"I have never voted Republican, but this time I have very serious misgivings about democratic waffling. When the Holocaust could have been prevented, our democratic government (F.D.Roosevelt) never lifted a finger to do so. And I am very apprehensive about the present situation."
Freddy, who lost his entire family in the Holocaust, is like many American Jews in his concern about how John Kerry will relate with Israel. I wrote Freddy the following response:
I took a look at the article and agree with a lot of it. However, I think it's unfair to state that "acting unilaterally" means "acting without France." Most of the world's nations did not support the Bush Administration's actions in Iraq, and with good reason. Take a look at the mess we're in there now.
Nor do I believe that anyone is either "against France" or "against Israel." This is exactly the kind of black-and-white thinking that labels any American who opposes the war in Iraq as "unpatriotic." I'm hardly a Francophile (I left my only visit there prematurely over 30 years ago and haven't returned since). You're right: France is no friend of Israel; but neither is Saudi Arabia (sponsors of the PLO and other anti-Israel terrorists) and I don't see anyone clamoring for us to thumb our noses at them. I believe that the Bush Administration's cowboy attitude toward anyone in the world who doesn't agree with it weakens rather than strengthens America. I also think Sharon's admonition that Jews leave France is a bit premature (see my earlier email).
If not invading a foreign country that didn't attack us first is "waffling," then I guess I'd have to count myself as a "waffler." As evil as Saddam Hussein is/was, he's a pussycat compared to the Arab militias slaughtering innocent civilians right now in the Darfur region of Sudan, and you don't see us taking decisive action there. What's more, no one has ever found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, nor evidence that Saddam was linked to Al Queda (other than that they both received arms from the US!). The Iraq war is about oil and money -- specifically Iraq's oil and the Bush and Cheney families' money. My only disappointment with John Kerry is that he allowed himself to be duped by the phoney stuff that was being passed around as "intelligence," and voted for the war in the first place. Now he sees how much damage was done, and wants to try to right it. What's wrong with that?
I grew up in Chicago where being Jewish and being a Democrat were indistinguishable, and I'll admit that bias has never left me. I voted Republican once in my life, for a senate seat in Illinois. If I'm still in California, I'll probably vote for The Terminator when he comes up again, as he hasn't turned into a bad governor at all.
However, the current administration in Washington is the most scary in my lifetime (of course, I was born after Hoover). There are pieces of the Patriot Act that allow the Federal government to lock up innocent Americans (not to mention visitors) and throw away the keys. The homophobic hysteria being peddled by the Republicans is reminiscent of early Nazi Germany; remember, Hitler warmed up on the homosexuals before he took off after the Jews. New regulations just went into effect yesterday robbing hundreds of thousands of Americans of their overtime pay, at a time when wages are plummeting. Do I have to go on?
Roosevelt defeated Hitler y"sh (while George W's grandfather was doing business with him, incidentally). That was "lifting a finger" enough for me.
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