Not Your Sweetie

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by C4Clark on 05/21/2004 08:38:55 AM EST

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I hope no one minds if I do this. TC asked me to post something she wrote last night while not being able to sleep. It is, I think, what you might call a "rant", and I'm not sure what the difference between this and actually blogging is (which she is not supposed to do, doctor's orders), but I see it as my fault for sitting at the computer in her room, and reading her what you are all writing here (edited with what I would like to think is my own good judgment.) So, here is what she wrote:
"NO COMPARISONS!
As you all know there are many things that just shock and appall me. Yeah, the Bushies are horrid. The war and the atrocities are horrendous. The economy is outrageous. Yadda, yadda, yadda. The beat just goes on with this band of thieves and gets worse every day.
Okay, that having been said, I want to tell you all that there is a new layer to my irritation lately, and it is one of COMPARISONS. They are driving me crazy -- a short drive, to be sure, but they get me there as efficiently as any of the abominations that are ticking away the days until this election.
[1] "JFK" v. "jfk". John Kerry is our nominee. The fact that he is not Wes has NOTHING TO DO with what I am about too say. As you all know I have met both JFK and jfk, and believe me whan I tell you that as great a guy as Kerry can be, he is NO GODDAM "JFK". Even with the nod to that being the lower case used for his initials, I find the COMPARISON offensive. And, to put a finer point on it, it can do Kerry, the Man -- and Kerry, the Nominee -- no good service by reminding people that we not only remember JFK with reverence but we see Kerry as "jfk" -- smaller, lower-case, "less than" the truly upper case JFK in every way. Wouldn't it be better to make NO COMPARISON AT ALL? Surely, JK is just as dignified a moniker, and it doesn't say "same initials as THE GREAT ONE, but I ain't him, and never will be." Just a thought. I know he invites that comparison, but I am feeling it is time for us to save him from himself. Plus, IT MAKES ME WINCE fercripessake! Time to knock it off, I tell you!
[2] The Bush Administration/Atrocities at Abu Ghraib. The Bush Administration is a disgusting group of individuals, no doubt about it. Not a complete soul in the bunch. And, the atrocities at Abu Ghraib were/are/always will be a horrific abomination of epic proportions, and one that should make Americans everywhere hang their heads in SHAME.
But, IT IS NOT THE SAME AS WHAT HAPPENED IN NAZI GERMANY. Not yet, anyway. We are ONE ELECTION AWAY FROM MAKING IT SO. To vote for GWB&Co. after we know all of this will be an affirmation for his rein of terror on the people of Iraq and the rest of the world. It never ceases to amaze and disgust me that there are actually still people willing to vote for him at all, to be honest. But there are, and we must not let them outnumber us, get the vote out more effectively than we are able, or LIE/CHEAT/STEAL enough to affect this election. We cannot allow this election to say to the rest of the world AMERICA AGREES AND AFFIRMS THE ATROCITIES OF ABU GHRAIB. The very soul of our great nation is at stake here.
Apart from that entirely is the fact that like the JFK/jfk thing, it invites COMPARISON in which the horror of Abu Ghraib is diminished by they atrocities of the Holocaust. Up against that abomination, it seems to some smaller and less important. We owe the victims of Abu Ghraib better than that. Why is there a need to COMPARE the two things? The fact that this administration INVADED A SOVEREIGN COUNTRY UNPROVOKED, then proceeded to set up a series of events that abused and humiliated the Iraqis -- and brought about the horrors of Abu Graib is so mind-numbingly abhorrent that it needs not be compared to anything else unspeakable. We should all hate and condemn it for what it was. And, the fact that this war was  PREDICATED ON A LIE by our government does not excuse us, or allow us to look away, OR DIMINISH WHAT HAPPENED THERE by COMPARING it to one of the worst atrocities ever perpetrated by one people on another people. Period. This should not become a case of THE HOLOCAUST v. a holocaust, or THE NAZIS v. the nazis. THIS IS AN ABOMINATION OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS -- pure and simple.
What we are seeing right now in Iraq -- as I said -- is happening predicated on a lie (okay, a LOT of lies) told to us by our government. It is the failings of this governement and its policies that led to Abu Ghraib. BUT IF WE ELECT THESE PEOPLE, knowing what we know as a nation, WE WILL AFFIRM WHAT HAS HAPPENED UP UNTIL NOW,  we will send a message to the rest of the world that THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AGREE WITH WHAT BUSH HAS DONE, and THEN and ONLY THEN will it be another HOLOCAUST, my friends. We will have lost our souls. We will have allowed our own degradation and humiliation in fron of the rest of the world to be complete. So, fight as hard as you can NOT TO ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN, and save the COMPARISON from having to be made.
[3] Edwards v. Clark for VP. There is no one on the face of this earth that thinks John Edwards would be the crappiest VP since Dan Quayle more than I do. Trust me. And there is no one who thinks the best VP in history would be our beloved General Clark more than I do. I'll arm-wrestle anyone, any time on this! But, as the days and weeks drag by waiting for freaking John Kerry to make his goddam selection, already -- I am beginning to find even the COMPARISON of The Prom King to The General an insult. THERE IS NO COMPARISON. To think of these two men being candidates for the same office is an affront to all that is decent and logical. Period. It needs to stop. These two men are not even from the same planet. The decision is for Kerry to make. I feel our time will be better used in praying (if you pray), meditating, visualizing -- whatever! -- that Kerry chooses correctly. And soon. Every day that goes by without Wes on his ticket officially, I think, is a day we are not fighting the fight we shoulf be fighting against the people we should be fighting. (It's late, I'm medicated, stay with me here...) But, when the Warthogs tell you that to support Clark is wrong, or when people like Ann Richards and James Carville push Edwards for the job, remember one irrefutable fact -- GENERAL CLARK IS THE FINEST, CLEAREST, MOST LOGICAL, STRONGEST, candidate for this job. If Kerry doesn't do the right thing about THIS, how will he ever do ANYTHING right? His choice will be a signal... to us, to the rest of the world.
Well, that's it for me.
Have a great day, and remember TO COMPARE IS TO INVITE COMPARISONS WE MAY NOT WANT TO HAVE MADE. Kerry will never be John Kennedy, Abu Ghraib (hopefully) will never be the attempted obliteration of an entire people (WE CANNOT ALLOW IT TO BE!), and John Edwards is not fit to be considered for the same office as Wesley Clark (never will be). Period.
A man can still be a good president without comparison to one of the greatest in history.
A horrific abomination will not be lessened by comparison to one of the worst in history.
A Prom King will only see more frivolous a choice next to a man like General Clark. Remember that. And, only Kerry can make that choice on our behalf.
Have a great weekend, and thanks for letting me have my say!
-- TC"