Kerry to Iowa: Campaign 2008 Begins!

It was encouraging to read today that John Kerry was traveling to Davenport, Iowa to "thank supporters." He apparently won't say whether he shall be running in 2008 or not. I hope that he will be traveling to all of the fifty states to "thank supporters". And hopefully, Wisconsin is next! You see, I don't want him to thank me. I want to thank HIM for his effort and his work and his tireless campaigning on the behalf of all of us! O.K., maybe he could have hung in there harder with Ohio and wait until more of the votes were counted, but his patriotism, his love of America, led him to the correct decision, that his job had been done and that it was time for America to move on. There will be another election, and that's where 2008 comes in!

Contrast this with George W. Bush's latest trip to Canada. An interesting take on this is the story from the Niagara Falls Reporter about the President's recent trip to Canada. He was unable to address Parliament because he was afraid, and rightfully so, of being heckled! He lobbied for his Strategic Defense Initiative, missile-defense plans, and asked the Canadians to support his effort. Isn't this the same initiative that Bush was working on when Richard Clarke told this Administration about terrorism and was told to get lost because the Missile Defense Initiative was what this Administration was about?

The article goes on to say: The president said he hopes "to foster international consensus" to defend security. This was an unusual message from the "go it alone" Texas cowboy who lives by a "my way or the highway" foreign policy. Remember, just a few weeks ago, Bush and his minions were mocking John Kerry for saying much the same thing." So soon they forget!

This same piece quotes the Toronto Star Editorial: "Your message seems to be that you want allies to share in the dangers and costs of your policies while having no voice in them. The Middle East must be made to accept secular democracy even as you secure your presidency by embracing the religious right. You seek to enforce nuclear non-proliferation everywhere except in the U.S. where you are developing the next generation of nuclear weapons and exhorting a missile defense shield; actions that in the past provoked the arms race. The tragedy of 3,000 civilian deaths is reason enough to start a war, but the tragedy of 100,000 civilian deaths is not reason enough to stop."

I don't think this Administration has the Canadians fooled. And thousands of our Northern friends demonstrated against this President.

However, the neocons of this Administration just don't get it. Some of the better-known right-wing commentators had this to say: "Ann Coulter, a right-wing pundit and hate-monger, went on the Fox News Channel's "Hannity and Colmes" show and said Canadians "better hope the United States doesn't roll over one night and crush them. They are lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent." Another guest on the show, Newsday columnist Ellis Henican, noted that we share a lot of culture and interests with Canadians. He asked her, "Why do you want to ridicule them and be deeply offended if they disagree with us?" Coulter huffed, "Because they speak French." How's that for right-wing enlightenment?

Not to be outdone in barbaric behavior and intolerance, CNN's "Crossfire" co-host Tucker Carlson said, "Without the U.S., Canada is essentially Honduras, but colder and much less interesting." He added that, instead of following politics, "the average Canadian is busy dog sledding."" These comments are also from the Niagara Falls Reporter article.

So Senator Kerry, thank YOU for your efforts in 2004. We don't mind if you speak French. We don't mind if your wife has international sophistication and experience. We don't mind that you have a real understanding of world affairs and that you understand that "going it alone" isn't the American way.

So come and thank us in Wisconsin as well, because we want to rally again, to hold our signs, to shake your hand, and tell you that we want you to run again in 2008. America needs you more than we do.

Bob