A 'Stronger America'
Press Action
Monday, November 01, 2004
http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/stephens11012004/
By Eli Stephens
Quite a few of my neighbors have Kerry-Edwards lawn signs in front of their houses. Nothing wrong with that; I have nothing against anyone who supports Kerry. It’s Kerry I have a problem with, and his lawn sign sums it up in three words - “A Stronger America.”
And that is precisely what we Americans, and the world, do not need. A humbler America? A more compassionate America (not to be confused with “compassionate [sic] conservatism")? A more generous America? How about a weaker America? Weaker, that is, in a military sense, a country where we take the trillions that are spent on weapons of death and spend it instead on human needs, not only for ourselves but for people around the world?
For sure, what we do not need is a “stronger America.” Because it’s a “strong” America which got 3000 people killed on 9/11, and more than a thousand of its own soldiers killed since then, and it’s a “strong” America which has caused the deaths of thousands of Afghans and tens of thousands of Iraqis (not to mention the half million to a million Iraqis who were killed by the U.S./U.N. embargo, which was also part of a “strong” America throwing its weight around the world).
And not in a million years will I vote for a candidate who campaigns on the slogan of “a stronger America,” no matter who he or she is running against, and no matter what dire consequences for the Supreme Court are foretold by his supporters.
This article is reprinted with permission of Left I on the News
Eli Stephens is editor of Left I on the News.