By By Carol Perkins / guest columnist
Oct. 31, 2004
Tuesday's presidential election is one of the most important in America's history. Members of the electorate who don't care what kind of man they vote for as long as he is a Democrat need to think long and hard before casting their ballots. The future of our great nation is at stake.
Much has been made of President Bush's faith. In fact, Democrat presidential nominee John Kerry recently began touting his membership in the Catholic church. The difference is that President Bush is obviously sincere. Kerry's character is much like the camouflage clothing he recently donned for his highly publicized goose hunt.
On Sept. 11, 2001, when President Bush had been in office for about nine months, America was attacked by terrorists. The president did not consult pollsters to determine if his subsequent actions were going to be popular. He did what he believed was right. Consequently, Saddam Hussein is in the slammer and Afghanistan recently held the first elections in that country's history.
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, America declared war. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's fireside chats on radio were not followed by hours of critical analysis spewed from the mouths of a blatantly hostile news media, condemning our country's role in the war. Instead, realizing what was at stake, members of the media put their country first.
During the Clinton administration, among other incidents, the USS Cole and the World Trade Center were attacked. Some of our soldiers were killed and dragged through the streets of Somalia. Clinton, who cared more about his popularity rating than his country, did little. Kerry is fashioned from the same cloth.
Look in a history book. You'll find that the United States of America was not born out of inaction. Those who fought heart and soul to bring about independence did not succumb to the lily-livered doubters who sided with the British.
Regardless of what he is saying to win election, flip-flop-smooth-talking Kerry, in my opinion, has no intention of keeping our troops in Iraq and the Middle East. Then the terrorists will be free to do more evil deeds in our country and in those of our allies.
The United Nations, which already attempts to run roughshod over the U.S. will have a heyday with Kerry who apparently loves France and Germany, two countries that didn't support our efforts in Iraq because they were reportedly receiving kickbacks from Saddam in the UN's oil for food program.
For those of you who are on Social Security or about to be, President Bush is not contemplating anything that will jeopardize us. Today, there are fewer young workers to pay into the system which from the beginning, has never been the best retirement program.
Many elderly citizens, who have only Social Security to rely on, barely make ends meet. What the president is proposing is to allow young folks to invest some of their earnings into private plans so that when they reach retirement age, they will not be in the sad situation many senior citizens are in today.
If you blame President Bush for the U.S.-Mexican border problems, go back to your history book again. You'll find that during World War II, a Democrat president and a Democrat-controlled Congress permitted thousands of Mexicans to cross the border to help in food and war materials production. The reason U.S. companies continue to hire Mexicans illegal or not is because American men or women who could work these jobs think it is beneath their dignity to pick fruit or harvest vegetables. So, who is to blame?
As to bashing Bush for the loss of jobs to foreign countries, manufacturing jobs began evaporating long before. Let's face it, when U.S. manufacturers can move their operations overseas and pay workers less than union wages, what do you think they're going to do?
One also has to take into account that foreign automobile companies have plants in the U.S. We have to face facts we are now part of a global economy. This is not likely to change.
The recession actually began on Clinton's watch. President Bush's tax cuts have helped in getting the country back on its economic footing.
Also, if you believe that Kerry intends to stick it to the rich folks and big business, think again. He couldn't care less about the middle class. He has been married to not one, but two, rich ladies.
His current billionaire wife pays a reported 12.5 percent income tax rate on her hefty income. Middle class taxpayers making about $50,000 a year with no dependents or large deductions, cough up as much as 25 percent.
You might also take a good look at Teresa Heinz Kerry before casting your ballot. From some of the remarks she has made during the campaign, I personally liken her to a stick of dynamite just waiting for her fuse to be ignited. Do you want her as first lady? I certainly don't.
If your current intentions are to vote for Kerry, please reconsider. Vote for President Bush. Your vote is crucial to our nation and to the free world.
Carol Perkins is a Meridian resident.