Monday, November 01, 2004

The Readers' Laser Cub Survey

Thanks to the seven of you who took part in Laser Cub's Readership Survey, bringing the total turnout to roughly 90 percent of all my readers!*

You've set a great example for the rest of America, readers. I hope our national turnout will be just as strong. Whether you're for Bush, Kerry, or someone else, I hope you'll vote tomorrow. Just as a matter of national pride, I'd like to see if this year we can elect someone who's victory isn't in doubt.

Finally, I wanted to answer those of you who've inquired about my own choice for president, and my reasons. So here we go:

My name's Laser Cub, and I'm a registered independent from Pennsylvania. I'm voting for Kerry because I think his personal courage, experience, and ability to think on his feet make him the best qualified candidate to repair the errors of George W. Bush.

Bush has offered some bold and novel ideas about leadership, but failed to carry them out. He said we could protect ourselves from terrorism by backing off from the war on terrorists in Afganistan and invading Iraq instead. But rather than following through on that interesting notion, he's chosen to undercut the war he chose to wage.

Ignoring veterans like John McCain who say we need more troops on the ground, Bush has followed the counsel of lifelong civilians like Karl Rove who warned him that the war would become a political liability if too many civilians were asked to make the sacrifice of carrying it out. As a result, a small group of men and women has been asked to serve and serve again once their service ended. They're doing the kind of thankless nation-building Bush said he wouldn't demand of our troops during the 2000 campaign.

Bush has also promised to reduce government spending, but hasn't vetoed a single piece of legislation. He's the first president in 100 years to be so tolerant of wasteful spending. This failure is compounded by his decision to throw money into the quicksand pit of Iraq and to simultaneously give the largest tax breaks to the Americans who need them the least.

Kerry has promised to retain the Bush tax increases for people making less than $200,000 -- people who will actually put the money back into the economy -- while rolling back tax cuts for the wealthy. As one of the few Democrats who pushed to collar the national debt even in the mid-1980s, Kerry can be trusted to reduce the Bush national debt.

While Bush has inherited his every opportuniy, never facing a real defeat because his father's friends have always been there to help him, Kerry has refused to settle into the good life. He's volunteered for thankless jobs, serving as a small-town district attorney and leading a panel on the heated issue of whether POWs remain in Vietnam. He's volunteered to risk his life for America, suffering repeated injuries in a country most men of his background never had to see.

Bush claims Kerry has only taken politically expedient stands. In fact, Kerry has been brave enough to take intelligent and nuanced positions that are sometimes at odds with those of the general public. He was one of the few senators who resisted the bipartisan-but-gay-bashing Defense of Marriage Act, and has had the courage to oppose the death penalty in almost all cases.

Kerry has offered one exception to that position: He favors the death penalty for terrorists. This sets him apart from President Bush, who has shown considerable mercy to Osama bin Laden, our country's most dangerous enemy. Bush's decision to re-route the war effort to Iraq pulled the most elite members of our military from bin Laden's trail.

Here's hoping President Kerry will bring our country back to the mission our alleged war president has failed so utterly to accomplish.

*If the reader from Israel who keeps popping up on my stats page had joined in the readership survey, we would have had 100 percent turnout. But maybe that person isn't a U.S. citizen. If you're reading, Israel person, write me sometime at lasercub@yahoo.com and let me know.

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