Election 2004: Americans Pulling Together

[AAFO_WSagar]

I'm sure, by now, most of us living in the United States are just about "up to here" with all the election results and speculation.

The process we go through every four years can be a dreadfully painfull one and this year, it certainly seems to be yet another of those decisively divided years.

If you believe in polls, we are, as a nation, split just about down the middle for whom we want to see lead us through the next four years.

With that said, I'd like to post this message as an appeal to all of us, on either side of the fence this year.

This time, perhaps more so than any other time in our history, no matter who wins, we've got to pull together and support whoever wins with all our collective might!

I don't want this to be a Bush v Kerry debate thread, rather a reminder to all of us. When all is said and done, we're ALL American's and no matter who is in the white house, once they are there, they deserve our support 100% until the next year and a half prelude to our every four year decision process.

Nobody can tell how this one is going to turn out, and no matter how it does turn out, we're sure as hell in a difficult spot right now, rather, our fellow countrymen and women who are on the firing line around the world are in a difficult spot!!!

If the evil forces that plague this earth sense a weak moment in us, via our reaction to who wins today, we are going to put those men and women, as well as those of us here at home, in great peril!

We can all only pray that whomever "loses" today, can bow out gracefully and throw in their complete support into winning this struggle in Iraq. No lawsuits, infighting, accusations of corruption. It's got to come out clean and quick no matter WHO wins the election!

Giving freedom to the people of Iraq who, apparantly, are also victims to the evil forces intruding into their country is a great "gift" from the American people.

A gift that, unfortunately, is being paid for with the lives of our very best of the best people.

If what we're being told is true, the people of Iraq, the one's we don't hear much about or from, truly deserve this chance at self government and freedom. I pray that someday we can all look back at this ugly time and call Iraq an ally as we *sometimes* can truly call other nations that have been our enemy at times...

Bottom line of my really too long, showing that I have too much time on my hands and that I can type really fast, message is..

SUPPORT OUR PRESIDENT AND OUR TROOPS!!!

Whomever they may be!

Thanks for "listening"!

Wayne

[racefan]

Re: Election 2004: Americans Pulling Together

Well said GO USA - get out and VOTE

[Apteryx]

Re: Election 2004: Americans Pulling Together

SUPPORT OUR PRESIDENT AND OUR TROOPS!!!
Whomever they may be! Wayne

OK I voted. Like a good American I checked the "lesser-of-two-evils" box. but what I REALLY want, is a "none-of-the-above" box.
A shuffle the cards and deal another hand, these cards s*ck, box.
I want to be inspired by a president, not BS'd by one. I want to feel like JFK made me feel with the "WE WILL GO TO THE MOON..." speach, or the honesty after the BAY of Pigs diseaster, "there is no reason to assess blame, I'M the Commander In Chief of the armed forces, it is MY fault".
I'd like to have seen Slick Willy have said "Yeah I had an affair with Monica, and a few more, have you SEEN my wife". I would not have respected his choices, but I would have respected the honesty.
It would also be nice to see some 'body' to maintain continuity. We told the Iraqi's in the first Gulf War, to rise up against Sadam, "We're right behind you", then decide it's politically expedient to 'bail'. Leaving untold thousands of them killed.No wonder they don't like us. I'ts been the same from Vietnam to Palestine.
OK off my soap box.................................

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Election 2004: Americans Pulling Together

Well, America has a lot of differences, differences of race, religion, political opinion, you name it. It can cause divides like we've seen over the past few years and actually, we really see most every election year.. but, if you look at the half full glass of water, rather than the half empty...

These differences are what make us what we are!

Now, I think both men handled their respective wins and losses with grace and dignity. President Bush has promised to work hard to try to win the respect and loyalty of those who voted for his opponent.

He has a hell of a job ahead of him!

But it's not just up to him! We ALL need to reach out to each other and unite in our common goals. Fight terrorisim and end the terrible war against us by all who represent it! Win the war in Iraq by HELPING the Iraq people help themselves. And we do need to bring in the rest of the free world to help us do this! I personally think it's going to take a HUGE amount of manpower to lock down the boarders of Iraq and do the enormous amount of "police" work to track down and snuff out those who are doing this devils work there now.

We can't do it alone and I sincerely hope that President Bush will work with the rest of the world to pour in the resources that are going to be necessary to stop this plague there and now.

But again... we Americans can't do anything when we are fighting each other! But we sure as hell can when we band together and fight beside each other with a common goal.

One thing we all have to remember though, don't try to convince the guy next to you to think like you do, remember the differences are what make us what and who we are. Find the common ground that we all have and fight for that, not amongst ourselves but beside each other! Aim your fighting energy where it will do our country and the world the most good!

Climbing off the now really beat up soapbox...

Wayne

[hattend]

Re: Election 2004: Americans Pulling Together

Congratulations, President Bush.



Don Hatten
Rare Bear Fansponsor

[Apteryx]

Re: Election 2004: Americans Pulling Together

One more time on the soap box-
Well put Wayne.
Diversity IS our strengh. Tolerance is the key. Embrace YOUR, religion, traditions, language & culture, but bottom line, KNOW, WE, are in this TOGETHER. I was never that crazy about New Yorkers, (attitude), untill 911, that was a big awakining to alot of us. THAT'S OUR FAMILY! (Disfunctional as it sometimes, maybe).
Even "Native Americans" aren't native to this land, ALL our cultures had a long walk, swim or boat ride to get here. So let's put the journey behind us, and realize we are all, here, now, TOGETHER.

I worked boarding security for a while at SFO, that gave me an exposure, to a lot of different cultures. I couldn't help but laugh, when a Japanese man used a racial slur to discribe the ethnically "impure", Northern Japanese. He was astounded when I told him, probably, half the Americans couldn't tell HIM from Chinese, and it REALLY didn't matter. Not needing to clasify his rank & status (ethnically), was beyond his grasp.

Certainly that feeling , if you're not what I am, or believe what I believe, you are less then human, causes much of the grief this world faces, today. Plus a need for "payback", that can be traced to biblical times.

Whether the biblical interpretation, or the anthropolical "mutant" theory, we ALL have the same mother. Let's treat our relatives better.

(Morally sorry about this part), but a little better intel, a SEAL team and a 50 cal. Browning, takes care of the O'sammi problem, should've happened, a long time ago.

Enemies of this country & way of life, WANT us fractionalized, let's show them what, WE THE PEOPLE.....really means......................Paul

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Election 2004: Americans Pulling Together

Paul, the mistake we all make, whether it be on a small scale or large, is trying to convince the other person to think like we do.

I'm not totally sure how you go about making it an easy reality to just accept the differences but I'm living in a really good place to find out. BeerNazi and I both voted for different candidates for the white house and are pretty strong minded in our beliefs for why... we spent the weekend or a lot of the time during the weekend discussing why we each felt like we did about the other's candidate.. Neither of us harbored any fantasy that we'd change the other's mind and of course, since we love each other, neither of us were going to walk away from the person after the discussion..

I think I learned a lot. It's just that some people will always see different things different ways and in reality, that's good.

I think we forget all of this a lot of the time. The diversity that we have here simply has to be, at least somewhat responsible for our great success as a nation, yet, that very thing threatens to bring us down at times.

Our leaders, particularly the President, has the responsiblity to make us all forget those differences and get along. He can do that by appealing to us and embracing the differences of opinion, rather than by critisizing them.

I believe Pres. Bush has this in mind and will do his best to make it happen. It is really important that we all are able to support him. He's got to earn the trust of a lot of skeptics, as would Kerry, had he been elected. The polls showed, it was and is about 50/50 and there actually may be a few more that, were it not for the war, would have voted for change.

We can do it, we have the best system by a HUGE margin, we just have to play to our strengths and not to our weaknesses!!

God Bless America!!

Wayne

[Apteryx]

Re: Election 2004: Americans Pulling Together

Wayne-
I was actually watching "The American President" with Michael Douglas, while I wrote the last post. I love his speach at the end of a movie, on what American citizenship, means...
I was amusing myself listening to a street corner philosopher in San Francisco, once, giving a diatribe on how "f*ucked" America was. At the end, I pointed out that by criticizing the government in a lot of other countries, is a good way to get "disappeared", and to be DAMN glad he lived in THIS... "f*ucked-up country".
I DEEPLY offended a man I knew by thinking he was Isreali, dark curly hair, olive-brown complexion, brown eyes, large nasal bridge, (who knew), he ANGRILY informed me, he was Lebonese....I confused him by saying, other then to himself, nobody I knew, could care less, we judged him on character, not ancestry.
It amazes me, that as little as, variations of religious belief, in other countries, lead to life & death struggles. We have a lot we can teach the rest of the world, and our forefathers weren't looking for "sound bites" when they said "United we stand........".
A lot of the wacko/fractionalizing groups in this country, are simply ignorant, without really experiencing the world. Taken at CORE value, getting past the external differences, people-is-people, we're ALL very much alike. Tolerate and get over the parts that make us different, and embrace what we have in common. HERE its obvious.
As it's said FREEDOM is NOT FREE, and every trip into San Francisco I pass the (cemetaries) with thousands of reminders, of the cost that has been paid so far, to make this THE GREATEST COUNTRY ON EARTH.
A little icon can hardly do justice here, to express MY DEEPEST RESPECT, THANKS, AND A HEARTFELT GRATITUDE, TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE, AND ARE FIGHTING, FOR FREEDOM.
And may ALL our elected officials, NEVER forget the price that HAS, and IS being paid..........................................Paul

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Election 2004: Americans Pulling Together

Amen brother! Embracing the fact that we can all be different and still live together in peace is something some of us tend to forget at times..

Really, there is a reason for all of us and all of our opinions. Even the guy who was downing America! His freedom to do that, no matter how distasteful most of us would find it, is a big part of the entire picture.

Because of how this country got started, with people from all over the world coming here, we really do have it figured out better than most of the world. I like to look at the old pictures of earth taken from the moon, man, if we can't figure out how to live together when all we have is this little blue, white green and brown orb floating in space.. we're in big trouble!

I have a favorite little, sort of a joke, saying that I like to throw out....

"Give them all a Costco and we'll have world peace"

When you think of it, if everyone had the prosparity to own a Costco card and a car to drive down there, which I think we all could, then we would have world peace. It's just too much trouble to think about destroying your neighbor when you have all that you need already.

Simplistic? Sure but when you get down to it, all most of us are after is what we need to live and live well.. I think there is enough to go around if the world's leaders would just get their poop in a group and quit trying to horde all of it for themselves or quit worrying so much about what their neighbor has and or figuring out how they are going to wipe them out!

*Sigh*

I guess we have to start small though... wiping out anger, or as my good friend Mark Kallio (Cobra on the board) says... "don't let anyone rent space in your head" man, that saying goes a long way!

One of my major goals in life is to not get angry unless I have to in order to protect myself or my loved ones... It aint easy sometimes

But if we can't get along with the guy down the street or across the state or nation, I guess we can't expect the world to ever do it.

I think it's all a state of mind and we all have to work at it every day...

Man.... we's gettin pretty deep here buddy

Wayne

[Apteryx]

Re: Election 2004: Americans Pulling Together

Wayne-(I'm hearing creaking noises in the soapbox),
On of my favorite lines, paraphrasing Bill Murray in Stripes, is: "The one thing we ALL have in common, is our ancestors got kicked out of every decent country in the world...". (And we are all the better for it). You look at animal breeds that are to tightly breed, and they start getting a little wierd....
We're the mutts of the world, and damn proud of it.
The Costco idea is good, but was thinking of simply air conditioners. Every trouble place in the world is a "HOT" spot. I know I get cranky when I'm hot. You don't hear of the Swedish Liberation Front, or Finnish terrorists. The Lap's aren't blowing each other up.They've litterally got to "chill out".

We could also set up a couple of "HOOTERS", and show them there really ARE somethings worth dying for.....but that takes us down a different, path............................Paul