fast food workers from service to manufacturing, he said , well them burgers just dont make themselves ..... :>).. traitorous coward cause he listed proveable flip-flops on your boy ,thats seems a little harsh. we all suppossed to line up and take it up the arse from your boy ? just cause you like it doesnt mean everyone likes it
voting for kerry to get your boy out , not to get kerry in
So many of the jobs that were lost should never have been created in the first place. During the dot com bubble of the late 1990's so many bullshit tech companies were formed with no real hope of ever lasting or ever being profitable that the whole bubble burst. Companies were hoarding workers because they were convinced that they would just continue to grow exponentially forever. As is always the case, the economy can't ever grow forever, it collapsed causing a recession that actually begin in the last quarter of Clinton's last year and ended with the first quarter of President Bush's year. When those fake companies all went under and all the companies who were just accumulating workers companies weren't growing all those extra workers lost their jobs. Soon we began a recovery, then 911 happened and a million workers lost their jobs beacuse, if you remember, the airlines didn't fly for a week and they still are recovering, hotels went under, travel agencies went under, etc, etc. Are you choosing to ignore all this?
Now, after the tax cuts have been passed - the last of which we will all be receiving over the next couple of months, we are in a solid recovery that is gaining speed! We actually lost only 1.8 milion jobs during the last couple of years. Now, including the 308,000 from March and the upward revision of January and February you can subtract roughly 700,000 from that, leaving 1.1 milion. With 7 months and a couple of weeks to go until the election, and even a slow steady growth rate in new jobs, we will be at or near where we started. To me, I don't much care about what type of jobs are created, i.e manufacturing vs. service jobs, just that we are creating goods jobs.
Hourly wages are increasing as well which means the average quality of the jobs that are being created is increasing while we are working less hours. Overall that indicates that the commonly accepted definition of a rising quality of life is taking place. Now I know this isn't good news for all of you Kerry supporters. Sorry!
In spite of all this, Kerry continues to bad mouth the economy saying we are on the wrong track on the way off a cliff while the whole time the commonly accepted measurements of the economy are all pointing the opposite direction towards rapid improvement. It's really interesting that Kerry and all of you Kerry supporters used the same commonly accepted economic indicators to show how bad the economy was during the recession but now that it is over and we are now pretty quickly moving towards a broad recovery, you refuse to accept the validity of these very same commonly accepted economic measurements. What a colossal Flip-Flop!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Once again you have two positions at the same time. The economic indicators are and are not the commonly accepted measurements of the economy at the very same time! That is a classic flip-flop. Changing ones mind where one abandons a position for another position after something makes said position untennable is not a Flip-Flop. You might consider it a Flip. But not a Flip-Flop. See, you only moved in one direction. Hence the Flip. But if the original position isn't taken again, there hasn't been a Flop. It's all very simple if you ask me!
Now, the reason I consider Kerry and Kery supporters traiterous cowards is because, as I mentioned in another post, I recently returned from Iraq and I blame a good portion of the resitance we faced over there on insurgents who were motivated to attack us because they believe they still have a chance to win the war because Kerry and all the other anti-war crowd who are always badmouthing the war on TV every day, are giving them the impression that there is this overwhelming opposition to the war here which will cause President Bush to be defeated in the upcoming election. Kerry's and Kerry's suppoters by their actions are being perceived, accurately or not, by many in the middle east as in favor of pulling out of Iraq quickly if he wins. As a result, the insurgents keep trying to kill Americans and everyone else so the Kerry's of the world and Americans in general will lose the will to fight and leave Iraq for them to exploit, again. This, is the very definition of giving aid and comfort to the enemy that has been witnessed by multiple people which, in turn, happens to be the legal definition of Treason! Kerry and all of the anti-war crowd, in my opinion, were also guilty of the same Treason during the Vietnam War too!
Your last paragraph makes it seem like you are uncomfortable with the idea of democracy in America.
If Americans can't criticize the president and his policies without being accused of being unpatriotic, we're no longer living in the kind of democracy that America should be.
voice or no voice , the people can always be brought to the biddings of thier leader. this is easy , all you have to do is say to them they are being attacked and thier existance is in jeapardy. then denounce all who oppose as pacificts who lack patriotism and exspose the country to danger.
author, hermann goering-nazi
dont believe ive seen anyone in here object to afghanistan , it was justified and a obvious response to 9-11 , too bad we didnt apply the same resources here going after the true mofo as we did in iraq .
qoute by mubarak of eygpt before iraq invasion,
"dont invade iraq and you have one osama , invade iraq and create thousands of osamas"
once again not a kerry supporter here, hes my only option on getting bush out.
as far as vietnam , he served , he saw , he tried to bring an end to it when he got back , your version is he and the supporters extended the war , by all accounts ive seen over the years, vietnam was fought half-assed by the politicians, take a hill , give back the hill ,not usin overwhelming force...ect, ect...
i believe when he got back he did what he thought might save some mens lives by trying to get you guys outta a no win scenario perpertrated by dum-fuk politicians. i believe the argument that it extended the war is bogus , WE couldve left whenever WE decided.....my hope is , we dont follow the same path in iraq , another place we have no right to be !....my .02
Just one little quote from ctd74:
I think those of you who who support Kerry and his ideology of democratic socialism don't know your ass from a hole in the ground about what being an American is.
Oh, then another:
You, Kerry, and all you Kerry supporters don't have a leg to stand on. You are all a bunch of traiterous cowards who deserve no respect
It's this level of thoughtfulness that encourages me.
Well said, ctd74. It eloquently tells me who you are and where your moral and intellectual development are. And, above all, it increases my motivation to vote in the election.
Enjoy your righteousness and your rage.
In Minnesota, the Bush administration has ordered their hand chosen senator - Norm Coleman - to be their attack dog on Kerry's flip-flops. Norm Coleman was the mayor of St Paul and was originally elected as a democrat. As recently as 1996 he supported both Bill Clinton and Paul Wellstone for re-election, and then ran against Wellstone in 2002. He has also changed positions on such issues as gun control and gay rights.
So I guess when Republicans accuse Kerry of flip-flopping you have to believe it is true, because they are the experts.
Once agian, you don't understand the definition of Flip-Flop as it relates to politics. Evreyone at some time in their political career changes their policy, which woulf be a Flip. If they were to then change it right back while speaking to a different constituant group, that would be a Flip-Flop. It seems pretty obvious in your example that even you recognize that Norm Coleman has simply "changed his position". Positions he still has by the way. Maybe he just got sick and tired of how left the democrat party has gone, especially in Minnesota, and decide to leave the party - just like around 20 or so other prominent demcorats have done over the last 20-30 years. I think we've got you beat there. The scorecard pretty much reflects that a whole host of democrats on the national level got so fed up with ther party's lurch to the left over the last 30-40- years, they left the party to become Republicans. It's near 20 to 0, unless of course you count the half point you get for Jeffords becoming an Independent.
The whole Flip-Flop problem that Kerry has is that he is on record as being on both sides of so many issues at the same time when you look at his voting record, public statements, interviews, speaches, etc. and then compare them. He has gone from one side to another then back again so many times it's hard to keep track. A perfect example was his opposition of the first Gulf War, which he later praised on record numerous times, which he is back to opposing now. He also voted against using all necessary force against Kosovo but for bombing it and for sending ground troops to Kosovo for what was a truly unilateral move by the US to attack Kosovo when there was zero threat to the US. Later he opposed the war in Iraq becuase he claims it was unilateral when the war was the "serious consequence" mentioned in UN resolution 1441 which was unanimously approved by the security council which the french, germans and russians then refused to enforce when the arms inspectors said Iraq had refused to comply. Kerry was one of the few in congress who voted against the war in Iraq becuase he said a pre-emptve action to remove the Hussein regime and liberate Iraq was wrong, even though he voted for the " Iraq Liberation Act" of 1998 (Public Law 105-338) that made it the official policy of the US that Hussein should be removed pre-emptively becuase he was a growing threat that should not be allowed to continue . When Kerry voted for authorizing the use of all necessary force in Iraq, a country that had been comitting acts of war on our planes by shooting at them every day in the no-fly zones, he voted that he agreed to attack Iraq if they did not comply with UN resolution 1441. Now he says he was against it and he ultimately voted against authorizing the funding for it, even after he was on record in an interview in which he was asked if his amendment to "pay for it by repealing the tax cut on those making 200k and up" did not pass. His reply to that question was that it would be "irresponsible and reckless" to vote against funding it yet, in the midst of the democrat primary he voted against it. He pre-emptively acknowledged he was "irresponsile and reckless."
The list goes on and on and on and on..................and on and on...................and on...................
With that kind of discerning thought process, you could probably give Dumbya a run for his money.
A flip is one position the flop is the other. Whether you are Rep or Dem or Green or Indie. It means the same thing
The different positions are things! A flip-flop is set of actions. A flip is an action. A flop is an action. A flip is moving from one position to another and the flop is moving back. Simply changing positions doesn't constitue a flip-flop.
"My political enemies think the earth revolves around the sun," he'll say. "That's their prerogative. I happen to disagree."
It's gets damn personal!
And again, thanks for reinforcing the point!
Unfortunately, he may have even helped save yours, by marshalling the anti-war movement to help end our Vietnam involvement earlier.
Your constant hateful bile against Kerry is not backed by any real information. You claim he endangered you and your cohorts who were still in the field of battle. That is flatly a fabrication, and there is no evidence to support this. It very well might be true that his stories of atrocities that were committed DID result in you and your cohorts being held in lower esteem upon your return to the country. He is no more a "traitor" (your word, not mine) for his efforts to end the war, than you were a traitor for failing to resist the carrying out of an ill-advised mission as dictated by our leadership at the time. You need to turn the page on your hatred, for your own good, or you'll drop dead from internally generated stress. I suggest you go seek counseling for your pain.
Neither one of you can make a post without getting angry.
And you bribite seem to miss the point of every post you respond to.
Typical Republican tactic ... accuse the Dems of something and then when people notice that Reps are at least equally as guilty, re-define the terms.