Friday, October 01, 2004

My Vote

I'm going to make this short and simple.

I must say one thing, though. Call it a pre-emptive strike, if you will. I believe our government's top priority should be national security. You and I employ the government, and our safety is my first concern. Of course I care about other issues like job security and healthcare reform. But those things take a big step back when compared to national security. You and I happen to live quite peaceful lives, where violence happens on TV and in the news. However, no one would argue this top priority of the government if war was brought to their doorstep. You would want action. You would want protection. And I believe we are living in a time when people want to bring war to our doorsteps.

Because of this, my vote in the 2004 presidential election is being cast based on who I believe is best suited to lead the effort in protecting America. I believe that person is George Bush.

Bush has his previous 4 year record to stand behind. The evidence shows, thusfar, that he is taking the necessary measures to ensure our safety here at home. The current conflicts across the globe were not desired by Bush, but he was willing to take action when war was brought to us. As Senator John Kerry stated in last night's presidential debate, "every president from the beginning, uh, of time, has had a sufficient doctrine of preemption." I believe if an impending threat to our security is known, we are justified in pre-emptive action. George Bush has had the courage to take criticism when he knows he's taking correct, pre-emptive, action in the world.

I believe, as John Kerry stated, that the world is a safer place without Saddam Hussein as a leader. I think the war on a global effort of terrorism should not be focused solely on Afghanistan, as Kerry suggested, but should be just what is stated, a global effort.

The final nail in the coffin for me, and I hope for others, about our two candidates is this. George Bush has been taking action in this world against threats to our security. He has laid foundations for our sustained safety through taking an offensive approach to our enemies.. In this post 9-11 America we have to be on the offense, acting against impending threats before they strike. George Bush has taken, and will continue to take, the necessary action to ensure the safety of America.

If you watched the debates on Thursday you might have seen the following Kerry response.

Lehrer: "We'll come back to Iraq in a moment. But I want to come back to where I began, on homeland security. This is a two-minute new question, Senator Kerry. As President, what would you do, specifically, in addition to or differently to increase the homeland security of the United States than what President Bush is doing?"

Kerry replied with this: "Jim, let me tell you exactly what I'll do. And there are a long list of things. . . . ." After this, Kerry spent his two minutes talking about ways in which he felt George Bush has messed up homeland security. He never once made mention of anything he would do to, as the question asked, "increase homeland security." The only thing close to an actual response to the question were his last words, "Let me just quickly say, at the current pace, the president will not secure the loose material in the Soviet Union-the former Soviet Union for 13 years. I'm going to do it in four years. And we're going to keep it out of the hands of terrorists."

So that's it? That's all he could muster for a response when asked how he was planning on keeping you and me safe from another 9-11 in this country?! John Kerry has led a position of opposition during his entire race for the office. He has yet to give us any clear plans for action in the homeland security effort. He mentions his 4 point plan for Iraq from time to time, which includes the following:
-- Get more help from other nations.
-- Provide better training for Iraqi security forces.
-- Provide benefits to the Iraqi people.
-- Ensure that democratic elections can be held next year as promised.

But these are all efforts that are currently part of the Bush plan for Iraq!



As I previously mentioned, national security is my top priority in this election. George Bush has laid out his plan for keeping America safe, and it's working. John Kerry has pointed his finger at Bush and made critiques, but offered no solutions of his own. My vote goes to George Bush.

posted by The Jockey @ 9:58 AM   |