My policy towards Bush voters and non voters right now.

[coloradodem2005]

If one voted for Bush or abstained from voting in this election, they had better not complain to me about what comes out of the next four years. I am not in a very forgiving mood. For the bush voters, I have done what I can to prevent this shit from going any further and you practically endorsed this. THis happened because you wanted this. To non-voters, you didn't care enough to vote. Why do you care so much now. So both of these types of people, I will say, Sit down, shut up, and if you have a problem with the way this country is going, don't come to me about it. Tough shit.

I will hopefully lighten up as time goes on, but not now.

[daydreamer]

1. That's exactly how I feel.

So sad.

[Cobalt Violet]

2. No, don't lighten up.

They voted for it. There are consequences for poor decisions.

[lebkuchen]

3. Let me be the first to tell you

that US army spouses justify the killing of 100,000 Iraqi women and children, as reported by the British Medical Journal's Landcet, by saying that Saddam would have killed them anyway.

I kid you not.

[Palacsinta]

6. That's true

My Bush supporting friend sent me a break-down of people who would have died if Saddam was still in power. So in her mind......we're SAVING lives. What luckie duckies!

[Pirate Smile]

8. Whose lives? Americans? Iraqis?

[lebkuchen]

10. Where did that breakdown come from?

The Washington Times? I'm interested in knowing the origin of such convoluted logic.

[Solly Mack]

15. I've heard the same rationale from

other military spouses.

I was too stunned by the stupidity of the comment to do anything but stare at them.

Hell, I'm still stunned.

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. Please don't blame the spouses.

They live in terror of getting the bad news, every day. They have to justify what's going on to mitigate that terror. It's a hell of a thing to live with.

[lebkuchen]

20. The military spouses want US forces in Iraq "until the job is done"

I want the troops home NOW.

Who supports the troops more? Me or their spouses?

The spouses are willing to accept Iraqi collateral deaths, even over 100,000 women and children dead, to "free" the Iraqi people of Saddam Hussein.

I want US troops out of Iraq NOW to protect the Iraqi people from further US bombing.

Who supports the Iraqis more? Me or US military spouses?

The military spouses are pumped full with propaganda. They may as well be high on heroin for all their opinion is worth these days.

[RaleighNCDUer]

21. Of course they are being propagandized.

I'm just saying that they are preparing themselves for the news that their spouse has been blown into pieces and will be coming home in a baggie. They have to support the war because to not do so is to admit that the hero's death was in vain, and that would be unbearable.

Not saying they're right, by a long shot. But it is an attitude I've seen all my life with military families. Once the hero is home, and they are dealing with day-to-day living, their feelings can morph into a more reality based pattern, particularly if there is no chance of reassignment back into combat.

They have my sympathy. Not my agreement.

[lebkuchen]

22. Is it healthy for US society to promote this fantasy?

The spouses get their prize either way: either a living military spouse who is a "hero," or a dead "hero."

They are in a win-win situation by definition of their own logic.

[Solly Mack]

23. I AM a military spouse and I'll call'em like I see'em.

Sorry.

[American Tragedy]

27. If the people who are directly affected do not speak out

this will never end. It will continue for decades to come, as long as the government can successfully exploit them.

I'm sorry, but I don't care about their defense mechanisms. There are people who have endured the same situation but still stood up for what is right. Don't you think that my grandparents loved my father just as much as these individuals love their spouses? Yet they didn't delude themselves into believing that Vietnam was the same as their war. They fought back, because they didn't want to see my father and other young men go to Vietnam and join the thousands who had already perished for no good reason.

There is no sense in allowing this cycle to continue just because you need to feel more heroic.

[lebkuchen]

18. I did respond

in a reasonable way, and had my work computer promptly impounded, shortly after I'd responded to our boss in a well-thought out rational letter.

Got it returned, though, after a couple of hours. No harm no foul, other than the fact that our boss is toast if planning to rise above current professional level.

Talk about the Peter Principle run amok...

[el_gato]

4. there is more than one type of "non-voter"

I know quite a few who feel that the election is nothing but a bread and circuses type of event staged for the masses. They tend to think the whole thing is a sham. Can't say I disagree with them much even though
I went ahead and voted out of the reasoning that it can't hurt. But I have little faith our votes mean much.

[oneold1-4u]

9. Vote or not to vote?

For many of the past elections, I didn't give a damn, most of the time not believing any candidate was a better choice. Didn't like the choice this last Nov. but felt like the US, with me for a few more years, was going into a hole. We haven't had a leader for years of the quality that might be able to lead us back to freedom and democracy. If we don't find that leader very quickly, we will all be trying to "dig up" just to exist.

[Pirate Smile]

5. I know. It is weird. Bush and Company revealed themselves so my

anger right now is at the people that voted for them.

Rats act like rats so who is surprised when they do so, but that people endorsed and encouraged it - that is unforgivable.

Sometimes, I remember the huge numbers that believed all the BS from Faux and this Administration but they don't get a pass for being dupes. The repercussions are too devastating.

I guess I shouldn't say I'm not angry at Bush. He just appeared on the TV and I'm too much of a lady to type what I yelled at the screen. (yeah, right)

I guess I didn't blame the fools that voted for him in 2000 as much because they could have bought into the "Compassionate Conservative" line, no one really knew how terrible he would really be (although we suspected) and more people voted against him than for him.

[AP]

7. Two entitities I blame before I blame those people: (1) Republican pols

who lie to them and (2) the media who lies to them. If I had to keep going, I'd then blame Democratic leadership for not doing a better job of reaching out to these people. In fact, I think the last person I'd blame before I blamed them would be myself for not being able to talk them into voting for Democrats.

I really can't blame people too much for making bad choices when there is practically nothing in society out there that gives them the information they need to make good decisions.

I'm impressed that there are as many people out there as there are who make good decisions given the constant barrage of lies and the media's refusal to tell people what they need to know.

In 2004, more than 50% of voters said some combination of jobs, health care and the economy were their primary concerns, yet 4% of the news stories this past summer and fall were about those things, and even then, Fox news (all the time) and the rest of the media some of the time, were just telling people the economy was getting better.

I remember hearing on NPR the commentary a reporter (and not an "expert" spinning the facts, but the reporter himself) say that the decrease in the pace of a decreasing economic indicator was a sign that the economy was getting better. Ie, the indicator said that the economy was getting worse, but because it got worse at a slower rate than the previous month, it meant the economy was getting better. So a negative number is actually a positive number. And black is white and night is day. Mind you the story wasn't even, "the economy is levelling off (with an explanation of the other evidence suggesting that we were finding the bottom). The conclusion was that the economy was actually improving, despite evidence to the contrary.

How do we expect people to make the right decisions when they get fed that bullshit? And if we're passing out blame, let's start with NPR and friends for spinning out BS like that, and let's crticize the politicians for whom they do those favors.

[American Tragedy]

24. That's no excuse

We figured it out. Do you really think that we are that enlightened? I don't.

We are exposed to the same rain of lies that they are, and we all have access to essentially the same media. It's not that fucking hard, actually.

[AP]

29. I wouldn't have figured it out on my own -- I owe what I know to people

who took the time to reach out to me.

I don't expect anyone else to figure it out unless someone reaches out to them.

[MessiahRp]

11. I look at them and see a military that is no longer overextended...

After all, 59 million people voted for war, they should be on the front lines of the war on terror from here on out. Strap a gun on them and drop their asses in the desert as far as I'm concerned.

Rp

[catmandu57]

12. It's the non voter I'm pissed at

The ones who could'nt bother because there's no difference and I'll take who I get. Well, fuck you people, you goddamn lazy indifferent apathic bastards, we'll soon see what we got.

[Mist]

14. Don't be so hard on the non-voters

Before you flame me, I VOTED! But I respect those who abstain from voting because they don't see a huge difference in the parties, or who think voting is useless. This past election has proven them correct. For some people (obviously I know a couple), refusing to vote is a principled decision.

[oldcoot]

17. No, the past election did not prove them right

There is a hell of a big difference between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to issues such as the environment, women's rights, and civil liberties. Unfortunately, these very important issues did not receive the attention they deserved this past election because of the so-called "War on Terror." Anyone who remotely cared about any of these issues would have done some research and would have voted for the Democrats in the last election.

[Mist]

19. Well, yes, there ARE differences between the parties

But the differences are slighter all the time. The Democratic party has become corporatized also. I vote Democratic because of those (slight) differences. I vote because I believe I have an obligation to do so. BUT, I do understand the cynicism of some non-voters.

[American Tragedy]

25. They are still significant

Just as one example: Do you think that Kerry would have embarked on this Social Security experiment, driving us further into debt?

If they don't like either major party, they can vote for a third party in order to express their discontent with both. But at least fucking vote. For God's sake, people literally fought and died for that right. Women in particular have only been able to vote for the past eighty years, after decades of struggle.

[Doremus]

13. And the clueless wonders have no idea what's coming

I haven't heard a lot of griping yet, but just wait. When inflation kicks in and starts eating us up alive and interest rates make it impossible to get a mortgage or buy a car, THEN we'll start hearing the cries of "Poor me"...

As soon as they start, I'm going to ask them who they voted for. If it was Kerry I'll sympathize and give whatever advice I can.

If they voted for the Fascist Four, I'm going to say "Whatsa matter? You WON, remember? Now live with your pisspoor choice. With a little luck, you'll lose your job, hit rock bottom and next time you'll actually THINK before you vote."

[shanti]

26. a (conscious) friend and i were just discussing this

she and i are politically aware and VOTE (kerry of course). she was relating a story about another friend of hers who is a fundamentalist christian who voted for *ush and the gropenator. i wanted to know what prompted her to vote for them as i know this person slightly and she'd always seemed sort of ok to me....but that's before i learned of her (non)politics.

well, my friend kept asking her pointed questions about *'s decisions, iraq, etc. and this woman just looked at her with a blank expression and had ABSOLUTELY no answer or soundbytes for every question. her husband is a foreigner, and i know that many foreigners are politically aware and dislike * with a passion. my friend asked her if they ever talked about politics together and she said NO! this woman knew NOTHING about the issues and....and she didn't WANT to know either!

people, this is what we are up against! the willful ignorance astounds me!!!! btw, at my workplace, i've only got 2 people that i can discuss politics with - that's it! the others only want to talk about reality shows and soaps.

arggggh!!!!:-(

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

28. I couldn't agree with you more. If I hear one person in the next

year or eighteen months begin to complain to me about losing their overtime, losing their job, not having adequate health care or complaining that their son or daughter got drafted and sent to Iraq/Iran or wherever, I have one question for them: Who did you vote for in November 2004. If they answer * or that they didn't vote, my answer will be this "I don't give a fuck".

If they voted for that sorry excuse for a human being or didn't even bother to vote at all, they get what they deserve.