 Bush re-election would bring back military draft
If you are under 35, you need to realize what will happen if Bush gets elected next month—like the reinstatement of the military draft.
You are probably too young to realize that the draft amounts to more than a letter
telling you to do something. It means you have a choice—prison or military
service. Military service means killing whoever you are told to kill, regardless
of whether there is any reason or need to do so.
You should also realize that this will not be your father’s draft. It will
include women. It will not recognize “conscientious objectors.” There
will not be any deferments for going to college or being a parent.
The county draft boards all around this country have been quietly reinstated.
All it takes is a presidential declaration, and we will have a draft.
I suggest you had better remember to vote on November 2nd.
David K. Porter
Minneapolis
Twins baseball owner scams local taxpayers
Get ready folks. There's a scam in the works. Are you ready to pay $300, $400,
$500 or more per household or a tax on your food and drinks at the areas bars
and restaurants for a new stadium? Or Both? Pohlad spent a little more this
year for his team and if he can get his Twins into the World Series his chances
of getting a new stadium will be better than ever. If he gets one, the value
of his team will go up more than $600 million. What's a few million dollars
for lobbyists and a few million more for ball players when the rewards are so
great? Are you going to allow these multibillionaire parasites and their puppet
politicians to get away with this scheme that's been pulled off with phenomenal
success around the country? I hope and pray that you won't. Its not bad enough
that we have Judeo-Christian fascists in The White House sucking our life blood
with their capitalist pig oil war. Now, we have to put up with the local billionaire
bloodsuckers as well.
Don D Johnson
Minneapolis
Bush is high-tax, big-government socialist
When George Bush visited Minnesota, he claimed that John Kerry “wants
to expand government.” This is not only a false statement but also a rather
sick joke coming from Bush: during his administration, the size of the federal
government has expanded more than under any other recent president. Further,
the price tag associated with his programs, as laid out at the Republican Convention,
would cost well over $3 trillion over the next decade, much more than anything
proposed by Kerry, according to the Washington Post.
Anyone who values small government should certainly not vote for Bush.
Kathleen Diane Metzker
St. Louis Park
Thousands of Americans die in silent war
America is involved in two wars. All of us know about The War on Terrorism.
Technically, we’ve won the war in Iraq. Presently, we are losing the peace.
America’s Silent War has no RPGs, hellfire missiles, Black Hawk helicopters,
gunships, or M-16s. It is non-violent. Every year, a few hundred thousand Americans
die and hundreds of thousands more are injured or infected with illnesses. Millions
more suffer impoverishment and humiliation. Tens of thousands experience bankruptcy.
Neither the War on Terrorism nor the insurgencies in Iraq have wreaked as much
havoc on so many Americans. No explosions, no shock and awe, no sound effects—just
tens of millions of people grieving and suffering in silence.
The Silent War has been killing and injuring below the radar screens of good
Americans for decades. Of late, the enemy has overrun the positions of far more
Americans. The adversaries in the Silent War are Americans vs. unconscionable
healthcare costs and inconsistent quality and patient safety. Americans are
losing this war. As in any war, there are beneficiaries of the carnage. They
are healthcare corporations, their shareholders, and their executives.
The vast majority of Americans know that some politicians have been protecting
their healthcare industry campaign donors, obfuscating fundamental change, and
in effect, facilitating the sustenance of the Silent War. Americans have Election
Day; healthcare industry lobbyists/vested financial interests have access to
the elected all other days.
The Silent War will end when the majority of us decide to end it. Until then—November
2, 2004 or November 2008 or thereafter—the Silent War will take more Americans
down than any foreign enemy that we know of ever will.
Terry B. Brauer
CEO of HealthCare Initiatives, Inc.
Portland, OR
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