> Kerry for President
> Full story:
>
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/
> 2002016659_kerryed27.html
>
>
>
>
> Four years ago, this page endorsed George W. Bush
for president. We
> cannot do so again — because of an ill-conceived war
and its
> aftermath, undisciplined spending, a shrinkage of
constitutional
rights
> and an intrusive social agenda.
>
> The Bush presidency is not what we had in mind. Our
endorsement of
John
> Kerry is not without reservations, but he is head
and shoulders above
> the incumbent.
>
> The first issue is the war. When the Bush
administration began
beating
> the drums for war on Iraq, this page said repeatedly
that he had not
> justified it. When war came, this page closed ranks,
wanting to
support
> our troops and give the president the benefit of the
doubt. The
troops
> deserved it. In hindsight, their commander in chief
did not.
>
> The first priority of a new president must be to end
the military
> occupation of Iraq. This will be no easy task, but
Kerry is more
likely
> to do it — and with some understanding of Middle
Eastern realities
> — than is Bush.
>
> The election of Kerry would sweep away
neoconservative war
> intellectuals who drive policy at the White House
and Pentagon. It
> would end the back-door draft of American reservists
and the use of
> American soldiers as imperial police. It would also
provide a chance
to
> repair America's overseas relationships, both with
governments and
> people, particularly in the world of Islam.
>
> A less-belligerent, more-intelligent foreign policy
should cause less
> anger to be directed at the United States. A
political change should
> allow Americans to examine the powers they have
given the federal
> government under the Patriot Act, and the powers the
president has
> claimed by executive order.
>
> This page had high hopes for President Bush
regarding taxing and
> spending. We endorsed his cut in income taxes,
expecting that it
would
> help business and discipline new public spending. In
the end, there
was
> no discipline in it. In control of the Senate, the
House and the
> presidency for the first time in half a century, the
Republicans have
> had a celebration of spending.
>
> Kerry has made many promises, and might spend as
much as Bush if
given
> a Congress under the control of Democrats. He is
more likely to get a
> divided government, which may be a good thing.
>
> Bush was also supposed to be the candidate who
understood business.
In
> some ways he has, but he has been too often the
candidate of big
> business only. He has sided with pharmaceutical
companies against
drug
> imports from Canada.
>
> In our own industry, the Bush appointees on the
Federal
Communications
> Commission have pushed to relax restrictions on how
many TV stations,
> radio stations and newspapers one company may own.
In an industry
that
> is the steward of the public's right to speak, this
is a threat to
> democracy itself — and Kerry has stood up against
it.
>
> Bush talked like the candidate of free trade, a
policy the Pacific
> Northwest relies upon. He turned protectionist on
steel and Canadian
> lumber. Admittedly, Kerry's campaign rhetoric is
even worse on trade.
> But for the previous 20 years, Kerry had a strong
record in support
of
> trade, and we have learned that the best guide to
what politicians do
> is what they have done in the past, not what they
say.
>
> On some matters, we always had to hold our noses to
endorse Bush. We
> noted four years ago that he was too willing to toss
aside wild
nature,
> and to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
We still
disagree.
> On clean air, forests and fish, we generally side
with Kerry.
>
> We also agree with Sen. Kerry that Social Security
should not offer
> private accounts.
>
> Four years ago, we stated our profound disagreement
with Bush on
> abortion, and then in one of his first acts as
president, he moved to
> reinstate a ban on federal money for organizations
that provide
> information about abortions overseas. We disagree
also with Bush's
ban
> on federal money for research using any new lines of
stem cells.
>
> There is in these positions a presidential blending
of politics and
> religion that is wrong for the government of a
diverse republic.
>
> Our largest doubt about Kerry is his idea that the
federal debt may
be
> stabilized, and dozens of new programs added, merely
by raising taxes
> on the top 2 percent of Americans. Class warfare is
a false promise,
> and we hope he forgets it.
>
> Certainly, the man now in office forgot some of the
things he said so
> fetchingly four years ago.
>
===== It is the simple thing that is difficult to do, being-for-oneself, whose ways must be won by fighting, whose excellence demands bravery.
Ernst Bloch, "Dialectic and Hope" http://profiles.yahoo.com/swillsqueal
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