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| 2004/10/11 [Politics/Domestic/Election, Politics/Domestic/California] UID:34030 Activity:low |
10/11 http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=44657 John Eisenhower (Ike's son) writes about why after 50 years as a Republican, he's voting for John Kerry. \_ and here's the non-broken version of the link: http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=44657&archive=1 [yes, very nice, censor the current topic and instead repost some old tom/ilyas flame fest. way to show tom isn't a censor and is a nice guy] |
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| www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=44657 Columns - October 11, 2004 John Eisenhower: Why I will vote for John Kerry for President By JOHN EISENHOWER Guest Commentary EDITORS NOTE: This commentary was originally published Sept. The outcome will det ermine whether this country will continue on the same path it has follow ed for the last 3 years or whether it will return to a set of core dome stic and foreign policy values that have been at the heart of what has m ade this country great. Now more than ever, we voters will have to make cool judgments, unencumbe red by habits of the past. Experts tell us that we tend to vote as our p arents did or as we always have. There are times when w e must break with the past, and I believe this is one of them. As son of a Republican President, Dwight D Eisenhower, it is automatical ly expected by many that I am a Republican. With the current administrations decision to inva de Iraq unilaterally, however, I changed my voter registration to indepe ndent, and barring some utterly unforeseen development, I intend to vote for the Democratic Presidential candidate, Sen. The fact is that todays Republican Party is one with which I am totally u nfamiliar. To me, the word Republican has always been synonymous with th e word responsibility, which has meant limiting our governmental obligat ions to those we can afford in human and financial terms. Todays whoppin g budget deficit of some $440 billion does not meet that criterion. America, though recognized as the leader of the communi ty of nations, has always acted as a part of it, not as a maverick separ ate from that community and at times insulting towards it. Leadership in volves setting a direction and building consensus, not viewing other cou ntries as practically devoid of significance. Recent developments indica te that the current Republican Party leadership has confused confident l eadership with hubris and arrogance. In the Middle East crisis of 1991, President George HW Bush marshaled w orld opinion through the United Nations before employing military force to free Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. Through negotiation he arranged for the action to be financed by all the industrialized nations, not just th e United States. When Kuwait had been freed, President George H W Bush stayed within the United Nations mandate, aware of the dangers of occup ying an entire nation. Today many people are rightly concerned about our precious individual fre edoms, our privacy, the basis of our democracy. Of course we must fight terrorism, but have we irresponsibly gone overboard in doing so? I wonde r In 1960, President Eisenhower told the Republican convention, If ever we put any other value above (our) liberty, and above principle, we sha ll lose both. I would appreciate hearing such warnings from the Republic an Party of today. The Republican Party I used to know placed heavy emphasis on fiscal respo nsibility, which included balancing the budget whenever the state of the economy allowed it to do so. The Eisenhower administration accomplished that difficult task three times during its eight years in office. It di d not attain that remarkable achievement by cutting taxes for the rich. Republicans disliked taxes, of course, but the party accepted them as a necessary means of keep the nations financial structure sound. The Republicans used to be deeply concerned for the middle class and smal l business. Todays Republican leadership, while not solely accountable f or the loss of American jobs, encourages it with its tax code and heads us in the direction of a society of very rich and very poor. Kerry, in whom I am willing to place my trust, has demonstrated that he is courageous, sober, competent, and concerned with fighting the dan gers associated with the widening socio-economic gap in this country. I celebrate, along with other Americans, the diversity of opinion in this country. I urge everyone, Repub licans and Democrats alike, to avoid voting for a ticket merely because it carries the label of the party of ones parents or of our own ingraine d habits. John Eisenhower, son of President Dwight D Eisenhower, served on the Whi te House staff between October 1958 and the end of the Eisenhower admini stration. From 1961 to 1964 he assisted his father in writing The White House Years, his Presidential memoirs. He served as American ambassador to Belgium between 1969 and 1971. He is the author of nine books, largel y on military subjects. |
| www.theunionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=44657&archive=1 Columns - October 11, 2004 John Eisenhower: Why I will vote for John Kerry for President By JOHN EISENHOWER Guest Commentary EDITORS NOTE: This commentary was originally published Sept. The outcome will det ermine whether this country will continue on the same path it has follow ed for the last 3 years or whether it will return to a set of core dome stic and foreign policy values that have been at the heart of what has m ade this country great. Now more than ever, we voters will have to make cool judgments, unencumbe red by habits of the past. Experts tell us that we tend to vote as our p arents did or as we always have. There are times when w e must break with the past, and I believe this is one of them. As son of a Republican President, Dwight D Eisenhower, it is automatical ly expected by many that I am a Republican. With the current administrations decision to inva de Iraq unilaterally, however, I changed my voter registration to indepe ndent, and barring some utterly unforeseen development, I intend to vote for the Democratic Presidential candidate, Sen. The fact is that todays Republican Party is one with which I am totally u nfamiliar. To me, the word Republican has always been synonymous with th e word responsibility, which has meant limiting our governmental obligat ions to those we can afford in human and financial terms. Todays whoppin g budget deficit of some $440 billion does not meet that criterion. America, though recognized as the leader of the communi ty of nations, has always acted as a part of it, not as a maverick separ ate from that community and at times insulting towards it. Leadership in volves setting a direction and building consensus, not viewing other cou ntries as practically devoid of significance. Recent developments indica te that the current Republican Party leadership has confused confident l eadership with hubris and arrogance. In the Middle East crisis of 1991, President George HW Bush marshaled w orld opinion through the United Nations before employing military force to free Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. Through negotiation he arranged for the action to be financed by all the industrialized nations, not just th e United States. When Kuwait had been freed, President George H W Bush stayed within the United Nations mandate, aware of the dangers of occup ying an entire nation. Today many people are rightly concerned about our precious individual fre edoms, our privacy, the basis of our democracy. Of course we must fight terrorism, but have we irresponsibly gone overboard in doing so? I wonde r In 1960, President Eisenhower told the Republican convention, If ever we put any other value above (our) liberty, and above principle, we sha ll lose both. I would appreciate hearing such warnings from the Republic an Party of today. The Republican Party I used to know placed heavy emphasis on fiscal respo nsibility, which included balancing the budget whenever the state of the economy allowed it to do so. The Eisenhower administration accomplished that difficult task three times during its eight years in office. It di d not attain that remarkable achievement by cutting taxes for the rich. Republicans disliked taxes, of course, but the party accepted them as a necessary means of keep the nations financial structure sound. The Republicans used to be deeply concerned for the middle class and smal l business. Todays Republican leadership, while not solely accountable f or the loss of American jobs, encourages it with its tax code and heads us in the direction of a society of very rich and very poor. Kerry, in whom I am willing to place my trust, has demonstrated that he is courageous, sober, competent, and concerned with fighting the dan gers associated with the widening socio-economic gap in this country. I celebrate, along with other Americans, the diversity of opinion in this country. I urge everyone, Repub licans and Democrats alike, to avoid voting for a ticket merely because it carries the label of the party of ones parents or of our own ingraine d habits. John Eisenhower, son of President Dwight D Eisenhower, served on the Whi te House staff between October 1958 and the end of the Eisenhower admini stration. From 1961 to 1964 he assisted his father in writing The White House Years, his Presidential memoirs. He served as American ambassador to Belgium between 1969 and 1971. He is the author of nine books, largel y on military subjects. The information on this site is copyrighted and cannot be reused without the permission of The Union Leader. |