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Bush doesn’t deserve four more years

Post Independent Editorial Board

They say you shouldn’t change horses in midstream. But when you’re getting in over your head, it’s time to rethink that dictum.The United States has been riding the presidency of George W. Bush into deeper and deeper water. He’s taking this country into a direction we don’t like, and we encourage voters to cast a vote for John Kerry in this election instead.This is indeed one of the most important elections the United States has ever had. We’re deeply concerned with Bush’s decisions and leadership over his first term, primarily regarding the war on Iraq.Bush took a deeply divided country to war, largely on the argument that weapons of mass destruction existed in Iraq. Many of those who supported going to war did so trusting in Bush’s claims about WMDs, and those claims turned out to be false. Many a president would have apologized for sending U.S. troops to their deaths under what turned out to be false pretenses. Bush is seeking re-election.Bush may have not been to blame for poor intelligence about WMDs, but he knew at the time that the intelligence wasn’t very strong, yet still made it his prime rationale for a war he was determined to wage regardless. The 9-11 attacks opened the door of opportunity, and he appeared to go through the motions of giving Saddam Hussein some final chances to comply with United Nations resolutions, and seeking U.N. support himself for ousting Saddam.An ill-founded war has led to more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers killed, many thousand Iraqis dead, and Iraq now a breeding ground for terrorists. We also have far fewer friends around the world, which only further threatens our national security. The United States today is held in much lower regard around much of the rest of the world, quite in contrast to our strong global standing as recently as the time of the 9-11 attacks.Bush has performed little better domestically. He campaigned as a compassionate conservative who would reach across partisan lines. Yet the man who took office despite losing the popular vote has acted as if he had an overwhelming mandate to steer the nation on a radically different course. He has rolled back environmental protections, triggered an unnecessary and divisive debate by proposing a constitutional ban on gay marriages, and returned us economically to a deficit condition through tax breaks imposed remarkably enough at a time of war, and tilted toward the wealthiest Americans who need them the least.We don’t need four more years of Bush’s headstrong ways. Kerry is accused of flip-flopping, but we’d rather have America led by someone who thinks through an issue too much rather than by someone who makes up his mind before seeking out enough facts.At this time of war, we also think the nation is better served by having a commander in chief who has fought in a war himself, and seen its grim consequences, than by one who served Stateside in his youth and now seems too eager to send today’s youth into battle.Kerry is far from a perfect candidate, and he leaves Americans uncertain as to exactly what they would get with him as president. But we know what to expect with four more years of Bush, and we don’t like it. We strongly encourage a vote for Kerry in this election where every vote most definitely counts.Kerry is far from a perfect candidate, and he leaves Americans uncertain as to exactly what they would get with him as president. But we know what to expect with four more years of Bush, and we don’t like it. We strongly encourage a vote for Kerry in this election where every vote most definitely counts.


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