At the risk of making people angry I will speak my mind about Friday's debate. I would much rather make people think. I do not know a great deal about politics but I feel I have a good handle on common sense. While I tend to lean in Bush's direction, I feel that there is altogether too much name calling between the parties and it seems to just get worse with each election. I don't know about the rest of you out there with critically thinking minds, but I tend to not listen to the message from either side when the mudslinging gets too intense; it sounds to me more like childish bickering. The party candidates would do well to take their demeanor into consideration and not depart from acting like civilized gentlemen.
I do support John Kerry on the issue of allowing Americans to get healthcare from Canada, and he did raise a valuable point about the use and abuse of the Patriot Act. I believe the Patriot Act is valuable but the civil rights of American citizens must not be infringed upon for any reason whatever. We have only to look at history's mistakes as a caveat: when law enforcement agencies begin to be able to search private property without justifiable suspicion of illegal activity, then we begin to take on the nature of Hitler's Gestapo which this country fought so hard during WWII to make sure would never become a reality in the free world again. So we should be very careful with this act, or the next thing you know, people will begin to be arrested on simple suspicion of terrorism, without concrete proof.
We could also learn from history on another level, as concerns our involvement in Iraq. Kerry was quick to lambaste Bush for what he feels was a precipitous rush into war but consider this: If you know anything about history you know that we did not enter WWI until 1917 even though the war began in 1914. Woodrow Wilson felt it was in our best interests to remain neutral as long as possible, since he and many Americans felt it was a European conflict. We pursued an isolationist position until the sinking of the Lusitania in 1917 drew us into the war. 24 years later we were again drawn into a war that F.D.R. had tried for two years to keep us out of, although we did supply munitions to Britain long before December 7, 1941. My point is that in both conflicts, we eventually became involved, not only because we were attacked, but because there was an international threat of evil that needed to be stopped. Whether you vote democrat or republican, I think you must admit that Saddam Hussein is an evil man. He brutally massacred defenseless Kurds in his own country. We may have been able to stay out of the war longer, and yes, possibly spared more American lives, but he would have continued on his killing spree.
Allowing him to pursue his acts of genocide would be no different than having allowed Hitler to continue killing Jews, whether or not Pearl Harbor had ever drawn us into the war. The issue is about doing what's morally right. Just think about it, Senator Kerry.