Although I had basically given up on John Kerry after his appearance on The Daily Show, I decided to watch the debates just out of curiosity. And while I'm still leaning towards Michael Badnarik at this point, I have to say that I believe Kerry showed a side of himself that I haven't seen up until now. He seemed to me very clear, logical and direct. But perhaps I haven't seem him in this light because the "liberal media" has painted him as a flip-flopper and unclear (aka nuanced). After the debates, all the instant polling seemed to indicate that Kerry had won it handily. 70% in a poll at MSNBC and 80% at CNN but all the talking heads were saying how after people think on things awhile, that that number would probably change. This struck me as odd.
Now this morning on the way to work I tuned in to local right wing nut case Steve Gill just to see how things were being spun there, and the comments from the night before began to make perfect sense. Gill was telling his audience that a new poll was taken in France that showed that 90% of the people there would like to see John Kerry as the next president. The results of this poll, according to Mr. Gill, were "all you needed to know" when it came time to make your decision on who to vote for President of the United States. For whatever reason, it's cool to hate the French these days (though I haven't seen anyone go so far as to suggest we send that beautiful statue standing in New York harbor back to the French) and so I'm inclined to think that if Jesus Christ himself returned and was running against George W for president that all we need to know is that the French would prefer Jesus and therefore would be a very bad idea. It should be noted that the majority of people in another French poll considered themselves Christian and by Gill's logic must be a bad idea.
Gill later continued by suggesting that if elected president, Kerry would immediately release Saddam Hussein and that Kerry wants to see Saddam rape and pillage and torture the Iraqi people (sometime during this I burst out laughing). First, I can't believe the guy would say that with a straight face (I can't say with 100% certainty that his face was straight at the time as this was radio, but he certainly sounded convinced). And I don't know which is more sad, that he says this, or that quite possibly a great majority of his listeners believe that it's true.
So anyway, I now understand why in a few days, people will have another idea on what to think about the debates. Not because people have taken the time to digest the information contained within those debates and reach their own decisions. No, far too many people in this country are going to wait for the spinners and talking heads to tell them what to think because actually engaging your mind would be too much trouble.
This whole affair made me think of a quote by Adolf Hitler (you may have heard of him: head of Nazi Germany and very disliked by the French, by Steve Gill's logic, a great bunch of guys). Hitler had this to say about the thought that people put into their goverment:
"How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think." - Adolf Hitler
As to the fear mongering by personalities like Steve Gill and Michael Savage, not to mention Vice President Dick Cheney, another high level official in the Nazi party, Hermann Goering, had this to say on the subject of fear during the Nuremberg Trials
"Why of course the people don't want war ... But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship ... Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger." ~ Hermann Goering
Sound familiar? Come on people, engage your minds and cut through all the idiotic fear-mongering and name-calling. You don't need someone else to tell you want to think. Look closely at the facts and reach a decision yourself. Those poll numbers after the debate were convincingly in Kerry's favor because Kerry won the debate and people hadn't had the chance to be told otherwise.
I had hoped I never make an entry like this one on my site but sadly, I found out over the weekend that some close friends of the family, Kim and Angie Barbret back in Michigan, lost their son in Mark in Iraq last Thursday, October 14th. Mark was a Private in the Army's 2nd Infantry Division and was killed when the vehicle he was riding in hit a roadside bomb. We were all devastated to hear the news and our deepest condolences go out to Kim and Angie and the rest of the family. If you would be, please be so kind to take a moment to offer a word of condolence and gratitude for the sacrifice that Mark has made by visiting the Fallen Heroes Memorial.