So This Is Why People Will Still Vote Republican...

Did you know that the number of people who believe that Saddam was tied to 9/11 has actually increased since 2004? According to a June 2007 Newsweek poll, 41% of Americans believe this myth. And this is up 5% from September 2004! Additionally, a 2006 poll found that 50% of Americans believe that Iraq had or has WMD, up from 36% in 2005.

Can this be real? Are people seriously falling for this? Of course they are. And this is what the Republican Party is counting on. They perpetuate and exaggerate the threats (or make them up when they don’t exist), and then they claim that they are the only ones who can save us. This twisted logic is dangerous. It’s dangerous to America and it’s dangerous to the world.

There are the people that support the GOP because:
1) They have more money than 99.9999999999% of the world;
2) They don’t have a soul; or
3) Both
However, most of the people that fall into the Republican trap are just products of an “independent reality” (seriously, that’s a real term). The current reality is that America has spent almost $500 billion, lost 4,000 lives and displaced millions in Iraq. In order to justify this, the broken record of the GOP uses lies and half-truths to brainwash the American people into accepting their independent reality.

The independent reality is that Saddam was behind 9/11 and he had WMD poised and ready to use against American soldiers. Well, I guess he did have the chemical weapons that Reagan sold him in the 1980s, but that fact is conveniently omitted. Instead, the war-mongering Bush administration continues to spew lies. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a scholar of presidential rhetoric at the University of Pennsylvania said, "it doesn't surprise me when presidents reconstruct reality to make their policies defensible." This president may even have convinced himself it's true, she said.

My favorite justification for Iraq is this: We will be instilling democracy in the region, and from Iraq, it will spread to other nations. This is absurd and far from the truth, and here’s why. Remember back in the Vietnam Armed Conflict (no war was declared) that America used the Domino Theory in order to justify our presence. In case you’ve forgotten, the theory goes that when one nation falls to Communism, the neighboring nations will soon fall, and so on and so on until everyone is a commie. You’ll also remember that this theory failed to pan out after Vietnam fell to the communists. Sure, Communism still exists, but it is not the threat that it once was. Fast-forward to today and we are applying the Domino Theory to Democracy in Iraq. Yet, if we are to learn from history, we will see that Democracy is no more likely to spread in the Middle East than Communism in Asia.

But, back in our reality, these policies are anything but defensible. They are abhorrent. And they are ruining America. At this point, we cannot do much besides impeach our current leaders. And vote. Vote in such overwhelming numbers that our next president has a true mandate to lead our country the way we want to be lead. We want change. We need a change. So, make your voice heard. Vote in the primary. Vote in the election. Take advantage of our democracy so that our leaders can’t take advantage of us!

Bring Back The Draft!

We should bring back the draft. After all, if people felt that they were personally impacted by government decisions, they might be moved to participate. If we truly cherish our democracy, we will protect it where it matters most: at home. Maybe we need the shock of the return of the draft in order to realize that we are thisclose to losing our democracy. This is not the time for America to be ambivalent about its government. Each individual needs to do all that they can to make their voice heard. The leadership is supposed to represent the people, not the other way around.

Americans don’t care really about their country. Sure, they might take an interest in the things that directly affect them such as El Niño, Hannah Montana concerts, Major League Baseball, etc. But, overall, the interest of the citizenry in its government continues its steady decline into the 21st century.

Many people compare the current political environment to the Vietnam Era, but it’s obvious that people today prefer to distance themselves from any real involvement with the direction of the country. In one day in 1969, almost 500,000 people gathered in Washington, DC to protest the war in Vietnam. That’s half a million people who took leave from their schools and jobs to send a message to leaders. Protests today fall on deaf ears, both within the leadership and the citizenship. An ANSWER coalition protest permit in September 2007 estimated that 10,000 people would attend. At the time of the ANSWER coalition protest, polls showed that 70% of Americans did not approve of the handling of Iraq. It’s hard to believe that only 10,000 people care enough to actually do something about it.

Election trends are even more disheartening. In the 1968 Presidential election 60.6% of the eligible population cast a vote. In the equally volatile 2004 Presidential election, 55.3% of the entitled population made the trek to the polling booths. Interim elections (which have always suffered from poor participation) have also shown a steady decline. In 1970 the direction of the Vietnam War was on the line and 46.6% of American voters participated. However, in 2006, with the Iraq war in the spotlight, 36.8% of voters cast a vote. This is down from 2002 when 37.0% of people voted. You may not think this is a significant shift, but think about how much more media the media is involved in today’s election cycles, and how many more media outlets exist. It wouldn’t be outrageous to say that more people know about today’s elections and choose not to participate.

How can America be the world’s beacon of democracy when the American people don’t care about their own democracy? How can America fight wars in the name of democracy when America doesn’t even participate in her own democracy? I don’t understand how people can say they care about an issue or an idea, but then trust that other people will somehow take care of it. So many people have fought and died for my right to vote that I can’t fathom throwing that freedom away.

In addition to protesting the general principles of the Vietnam War, the draft was a contentious issue that fueled protests and riots. At the heart of the issue was the fact that people were being pressed to serve in a war in which they had no say. See, the draft age was 18, but the voting age was 21. The war and the draft affected almost every American in a very personal way. It spurred people to work together for change. Although it took time, on July 1, 1971 the 26th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. While this wasn’t the end to the draft (that would come in 1973), it did prove that leaders listen when the people collect their voices.

So, what can we do to pump life into the flagging American Democracy? With support for the Iraq war at perpetual lows and the American military stretched thin, there seems to be two options: dramatically reduce American military participation in Iraq or re-instate the draft. The former is favored by a majority of the country and the latter is equally opposed, but we can’t continue burning the candle at both ends. Something has to give. Up to this point, there has been grumbling and mild dissention with the occasional protest, but we choose to ignore the fact that we aren’t doing enough to send a strong message to the leadership.



I don’t actually support the return of the draft, but I do believe that people won’t participate unless the feel personally obligated. At this point, it’s going to take something outrageous to get America’s attention. Our relationship with our government is not self-sustaining, and just like any relationship, we need to work to keep it progressing. Don’t let the people in Washington, DC get away with ignoring the desires of the people…Get involved!