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July 14, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels July 6, 2004 Kerry is worse choice than Bush for many reasons The question: Is John Kerry really an alternative to President Bush? Let's look at the facts. Kerry supported the invasion of Iraq; however, he opposed Bush's tactics and lack of international insight. Kerry supported the Patriot Act; however, he says, we can trust him to appoint a better attorney general - he would, in theory, execute the anti-civil liberties law "better" than Ashcroft. Kerry supported the invasion of Afghanistan; however, we learn now that the Taliban had pleaded with the Bush administration to allow them to capture bin Laden. This could have averted the war and the resulting 15,000 plus killed by our military action. The problem with Kerry is that he represents the same policies of the current President. America has the "right" to attack any "enemy" "whenever" and "without asking permission" from the international community. Bush is a hazard to the world, but Kerry is even worse. He offers himself as an internationalist alternative while moving so far to the empire-building right that he supports invading nations for any purpose. Real Alternative or Real Danger? Tony Robert Cochran Grants Pass Correct language aids insightful discussions Misuse and misapplication of terms blunts the satirical point of the letter (June 25) concerning the "Republican attack machine." Those who write books or make documentary films exposing the hypocrisy, the duplicity, the mendacity, the grievous errors, and the probable criminal behavior of Mr. Bush and his henchmen are not "disparaging" anybody. They are leveling serious charges based on their own experiences and on credible and steadily mounting corroborative evidence. This, by the way, is not "hate-mongering" but a sustained intellectual challenge that demands an informed, evidence-based response. "Liberals" who are aghast at this display of "lese majeste" should be countering the charges and claims so advanced with credible evidence that rebuts it all, a difficult task, granted, as this is the most secretive, spin-happy, and manipulative administration in American history. That there are no non-fiction books defending Mr. Bush may be of significance, but as Rummy says, "The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence." As for ad hominem attacks, these are acceptable if they are accurate and relevant. That is, if, on good grounds one may conclude that a president demonstrates little or no knowledge of the world and also plays fast and loose with the facts and deliberately and continuously lies, misleads, or misrepresents the facts to the American people, then calling him a lying ignoramus is both accurate and relevant. Simply calling Mr. Bush a rich, spoiled, frat-brat, recovering alcoholic who never accomplished anything on his own in his entire life would be an ad hominem attack - unless, of course, such attributes are both accurate and have relevance to his dismal performance as president. Gerald Cavanaugh Ashland World conflicts involve more than just Muslims This is in response to the letter of Ms. Folmar (June 29) who states, "Ninety to 95 percent of all conflicts on this planet today involve Muslims fighting non-Muslims or each other. Apparently they have serious problems getting along with their neighbors." This statement is astonishing both in terms of its historical ignorance and its vicious bigotry. Does she really believe that the mass executions of the Muslims by the Serbs in Bosnia was their fault? Did the thousands of Muslims slaughtered recently in Gujarat, India, deserve their fate? Ms. Folmar and the other defenders of oppresive rule of Israel over the Palestinians would do well to consider the comment of Israel film director, Keren Yedaya, who was awarded this year's Cannes Film Festival prize for best documentary for her film about a prostitute from Tel Aviv: "I want to dedicate this film from the bottom of my heart, to all the people who are not free, to all those living in slavery. I hope that with this prize we can construct a home for all women who want to get out of prostitution. It's very difficult for me to say that because I come from Israel, and we are responsible for the slavery of 3 million Palestinians. I love Israel; I love my country. But, please, there are many people in Israel who are fighting this occupation, help them, help the Palestinians." Greg Skoog Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams