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Dateline 2002: "This is a memo that describes how we're going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq..."
 
 
 

 

A Poll to Entertain and Inform You;

A Poll to FAX to your Congress People and Share with Your Friends

By Lonna Gooden VanHorn  Feb. 20, 2005

 

 

Some time ago I was solicited to participate in a periodic national poll.  Because the poll they sent me to take yesterday was probably (in my opinion) the dumbest and most irrelevant poll they have sent me yet, I thought I would help them out by creating a new poll for them.  A survey of important questions.  Timely questions. Questions that actually mean something.  A survey that will inform its participants, even as they are supplying their answers.  Print it out and share it with your friends, send it to your e-list, and especially, fax it to your Congress people.

 

Below please find only some of the questions the pollsters might better have asked.  Circle the answer you choose. 

 

I could come up with hundreds more questions, no problem, if anyone would like to hire me to do so.

 

 

 1.        “Does knowing that a $200 an hour male prostitute and procurer of gay military escorts, using a fake name and questionable credentials was able to obtain and use a White House Press pass for two years to ask the president and his press secretary softball questions, make you feel better or worse about the “vetting” capabilities of our $100 billion a year intelligence agencies?”  Or, do you believe he was a deliberate plant by the White House – probably Karl Rove -- to help the president and his press secretary avoid having to answer tough questions?”

 

makes me feel better                  makes me feel worse               he was a deliberate plant by the White House 

2.         “Does knowing that the man who earned a reputation for shoring up death squads and supporting other human rights abuses and campaigns of terror in Hondurus from 1981 to 1985, and who coordinated covert aid to the Contras in Nicaragua, will soon oversee and coordinate all of our $100 billion intelligence agencies, make you feel more confident and secure or less confident and secure about the future of your own right as an American to be able to express a dissenting opinion without fear of reprisal?

            more secure              less secure

3.         “Does knowing that our new Attorney General believes it is okay for the American government to torture people, and to hold them for years without trial, including people who are almost certainly innocent of any crime other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time make you feel more proud or less proud to be an American?”

 

more proud                           less proud      

 

4.         “Do you believe most members of Congress voted for Bush’s tax cuts because they actually thought taking in less revenue would help pay the country’s bills, or do you believe they voted for the tax cuts because most of them are rich, and most of them would save close to $100,000 a year, just like the president will save close to $100,000 a year because of the tax cuts he has enacted?”

 

            They thought less money coming in would make it easier to pay the country’s bills.

 

            They couldn’t wait to get their hands on an extra hundred grand for themselves, and to heck with the needs of the people in this country.

 

5.         “Do you believe they are likely to make the tax cuts permanent  because?”

 

They really believe doing so will help cut the deficit.

 

They want to keep on personally saving 50  to 100 thousand dollars a year or more.

                       

6.         "Do you believe it would take a competent leader less than two years to find out who in his administration leaked the name of a CIA agent to the press if he really wanted to know who that person was or if he really wanted to punish that person?"

 

yes                               no                    not sure 

 

7.         “Does the fact that the president has not been able to get his inner circle to come clean about who released Valerie Plame’s identity to the press give you more or less faith in his competence?”

 

more faith          less faith      he knew all along   have never seen any indication he was competent in any capacity  other than raising funds from the people he calls “the haves and have mores,”  the people he calls his “base.”

 

8.         "Were you (a) aware that Richard Clarke's Jan. 25th, 2001, thirteen page urgent memo to Condaleeza Rice saying they needed to have a meeting about “Al Qida” and the danger of terrorists and terrorism, and making suggestions about actions to take to prevent terrorist acts was declassified nearly five months ago, but the administration chose not to release that documentation of the administration’s negligence until after the election?” 

Do you (b) believe that memo should have been released before Rice’s confirmation hearings for her new position as Secretary of State?”

 

            (a)    yes                   no                    not sure

 

            (b)  yes, should have been released before the hearings      no, would have made no difference       not sure

 

9.         "Do you believe that withholding that memo until after the election was ethical, moral, and honest?"        

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

10.         "The administration sat on a report that the FAA had received at least 52 warnings leading up to 9/11 that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda were up to something.  Do you think they sat on that report because it proved warnings, including warnings of airplanes being flown into buildings, had been ignored by the FAA and the White House, and that ignoring such warnings made them look negligent and/or stupid, and that because such incomprehensible negligence on so many fronts at the same time was unlikely, some people might even have come to suspect one or more of them was involved to some degree in the attacks?  Do you think (a) that they did not release the report before the election because they were afraid people might vote for Kerry if they were made aware of the overwhelming evidence that Bush and his administration had received so many warnings that something was up, and yet took no actions to prevent a terrorist attack?  And (b) Do you believe that Clinton or Gore would have been impeached long since if such negligence had taken place under either one of them?

 

 (a) yes                 no                 not sure           

 

 (b) yes             no        not only impeached, but also drawn and quartered

 

11.       "Do you believe to not release that report until after the election was ethical, moral, and honest?"    

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

12.       “Were you aware that even the CIA now says the world is more dangerous, and terrorism has expanded and exploded and is now a much bigger problem than it was before the invasion of Iraq?”

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

13.       “Were you aware that the president ran for re-election bragging about the fact that he had increased spending for the VA, all the while knowing he already planned cuts in spending for that department as soon as the election was over?  Ditto for programs concerning education, women's and children's health, the Environmental Protection Agency, etc.?"     

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

14.       "Do you believe doing such was ethical, moral, and honest?"     

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

15.       “Do you think you would have known these things if they had happened under Clinton?”

 

            yes                   no                    not sure                        would have heard about them every day, all day long

 

16.       "Did you know that in Germany, Hitler was touted as "the acme of German honor and purity;  the Resurrector of the German family and home," and that he believed “Providence” wanted him to lead Germany and to establish a new social order for Europe?”

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

17.       "Does knowing Hitler, was the “family values” leader who believed he was destined by God to rule Germany just as Bush believed God wanted him to be president, and knowing that  many of the German people believed Hitler was almost a Messiah and exhibited many “Christian qualities” make you more or less likely to believe that the fact that Bush says he is the "values" president and that he believes God wants him to be president, means anything at all other than the possibly, he is either delusional or, like Hitler, paranoid and a megalomaniac?"               

 

more likely to believe Bush’s saying he is a Christian has some bearing on the value of his presidency                  

 

less likely to believe Bush’s saying he is a Christian has any bearing on the value of his presidency

 

has no effect on my opinion of Bush and his Christianity

 

18.     “Do you believe a person who is consistently unethical, deceitful and dishonest is very often a good Christian?"

 

yes                               no                                not sure

 

19.       “Do you believe that greed, love of money and power, materialism, manipulating people through fear, eagerness to go to war, and unwillingness to sacrifice are often markers of a good Christian?”

 

            yes                               no                                not sure

 

20.       “Would you, like John Kerry, be willing to    “sacrifice” some of your tax cut to provide a soldier with needed body armor, or would you be like the president and think that only the soldiers and their families need to sacrifice, while you keep your tax cut, add the cost of that armor to the deficit, and make the NEXT generation pay for every soldier’s body armor and all the other costs of the war?”

 

Sacrifice                       Be like the president and Congress and keep my tax cut.

 

21.       “Would you “sacrifice” some of your tax cut to help provide veterans, 500,000 of whom were homeless at least part of 2004 with shelter, or would you be like the president and Congress and keep your tax cut?”

 

Sacrifice                      Be like the president and Congress and keep my tax cut.

 

22.       “Would you “sacrifice” some of your tax cut so that all people could have medical care, or would you be like the president and keep all of your tax cut?”

 

Sacrifice                      Be like the president and Congress and keep my tax cut.

 

23.            “Knowing that many of our presidents have had affairs – Jefferson and Cleveland to name only two, had illegitimate children -- what do you think is worse;  lying about an affair or lying us into a war that cost hundreds of billions of dollars and will be responsible for the deaths and maimings of hundreds of thousands of people including thousands of our own soldiers?

 

            Lying about an affair                           Lying us into war

 

24.       "Were you aware the rest of the world overwhelmingly wanted Kerry elected, and the majority believe Americans must be really stupid and/or ignorant to have elected a man with such a poor record in every area?"     

 

aware               not aware        not sure

 

25.       "Were you aware America has become the most hated nation in the world because of the policies of George W. Bush?"     

 

aware               not aware        not sure

 

26.       “Did it make you more proud to be an American when we were the most loved country in the world or are you more proud to be an American now that we are the most hated country in the world?”

           

more proud to be most loved nation

           

more proud to be most hated nation

 

27.       "Did you know that NONE of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqis?"     

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

28.       "Did you know that the Saudis – Saudi Arabia has a horrible human rights record and is where 15 of the 19 hijackers came from (none were Iraqis) have close ties with the Bush family and have given the Bush family and Cheney a minimum of 1.47 billion dollars over the years?"

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

29.       "Did you know the Bush/Bin Laden families had business connections, and it is easier to find significant ties between Bin Laden and Bush than between Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein?"    

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

30.       "Do you believe the 28 pages of the Congressional report on 9/11 that were blacked out were blacked out because they concerned possible Saudi funding of terrorism, and that such funding by people with close ties to the Bush's would be embarrassing for the president, or do you believe they were blacked out because keeping what was in them secret was important to our national security?”

 

            important to our national security

           

            would be embarrassing to the president

 

31.       "Did you know Republican President Eisenhower -- Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in WWII said ‘he did not believe there is such a thing as a preventive war, and he would not seriously listen to anyone who talked to him about it?’ 

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

32.       "Would knowing that such an important military figure did not believe in fighting “preventive wars” have made you more or less likely to believe war and combat dodger Bush, when he said we need to fight preventive wars?"

 

more likely                less likely                     not sure

 

 

33.       “Did you know that a Lt. Colonel and lifelong conservative who worked in the Pentagon in the run up to war said they took ‘bits and pieces of information to make it say things they knew were not true’ in their effort to try to make a case for war, and that she took early retirement rather than to be a part of such dishonesty?”

 

            yes                               no                                not sure

 

34.       “Do you think you should have known that was the case before you were asked to decide whether sending our sons and daughters to kill and die, and committing hundreds of billions of dollars that might have been better spent somewhere else than on killing people in Iraq?”

 

            yes                               no                                not sure

 

35.       "Do you believe it was okay for President Bush to tell Saudi Prince Bandar about our plan to attack Iraq before he told our own Secretary of State Colin Powell?"

 

yes                               no                                not sure

 

36.       "Did you know that besides Dick Cheney, President Bush's father, uncle, and other members of his family have profited, are profiting, or will profit in the future from the Iraq War?" 

 

yes                               no                                 not sure

 

37.       “Did you know that President Eisenhower warned about that very thing – that the interests of the military industrial complex would come to determine policy, such as the decision to go to war—in his farewell address?”

 

yes                               no                                not sure

 

38.       "Would knowing these things have made you more or less likely to vote for Bush?"

 

more likely                            less likely                              not sure     would have had no effect on my vote    

 

39.       "More or less likely to support going to war?"

 

more likely                            less likely                             not sure     would have had no effect on my support    

 

never supported the war in the first place

 

40.       "Would you be "okay" with your child or grandchild being drafted to fight in a war in Iraq, Iran or against other enemies elsewhere even though they had not attacked the U.S.?”

 

yes                               no                                  not sure

 

41.       “Would knowing that retired  Colonel Hackworth and Walter Cronkite both believe the Pentagon is lying when they say they are not considering reinstating the draft – Cronkite said it was “one of many lies of this administration” make you

 

more likely to believe their will be a draft

 

more likely to believe the president when he says there will not be a draft

 

or

 

do you believe because of the miserable economy many of our young people will be so desperately poor their only chance for medical care, housing, and enough food to eat will be in joining the military or committing a crime so they can receive those benefits in prison

 

42.       Do you believe that if our president and our Congress vote for us to go to war, at least one of each of their children or grandchildren should be made to join the military in a position that would guarantee they see combat?

 

            Yes                              no                                not sure

 

43.       Do you believe at least one of the Bush twins should be made to join the military in a position that would guarantee she see combat”

 

            Yes                              no                                not sure

 

44.       Chelsea Clinton?

 

             Yes                              no                                not sure

 

45.       “Do you believe at least one of the children or grandchildren of each of the CEO’s and board members of all of the corporations who receive defense contracts from the U. S. government should be made to serve in combat?”

 

            yes                               no                                not sure

46.       “Do you agree with this statement written by WWII veteran, and writer Kurt Vonnegut that “ We are all addicts of fossil fuels…And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we’re hooked on.”

Agree                                       disagree

47.       “Would you rather we would have spent money developing alternative energy sources and increasing fuel efficiency for our vehicles rather than spending that money killing people who had done nothing to us, and killing our own soldiers in the process, or would you rather we killed people so Halliburton (Cheney)    Bechtel (George Schultz) the Carlyle Group (Bush, Sr. Baker, Majors) Chevron (Condi Rice) could ensure their old companies continue to amass record profits?

            I would rather we developed alternative energy sources

            I would rather we killed people so our MIC could profit

48.       “Do you believe, since we were deliberately lied to so outrageously about the cost of the new prescription drug benefit for seniors – an official was threatened with being fired if he told the truth about it -- that Congress should spend time crafting ways to make pharmaceutical companies compete to provide drugs at a better price, or do you believe as Bush does, that his pharmaceutical campaign contributors should be able to charge Medicare whatever they want in order to pay them back for contributing so generously to his election campaign, and so that they have more money to contribute to Republican candidates in the future?

            They should have to negotiate

            They should charge whatever they want.  The more the better.

49.            “Were you aware that (a) whenever bad news came out about the White House, the terror alert went to orange?”  (b) Do you believe the threat was real, or do you believe it was raised to distract the people?

          

             (a) yes             no          not sure           

           

             (b) threat was real          raised to distract the people               not sure

 

 

50.     “Were you aware that Hitler believed the way to maintain the support of the people was by keeping them afraid?”  That he believed “terror” and “fear” were the most useful tools to keep their support?  Did you know he said people preferred  a leader who was “resolute” –  rather than one who thought too much and weighed options?”

           

            yes                   no                    not sure

 

51.       "Did you know that under Eisenhower the richest among us were taxed at 90% of our incomes, and corporations were taxed at 52%, and that was when America was considered to be most well off as a nation?"

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

52.       "Would knowing that have made you more or less likely to favor tax cuts aimed mainly at the wealthy?"

 

more likely                            less likely                            not sure

 

53.       "Did you know that because of the tax cuts our government is taking in less money than it has taken in since the 50's?"

 

yes                    no                    not sure

 

54.       "Do you believe the American government with 260 million people can function on the same amount of money that America 50 years ago with 160 million people or fewer and NOT involved in a war could function on?" 

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

55.       "Did you know that -- CBS documents notwithstanding -- Bush was unquestionably AWOL -- absent for 30 days --from the Texas Air National Guard?" 

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

56.       "Do you believe (a) that if we had not borrowed from Social Security so many times to make each years deficit look better than it actually was – last year, for instance, we borrowed about $160 billion from Social Security so the debt, without the cost of the war would look like it was only $420 billion rather than the $580 billion it actually is even without the cost of the wars figured in – that Social Security would be in no trouble whatsoever?     Or (b) in spite of the fact that Bush has done nothing to help the average guy, and has demonstrably rarely told the truth about anything he is telling the truth for once about this one thing, and that borrowing 2 or 3 trillion more dollars would actually make the situation better?”

   

    (a) would have been in no trouble             would still be in trouble

 

    (b) Bush is telling the truth about SS             not telling the truth            wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him in the ass 

 

 

57.       "Did you know that 20% of those surveyed in the Fish and Wildlife Agency said they had been told to alter their reports to make the administration look better?"

 

yes                   no                    not sure

            

58.       “Did you know that such fabrications and manipulations of fact are common by this White House?’

           

            yes                   no                    not sure

 

59.       “Did you know that an unprecedented number of diplomats, military leaders, people in the intelligence community, scientists, and environmentalists in the Unites States and around the world came out against the election of President Bush prior to the election?”

 

            yes                   no                    not sure

 

60.       “Do you wonder why you did not hear much about that in the press?”

           

            yes                   no                    not sure

 

61.       “Did you know that Robert Redford said President Bush has advocated the most destructive environmental policies he had seen in his life time?”

 

            yes                   no                    not sure.

 

62.       “If you answered “No to the previous question, do you wonder why you did not hear more discussion about this on talk radio and television?”

 

            yes                   no                    not sure

 

63.       “Do you know who Rush Limbaugh is?”

           

            yes                   no                    not sure

 

64.       “Do you know who Noam Chomsky is?”

           

            yes                   no                    not sure

 

65.       “How about Amy Goodman?”

           

            yes                   no                    not sure

           

66.       “Jim Hightower?”

 

            yes                   no                    not sure

 

67.       “If you know who Rush Limbaugh is, but don’t know who any or most of the other three are, do you still believe we have a “liberal” bias in the media?

 

            yes                   no                      not sure.

 

68.       “Were you aware that from his words and actions, many psychologists have diagnosed (without personally examining him) President Bush as being mentally ill?”

 

            yes                   no                    not sure

 

69.       “Do you think this is an important thing for people to know, and that it should have been discussed in the media before the election?”

 

            yes                   no                    not sure

 

70.       "Were you aware that last Christmas for the first time in many years, most of the 800,0000 Christians in Iraq were too afraid of reprisals to celebrate Christmas?" 

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

71.       "Were you aware that women in Iraq are much more likely to have fewer rights under the government just elected than they did under Saddam Hussein?"

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

72.       "Did you know studies prove most Bush supporters are ill informed."      

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

73.       "Who attacked the U.S. on 9/11?    

 

Saddam Hussein?                 Osama Bin Laden?                   Other?             Not Sure

 

 

 

74.       "Do you believe anyone in or near the Bush administration knew about the attack before it happened?"     

 

yes                   no                     not sure

 

75.       "Do you believe BUSH knew the attack was going to happen?"     

 

 yes                 no                     not sure

 

76.       "Did Cheney know?"     

 

yes                   no                      not sure

 

77.       “Do you believe that the fact that CNN had to go to court to get Florida to turn over its list of names to be purged from the Florida voter rolls meant that Jeb Bush had something to hide about who he was trying to keep from voting?”

 

yes                   no                    not sure

 

78.       “Do you believe that the fact that the list had the names of 22,000 blacks (90% of whom vote for Democrats)  but only 61 Hispanics (Hispanics in Florida tend to vote Republican) has any significance?

 

79.       “Do you believe that the fact that in Ohio, Republican precincts were much more likely to have enough voting machines so that working voters did not have to stand in line many hours to vote as they did in Democratic precincts was:

 

            fair                   unfair

 

80.       “If you were old or disabled, would you have stood in line four or five hours or more to vote?”

 

            yes                   no                    not sure                        didn’t vote

 

81.       “Do you believe, like our corporate controlled administration and Congress, that corporations should have the rights of a person?”

 

            yes                   no                    not sure

 

82.       "If you voted for George Bush in 2004, does this survey make you feel better or worse that you voted for him?”

 

better                  worse

 

 

83.       “If you answered “better” to the previous question, would you support the president if you saw him commit an axe murder on tv?

 

Yes                 No                       Not sure

 

 84.      “If you answered “better” to question 82, do you believe only Democrats need to tell the truth, sacrifice or live moral lives, or do you believe many Republicans who are so self-righteous now, are hypocrites with skeletons in their closets?

 

            Only Democrats need to lead moral lives

 

            Many Republicans are hypocrites

85.       Do you  agree or disagree with the following statements:  (a)  made by a Marlow Cook, a former Judge and former Republican Senator from Kentucky who wrote before the election:

“I feel that when my party gives me a dangerous leader who flouts the truth, takes the country into an undeclared war and then adds a war on terrorism to it without debate by the Congress, we have a duty to rid ourselves of those who are taking our country on a perilous ride in the wrong direction.”

And (b) written by another Republican, and two time Congressional Medal of Honor winner Marine Major General Smedley D. Butler?”

“War is a racket, fought by the many to benefit the very few…Of course it isn’t put that crudely in wartime, but is dressed into speeches about patriotism and love of country…but the profits jump and leap and skyrocket and are safely pocketed,” by another Republican, and two time Congressional Medal of Honor winner Marine Major General Smedley D. Butler?”

(a) agree                disagree                 not sure  

(b) agree                disagree            not sure

86.       “If you answered  “agree” to question 85, Would you be in favor of a recall election?"

 

            Yes                 No                   Not sure

 

87.            “Impeachment of Bush, Cheney, and the entire cabinet?”

 

Yes                  No                   Not sure

 

88.            "Imprisonment of Bush, Cheney, and the entire cabinet?"

 

Yes                  No                   Not sure

 

89.    “Seizing all assets of the Bush family and Cheney and distributing them among the families of the soldiers who have died or been maimed in this war, and among the Iraqi people?"

 

Yes                  No                   Not sure

 

90.       “Are you (a) glad that Bush is president, because when the press is no longer able to hide the truth of the catastrophes he is responsible for, he will go down as the worst president in the history of the United States, and because Republican leaders we had formerly believed had some integrity (in my case Grassley in Iowa, and before I knew better, Domenici in New Mexico) have failed to stand against him, the nightmares his presidency has been and will be responsible for – trillions in debts, a possible economic collapse and, because of Bush's arrogance, loss of American prestige around the world and possible world wide wars – he will take the GOP – the party of good men like Eisenhower, down with him, and it will cease to be a political force, and you would like to see that happen?” 

 (b) btw, Did you know Eisenhower’s son, General John Eisenhower did not vote for Bush because he said he could not recognize the Republican Party under Bush?”

 

      glad Bush's evil and incompetence will take down the party owned by corporations

 

      wish the good Republicans would stand against Bush so that the GOP might be saved

 

    (b)  did not know          knew                could care less about John Eisenhower

 

91.       “Did you know that the address to sign a petition to impeach President Bush was

www.votetoimpeach.org ?     

 

Additional Note to the People Who Created the Survey I Took Yesterday:

 

In the category of "who would I not be willing to vote for as a presidential candidate, you listed, "gay, woman, Arab," etc.  You did not include several characteristics that are much more important than any characteristics you DID list.

 

 For instance, you did not ask:

 

"Is it important to you that your president be  "sane?"  "able to reason?" "honest?"  "wealthy?"  "poor?"  "middle class?"  indebted to monied interests?

 

Last year when I took your surveys, I could say our previous years income had been $60,000.  Now I have to say it is under $15,000.  It is actually well under $10,000.  The president and Congress don't give a damn about any of us who have become and remain unemployed because they are allowing corporations to ship all the good jobs overseas.  It would be fine with them if we worked two or three jobs.  Our first job could be at McDonald's and our second job at Walmart.   And we could be, as my husband and I are now, forever without health care.  Eventually, of course, we will not be able to buy any of their expensive products.  Like new cars.

 

The president just told a woman he thought it was great that she worked three jobs. 

 

Why did you not ask if we had become unemployed in the last year?

 

How would I know who the greatest male or female athlete of all time would be?  That is totally subjective.  And, why is that important? 

 

As far as what celebrity I would vote for --  I hope to God we do not get any more celebrities as candidates.  But, if we do, it would be good if they were intelligent and had a social conscience and were concerned about the environment. 

 

You did not list Robert Redford, who at least cares about the environment, as a choice. 

 

I have some Irish ancestry.  Perhaps, Saint Patrick is entitled to a holiday -- he has one -- but there are too many Federal holidays already.  Most workers do not get those days off with pay, so why should federal employees?  You did not list "too many federal holidays already" as a choice.

 

I have never watched a reality show.  Nor am I likely to.  I get most of my news and information from University Channels such as World Link, FSTV and UCSB tv.  Also off the internet from sources such as Truthout, Counterpunch, Salon, buzzflash, Bush Watch, opednews, Tom MaCahon,  Project for the Old American Century, Alter Net, Common Dreams. Jim Hightower’s weblog, the Daily Kos etc.  Which is the only reason I know anything.  I watch some C-span coverage.   I got to hear an hour of Walter Cronkite on UCSB.  And, I got to hear an hour of Ward Churchill actually getting to talk on FSTV, instead of simply being attacked, as he was on most mainstream programs that featured him.

 

Most of the news one gets on regular tv is news about Michael Jackson and people like Kobe Bryant.  And what real news one does get is in such short and thus sensationalized snippets, it is almost worse than no news at all.

 

And then there is the "sports" news, which is truly important to the well-being of our country!   Give me a break!!

 

Why do you ask questions about agricultural subsidies of anyone but farmers?  I am all for subsidies being eliminated to huge corporate farms and agri busines, and people like Sam Donaldson who make a living outside of their vacation farms, but I believe 160 or 320 acre farmers need them and should get them. 

 

I am heartily sick of corporate welfare, however.  And, I am SICK of welfare to the military industrial complex.  I am also sick of wars fought to "pay back" corporate campaign contributors or to ensure their economic well-being.

 

You always ask if I consider myself an "evangelical or born again Christian." 

 

Until George Bush became president, I considered myself a pretty spiritual person.  But with him as president, I sometimes find it difficult to believe God even exists!! 

 

If God does exist, than the only explanation for the travesty that is Bush’s presidency that that it is possible for me to believe is that it must be God’s way of punishing America for the evil we have committed in our history -- the millions of indigenous people we killed by systematically eliminating their food supply -- buffalo – and providing them with smallpox infected blankets to kill them off faster;  Pay back for the fact that we built our wealth from the sweat of those we brought over in chains and bought and sold, and those who came over as indentured servants.  And even more so, perhaps we are being punished for all of the millions of people our bombs have killed in the past 100 years, and the countries and people those bombings have impoverished. 

 

I think all of that probably bothers God more than our sexual sins. 

 

Why don't you ask if I believe Christ would think George Bush is following CHRIST'S example or doing God's will?  And btw, have you ever wondered WHY  if Bush and God are so tight, Bush been so wrong about so many things?

 

While I cannot judge if Bush is a "Christian" or not – only God can do that – as WWII bomber pilot and former presidential candidate George McGovern said (a REAL combat pilot, not the AWOL grounded from flying pilot in the Texas Air National Guard, Bush) “The President frequently confides to individuals and friendly audiences that he is guided by God's hand. But if God guided him into an invasion of Iraq, He sent a different message to the Pope, the Conference of Catholic Bishops, the mainline Protestant National Council of Churches and many distinguished rabbis--all of whom believe the invasion and bombardment of Iraq is against God's will,”

 

A man whose acts have proven his Christianity, Jimmy Carter, and most of the Christians and veterans I know do not believe a man who is driven by greed and a lust for power, a serial liar and a war-monger can possibly be following Christ's example or doing God's will.  And, neither do I. 

 

In fact, if what George Bush is doing is an example of being a Christian, than I feel I need to go shopping for a new religion!

 

Best,

 

Lonna Gooden VanHorn

 

Housewife, Mother of 6, Grandmother, (Dubya. will make cannon fodder out of my grandkids over my dead body for his wars fought for no reason but greed and corporate profit!), Patriot, and Poll Taker.

 

Other writings by Lonna can be accessed http://www.opednews.com/archivesgoodenVanHornLonna.htm and on other sites on the net.

 

 

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