Introduction to 'Election 2004': The Polarization

A paraphrase of a Winston Churchill observation would opine that democracy is a terrible system of government but it is the best we have at this time. He no doubt would be confirmed in his opinion were he alive to witness election 2000 and now election 2004.

The polarization of the country is fierce. The poles are showing the candidates running neck in neck. Trying to sort out the claims and counter-claims is exhausting and mentally frustrating. Teasing out the particles of truth from the media-merry-go-round of spin would require a team of neutral researchers that I simply don't have. Bill O'Reilly claims he is spinfree.

Each candidate has views and personal traits that I can admire and views and traits that I abhor.

Bush

Pro: Seems genuine, very defined morality, proLife, stands up for what he believes in, attempting to bring freedom to Afghanistan, took the blame for things that had begun in the Clinton administration such as the bursting of the .com bubble, allow for the investing of work pay in a private Social Security account. Just make sure that the stock market has cleaned up its accounting practices so that no one invests this money in another Enron!

Con: Can be too strictly fundamentalist in his views, discounts the purity of Canadian drugs, could have handled the pacificcation phase of the Iraq War much better, should do more to stop the Arab militias who terrorize tribesmen in Sudan, help rework some of the entitlement programs for the blind by merging SSI with SSDI and By merging Medicaid with Medicare. A nation having a trillions-of-dollars economy should not make anyone live on $563.00 a month. Corporations should be penalized if they snick out of the country and set-up shop in a tax-haven. I suspect they pay much less taxes than they should under the guise that taxes are big for their stock holders. The environment needs work. There should be several wilderness corridors linking wilderness preserves. There was talk several years ago of linking Yellow Stone to another park, maybe Yosemiti or an area in the Yukon. The German model of recycling should be endorsed. There should be higher miles-per-gallon ratings for American cars and sports-u's, a study to transform AmTrack into a meg-lev train system possibly by privatization should be sponsored. Term limits in the Congress and even on the Supreme Court should be endorsed. Congressmen and women should throw in their retirement lot with the same Social Security everyone else gets, much more money needs to be allocated for the NCAM of the NIH to determine which alternative or complementary healing modalities are valid and Medicare should then be able to pay for them.

While this next item is not a direct con against President Bush, I decided to mention it as it has taken me a long time to come to terms with it. In 2001, when President Bush took office, there was media buzz about his wife and that fact that she was a librarian. I wrote to her in March of 2001, imploring her to broaden and expand her focus on advocacy of children's literacy to include advocacy for the disabled wishing to be librarians. Up to that time, I had found little assistance and mentoring for and by the blind for those blind people wishing to be librarians. See my articles in the ASCLA Interface Spring 2002. I received a response in June thanking me for my interest in children's literacy. No mention was made of anything to do with blind librarianship. But then most of my other emails and letters to many well-placed people went unanswered.

Kerry

Pro: Worked hard at Yale. Agonized over Vietnam. Believes in stem cell research, has 20 years of experience in the Senate, is Pro Choice, and believes in government assistance.

Con: Believes in partial birth abortions, supports strict gun control, helped overfund "The Big Dig," seems to be very slightly to flexible at times and can speak in a convoluted style that can purport to say something while actually not, chose a trial lawyer to run with him, and claims they will fix or cap medical claims litigation, seems to want the good feelings of Western European allies even when it might not be in America's best interest. I don't think I could be a Roman Catholic with some of the views he has knowing the Church was opposed to them.

Thanks for tuning in. I do not pretend to be a political pundit and may have actually gotten some of my information wrong. Please let me know if I have. I am just exercising my free speech option.

Best,
David Faucheux

Detail: Recently, I emailed Bill O'Reilly's web site with a receipt pending notice asking for information about the audio version of The O'Reilly Factor for Kids and received a notice that my email had been deleted without having been read. I did receive a one-month free trial offer for a premium membership on his web site, but no one could explain how after a month, I could disengage my credit card number from the billing system for despite a free membership, you had to enter your credit card number and not some trial ID number system. A shame as I wanted to see what premium membership would bring. He is the only radio talking head with the exception of Jim Bohannon, who seems to have disappeared off KPEL in Lafayette, that I listen to.

Text by David Faucheux