2008-9-23 06:13:00
Matt:
"J.J. claimed Bush wanted to bring democracy to the middle east but the evidence shows otherwise. The president elected by the Iraqi people (after the invasion) was replaced by another president by the American government because the elected president of Iraq refused to do as he was told by his 'American superiors.' This is common knowledge everywhere except America and is why few other countries believe us when we preach about democracy because we have been preventing Iraq from having democracy."
JJ:
As far as I know the only elected president of Iraq has been Jalal Talabani and the prime minister has been Maliki. If you know anything different than this please enlighten us with the details and actual names so we can check them out.
Any country which is never had a democracy or not had one for some time will need assistance. After World War Two we occupied Japan and had to assist them toward a democracy there. A lot of people thought it couldn't be done that it was impossible because the only leader that they seem to accept was their Emperor, who they saw as a God. If we just let Japan go on their own to create a democracy they would've just elected their Emperor and then the democracy would have failed. We had to forcibly remove the Emperor from power and not let him obtain power again even if the people wanted to elect him.
We had a similar problem with Germany. They had just endured one of the worst dictatorships in history and during our occupation there were many insurgents trying to prevent that be a democracy from being established. It took a lot of work and trial and error and also some mistakes to guide these two great nations toward a healthy democracy which they enjoy today.
Even so in Iraq today the path to democracy will not be easy because the mindset of many of the people is even more authoritarian than Germany and Japan was. This is because their strong religious beliefs would surpass that of the citizens of Japan and Germany during the war. It is extremely difficult to take a zealous religious people that respect and fear strong authority and guide them toward a democracy. When the mindsets of the people in the Middle East are taken into consideration then it becomes clear that "Bush & Co." have made an amazing accomplishment there. The project is not complete there will probably be more mistakes, but if, in the end, a democracy is established, then other Middle Eastern countries will then want to be like them. This has the possibility of creating a domino effect. If this happens history will record this as a great accomplishment and the glory will be given to Bush.
I see no evidence at all that Bush wants to create any other government except a democracy in Iraq. He stated this clearly a number of times before the war in Iraq, during the war and during the occupation. He has put a tremendous amount of energy and attention on creating a democracy there and the evidence reflects that when a stable one is established that we will withdraw and treat them just as we now treat Japan and Germany. To think otherwise ignores the evidence and merely shows a disdain for Bush.
Matt:
"Secondly, it is not Bush's Christianity liberals hate but his fake Christianity."
JJ:
This sounds like a mean-spirited remark to me -- to accuse a man who is obviously sincere about his faith -- to be practicing a fake Christianity. What is the basis for such an absurd accusation? I've studied this man and have found much evidence that he is a sincere of a Christian as any president that we have had. Visitors to the Oval Office tell stories of how he invites them into a private room and meals with him in prayer. Others have told stories about how he'll be reading the paper and see someone in need and send them a personal check out of his own account. He never tells the account of these things to the press but stories like this only surface by individuals. He also gives about 14% of his income to charity. During the 2000 election records show that Al Gore only gave about $200 to charity. He's not only willing to spend other peoples money to help those in need but sets an example by spending his own money.
It is also very Christian thing to do is seek to bring a democracy to a country like Iraq and any other nation of which were capable of assisting. The Brotherhood of Light supports freedom and Bush is one of the greatest supporters and endorsers the freedom of this country has seen. "By their fruits you shall know them" -- and so far he has brought an increase if freedom to Afghanistan and Iraq. Both countries have much more freedom today than they ever have in the past. But more important, they have hope for much greater freedom than they now have. If you have a prospect for greater freedom then you have hope and true hope is a very precious gift to have. Under the Taliban the people had no hope and under Saddam Hussein they likewise had little or no hope. Bush change this; and this is a delicious fruit.
I see no reason to accuse Bush of having a fake Christianity except for pure emotional illogical hatred toward the guy. I think we should leave it up to God to read the hearts of men.
Matt:
"Bush constantly uses God's name to justify his uncompassionate agendas and his own mistakes."
JJ:
And research shows that Bill Clinton invoked the name of God twice as much as Bush has. Do you also condemn Clinton? I think we should be glad to have the president brings up God once in a while and reminds the people of its source for all that we enjoy upon this earth. Democratic presidents have certainly done this. JFK [John F. Kennedy] invoked the name of God and FDR [Franklin D. Roosevelt] did quite often. And perhaps the Republican Lincoln did more than anyone and he wasn't even a member of a church.
Matt:
"He frequently said things like, 'I listened to the voice inside and God said this was a good idea.'"
JJ:
I don't know where you get this. I often hear people who hate Bush say this but I have never heard him say these words and I have listened to just about every speech he's ever made and never heard him say anything close to this -- certainly not to the public. I would be extremely surprised if you could find an actual quote and a reference to a statement like this. He does admit that he prays, but he never says "I prayed about this and God told me to do this." Why his emotional energies conjure up such distortions is amazing and history will not be kind to such prevaricators.
Matt:
"This is the sin known as 'Using the name of God for your own vanity.' Fake Christians think saying 'Damn it' and 'Jesus Christ' are swears because they misunderstand the true meaning that commandment. Bush appeared to many, including myself, to use the name of Christ to paint his alcoholism and cocaine habits as good things because 'Christ saved me.'"
JJ:
There you go including things that are totally untrue again. Are you doing this on purpose or just trying to distort things? Bush has never said he took cocaine. When he was asked about it he just told the reporter was none of his business. And because he didn't say yes or no all of his enemies just assumed that he had a big cocaine habit. After this question was asked an army of reporters did everything they could to find evidence among past friends to prove he took cocaine but none of them were successful. If he has ever taken cocaine he must've done it in private because no proof has been established that he did take it. I wouldn't be surprised if he took it several times but there's no evidence to believe he was in a big user of it.
Secondly, I have never seen him portray his drinking has been a good thing. And you accuse him of being an alcoholic and there no evidence of this is true. The only thing we know for sure is that his wife thought he drank too much. He has never said that he was an alcoholic and his wife never said he was an either that I know about. A person can drink too much in the eyes of a spouse and not be an alcoholic by any means.
I think Bush has set a great example of what the Christian influence can do by stopping drinking, leading a clean life and exercising regularly. He has a resting heart rate of about 45 beats a minute. How much more squeaky clean do you want the guy to be before you allow him to be called a Christian?
Matt:
"Did you notice when his head bobs a little during speeches? That's a symptom of decades of cocaine use!"
JJ:
No, I did not notice that. I think this is a silly accusation. With decades of cocaine abuse the press would've dug up enough evidence to bury the guy. I do not understand why so many people look at him in the worst possible light they can be conjured up. Why not give everybody the benefit of the doubt including Bush?
Matt:
"Look it up in the medical journals!"
JJ:
Maybe you should follow your own advice and read the medical journals rather than the hate Bush websites for I seriously doubt that you came to this conclusion through your own study of scientific materials.
Matt:
"I don't hate Bush."
JJ:
You had me fooled. You sound like you hate Bush. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it usually is a duck.
Matt:
"I pity him."
JJ:
If you pity him then why are you attacking him with accusations which are not proven to be true? I think we would call these lies in common vernacular.
Matt:
"He never questioned the ideals of the right-wing and therefore repeated their mistakes."
JJ:
That's not what the right-wing thinks. They think is way too liberal and is not following in their footsteps enough to even make that right-wing mistakes. The only three ways that Bush's is right wing is that he supports tax cuts, a strong on national security, and is religious. In every other way he's quite moderate.
Matt:
"Both the right and left are constantly repeating the mistakes of history because instead of admitting they are wrong they simply wave a flag and chant 'USA' and 'Jesus.' Both Thomas Jefferson and Jesus Christ would be very disappointed in all of us."
JJ:
I don't think we've ever had a president that sees a solution to our problems is waving a flag and chanting Jesus and USA. Most of our presidents have tackled our problems with the highest they know. Sometimes that's not good enough because they do not know enough. But it matters not whether he be a Democrat or Republican. A leader upon which so much is riding should be given the benefit of the doubt by the people under him. It's fine to openly disagree with policies and put forth our reasons why change should occur but to openly proclaim before the world that our president is a fake or evil or tyrant when the evidence doesn't support it is extremely mean-spirited.
As I'm finishing these comments I noticed that Larry Woods had a similar reaction to myself and posted his thoughts so excuse any duplication I may have here.
On another issue Larry K. posted some interesting thoughts on how the unions are using their political power. The thing that really bothers me about this is both Republicans and Democrats pay into the unions and then the unions take money from reluctant Republicans and spend it to get Democrats elected. If I was a Republican having my money taken from me by force and given to elect someone I do not want I would really feel shortchanged. I think unions shouldn't be allowed to support political candidates with commingled money. If people want to voluntarily donate to the unions for political purposes this would be fine, but as it is, Republicans have to donate for Democratic causes whether they want to or not. Unless the Republicans get a super majority this tradition is not likely to change.
Copyright © 2008 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved