Greetings and salutations, web surfers.
Well, friends, enemies and total strangers, it's finally happened. John Kerry scores a point in my book. Of course, it's nothing compared to the points he's lost due to the DNC in Boston, but at least he's now on the right track.
For those of you unfamiliar with the problem here, the Democrats are showing their true colors next month by shutting down the city of Boston in order to hold their DNC in the Fleetcenter. All of the major highways through the city will be closed, because, let's face it, terrorists don't know the back roads. While the traffic issues seem to be the biggest problem in people's minds, I find myself thinking more of the little people. Specifically, the laborers who have already been told that they're getting a weeks vacation without pay. These are people who can't afford to take a week off. Why aren't the Democrats, who are supposed to be working for these people, doing anything about it? Because they want this convention to be "media-friendly". In fact, they have even started installing new wiring in the Fleetcenter, specifically to make it more "media-friendly".
Of course, we all know that this convention has no purpose whatsoever. We all know who is going to get the nomination. So why bother with televising it? Why not do it at the new convention center in Southie, where the wiring is already installed? Well, the Democrats were originally offered that space, and they turned down the flat-floored convention center in favor of the bowl-shaped Fleetcenter - once again, "media-friendly". So, of course, the only thing for Menino to do was to waste the tax-payers' dollars to bring the Fleetcenter up to par with his party's specifications.
Thankfully, I was not the only person who felt this was insane. Last Tuesday, the Boston police patrolmen's union and their supporters formed a picket line outside the Fleetcenter, protesting the use of funds on such events as the DNC and the US Conference of Mayors when they've been working for two years without a contract. No union laborers were going to cross the picket line, and, of course, hiring non-union workers to work on the DNC project would be a fatal mistake for the Democrats, so Menino was wise not to look too deep into it, especially with police marching around in front of the Fleetcenter, holding signs proclaiming 'Menino is no friend of unions!'
But I digress from my point. It has been said that, while overseas, Bush pleaded for support from the Vatican. The Boston Globe reported that 'President Bush... asked Vatican officials earlier this month to promote socially conservative values in the United States more aggresively.' Frankly, this further demonstrates Bush's fascination with a connection between Church and State, a bridge I believe should not be rebuilt. Hell, this separation is what our country was founded on; Freedom of religion, one of our principle liberties, is in jeopardy with this man in the office.
It is pretty clear that Bush is searching for votes from religious fanatics, recruiting voters the same way al Qaida recruits suicide bombers - He has learned something while in office. And why not? After all, with the numbers of people who went to see The Passion of the Christ, why not try to take a few votes here and there. It's not like John Kerry doesn't have some political tricks of his own to pull. But it is this separation of Church and State, this essential freedom of religion that we work so hard to keep alive, that must be preserved.
For this incident, Kerry gets a mark for his campaign's public outcry that "Bush's overt attempts to use houses of God as political organizations, and now lobbying the Vatican to play election politics, crosses the line... While people of faith are important to the foundation of America's value system, politicians should not exploit religious organizations for personal political gain; dimming reelection prospects are included."
We all know that, despite the condemnation, Kerry himself is guilty of this political use of religion. However, his process is somewhat more subtle - quoting scripture from pulpits, using Biblical quotes to attack Bush. In fact, the Kerry campaign's quote above is meant, not so much to denounce Bush on a personal level, but to steal his religious voters. To believe that Kerry is ever going to speak ill of Bush without having a political agenda is simple naivety. I mean, it doesn't exactly take a Harvard professor to find some flaw in Bush's administration. To take Bush's actions and so effectively turn his efforts in your favor deserves a pat on the back. And so, Kerry not only steals the voters, he also sends out his own line of propaganda that does not carry a message of making Church and State one. He is now one step closer to winning my vote. Good for him.
Until next time,
Goose
©2004 by Goose
