h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My screenname (which says vote for Kerry) has been getting some attention and pulling some people to my page. They are wondering why I support Kerry, so here are most of the reasons. I've been discussing them with Gradient, so the list is pretty much ready to go:

Biggest reason, Kerry is concerned about the environment, he would be an eco-friendly President. (Bush has constantly undermined laws protecting our last wild habitats. Example, Bush is trying to change the Endangered Species Act to allow the importation of body parts of deceased endangered species into the US. If passed, this will dramatically increase poaching of endangered animals, and virtually assure they will be wiped out faster.)

Second biggest reason is that Kerry is in favor of stem cell research, whereas the current administration has a ban on it. Stem cells can be obtained through non controversial/ethical means, like from the nose, and from bone marrow. The research has the potential to make a huge difference in treating everything from spinal cord injuries, to cancer, to heart disease. Even Nancy Reagan, a staunch Republican, has pleaded with the Bush administration to lift their stem cell ban. If elected, Kerry will lift that ban.

Forty eight Nobel Prize winning scientists have issued a statement backing Kerry for those two reasons, and I think that is mighty impressive to have them as supporters. You can read their Open Letter to Americans at Kerry's website.

Kerry supports reproductive rights. While I doubt I would ever choose an abortion myself, I like to know it is a legal option for women. I know this is a big issue both ways for a lot of people. Bush's administration has denied financial aid to clinics that provide information on abortion, limiting their ability to also inform people about the dangers of AIDS, etc. The next President of the US is very likely to be able to make an appointment to the Supreme Court, and if that appointment is conservative, we will feel the ramifications of that for a long time.

Kerry was awarded medals for his bravery in Vietnam. I like to think that a person who has endured warfare fristhand will think long and hard before sending troops into war himself. Bush ticked me off royally by posturing in flight suits when he has no experience in actual combat. I think America is having to foot too much of the bill in Iraq, financially and in lives. I think other countries should have to pitch in to stabilize the country. Bush seems to want the US to go it alone. Kerry wants other countries and the UN to have a bigger role.

Kerry supports civil unions for gay couples. I attend a church with a lot of gay members, so this one hits home. Bush wants to amend the Constitution so that no gay unions are legal. I think that is akin to denying what the Constitution is all about.

Kerry changes his mind sometimes, but I see this more as a strength than a weakness. As humans we take in new information all the time, and need to re-evaluate our positions in light of that information. Bush is kinda a one trick pony - he never changes his mind about anything, and that scares me. Kerry is a bit of an unknown, and he can change his position sometimes. But Kerry will almost certainly remain in the moderate to liberal zone, whereas Bush had always been and will always be rabidly right wing.

People have said that Kerry, being Democrat, will "tax and spend". But the truth is that it is Bush, a Republican, who has created this massive deficit. We may have been in debt before he took office, but he has made it much worse. I feel if Kerry cuts those tax breaks to the very rich, well I'm in favor of it if we spend it on the right things - taking care of the disadvantaged, the elderly, the disabled.

Lastly, I will say that I just think Kerry is a decent guy. He supports the things I support. I get good vibes from him. I can't imagine his groping some intern and then lying about it! I am not usually a very politically active person. But I feel this presidential election is very important, the most important of my life so far. I know several friends and family who don't normally vote who are planning to vote this year. I think that is a great thing, everyone speaking up, and being heard. I hope the results are very clear cut, no futzing about with recounts this year. I will be very, very happy if Kerry wins.

I hope one of rumours I hear about Kerry comes true:
a female running mate.

I hope the US is ready for female touch.

Hi Pheloxi, Kerry is keeping his running mate a secret, even from his daughter. He has said that he will announce his choice first through an email to his supporters. Which I think is pretty cool. I would lover to have a female VP, but I really doubt that is going to happen this year. We will see.

I know....the Mondale syndrome...but we are in 21st century

Only reason I say that is because this is a particularly close and vicious political race, and both candidates need every "swing vote" they can get. There are a lot of biased people out there who would not vote for a woman, and this year that matters.

hopes that Bush looses too.....

thanks Pheloxi

I feel kind of shy about making sweeping political statements in a public place, but people have been asking me, why Kerry, so I thought I had better explain.

another good reason:
a replubican presidents seem more a puppets of few men.

Hi JEllen

I thought you put your points of view over very well,i am not very political,and dont follow USA politics,but I must say Kerry as impressed me too.what i have read about him is good so far.I have never trusted Bush,and do think if it had not been for Blair,Bush would have gone into Iraq sooner than he did.

Hey JEllen!

Some good stuff about John Kerry.

Mind if I play Devil's Advocate a bit and put up some counterpoints?
Note: Not Pro-Bush points because this seems like a good place to talk about Kerry's policy ideas and Anti-Bush threads are a dime a dozen. We all know what Bush is about.

So Kerry's "volunteer" scheme is meant to get Americans involved in their community.
He's talking about making community service a requirement for graduating high-school.
I have a 14 year old daughter who's looking at that idea and saying "But when will I have time for a life?".

Kerry is suggesting that the elderly should 'volunteer' for a few hours a week and earn up to $2K a year which they can defray the cost of their medical bills with, or give to a relative to help pay for their education.
My comment on this is: they've already spent their life working and you've promised to sort out social security. You're increasing taxes for that purpose...why do the elderly still need to defray the costs of medical insurance?

John Kerry is also the man who accepted a Purple Heart for something his Commanding Officer described as 'a scratch, nothing worse than a cat would give you'. He later threw medals - not his - onto the White House lawn. Kerry is one of those people who did nothing to prevent the excesses of officers and soldiers while in Vietnam and then revealed all when he was safely back in the USA. In other words, under American law, he was complicit in the acts because he chose not to prevent them. An Accessory, in fact.

Kerry believes in lessening America's committment abroad but he's still going to raise another Division for the Army. That's about 20,000 men.

Kerry's policy on American security is to allow other nations to share a greater part of the intelligence gathering task. He forgets that none of the Western Intelligence agencies have had great success in predicting behaviour. All of them were flat-footed by the fall of the Berlin Wall, none of them knew about 9/11 or had intelligence sources credible enough to issue a warning...and none of them seem to be able to find Osama.

Kerry thinks that military service is a good thing, so he is expanding the traditional route to college for poor folks - the Military. He's suggesting that the RoTC scholarships be accepted everywhere, and this means he's also inserting a military recruiting organisation into every school and every college and picking on the people who can least afford the education they need to escape the poverty trap.

OK folks - kick that lot around a bit. http://www.johnkerry.com has a lot more stuff on what JK has to say about everything and it's an interesting read. Go check it out!

Good list Ellen

I would like to add that many times when Kerry has changed his mind it is because of the abhorrent practice of tacking on unrelated items at great tax payer cost, to the end of a bill.

There are also last minute changes made and a responsible lawmaker should not vote if he has not read it. That is how the Patriot Act was passed - Unread

There were good reason for Kerry to vote no on the things he did.
You cannot go by the title of the bill OR compare the dates and economy with todays.

In the ads for Republicans against Kerry they are often setting examples of votes 8-10-20 years ago. Things have changed and the reasons and wisdom of voting differently on some items have too.
I wish Kerry would repeat those ads with a picture of Bush in the same year he was voting and gaining experience with what B was doing at that time. It would not be Politics or successful business.

I wish the Dems would just show the last Presidential debate where Bush was firmly answering a question about how he had no intention of doing any Nation building.

I will try to add a few reasons to vote for Kerry soon

I would rather have a President that is willing to protest his government in Washingon DC after his military service then run for office and be a statesman for decades
than -
One who says we are better, we are going to War and God is on our side so you are either with us or against us.

Russia and Jordan had info we did not listen to.
Osama and Hussein had made threats and promises, we knew that.

We thought we were immune.
That is a dangerous kind of bravado.

We thought we could play with the dirt and not get dirty.
We ignored our friends and made nice with our enemies.
I think we could use more help from our friends but we need to be a loyal friend.

Good points JEllen.

Gradient, re your points about Kerry; are they supposed to justify supporting Bush or is there some other alternative you would prefer.

Since you ask, Hellboundforjoy, any independant candidate or Hilary Clinton in 2008.

Never, ever, ever accept an alternative because it's the only one. Accpet it because it's better, because it's different...

Ifyou take on John Kerry as the next president you have to understand what that involves. It involves his history and his policies.

Some are good (tax reform) some aren't. At least be informed before you mark the box with a cross because if he wins and turns out to be an Al Gore or Howard Dean...we're stuck with him.

What's so bad about making an informed choice, Hellbound?

I had never heard the quote about Kerry getting "just a scratch" in combat. I will have to look that up. You know it is possible for a soldier to do something heroic and not be injured; you don't necessarily measure the heroism by how badly they got hurt. This is an area I need to read up on more, I would like to know exactly what happened to Kerry in Vietnam.

I don't think Kerry should be penalized for changing his mind and opposing the Vietnam war. A lot of people opposed it. Tossing medals around seems like a reasonable and mild protest - I mean he wasn't hurling molotov cocktails.

I don't like the idea that Kerry would push for more recruiting among college kids. That's one thing he and I disagree on. But when you stack it up against things like protecting the environment and promoting stem cell research, it seems like a minor point.

Let me be clear about one thing! This year, a vote for Ralph Nader or the Green candidate or a write in candidate IS A VOTE FOR BUSH. The Republicans KNOW this - they are trying there best to get Nader on the ballots. If you don't vote for Kerry cause he doesn't razzle dazzle you, you are voting for Bush and his abhorrent policies!

>>because if he wins and turns out to be an Al Gore or Howard Dean...we're stuck with him.<<

LOL, yeh, but see I voted for Gore last time, and I'm proud I did. I think he would have been a much better Prez than ole George, and if more folks had voted for him, we might not be in a disastrous jihad with the middle east.

But I agree people have to make an informed decision; that's one reason I'm being a squeaky wheel. I have to admit Gradient, your questions forced me to be specific about why I like Kerry.

So, Gradient, you are saying you would rather vote for any independent candidate right now or take 4 more years of Bush and vote for Hillary in '08? There's nothing wrong with making an informed choice. But I want to know where my information is coming from and what is behind it. I know the what JEllen posted is her opinion and In know who she supports. If you are going to play devils advocate I want to know what you are advocating.

What I'm advocating is the sort of intelligence and awareness that JEllen is displaying.

A lot of American politics is lazy.
People voted for Bush because they didn't bother to look carefully at him.
He was the Republican candidate, they were sick of Clinton, they voted and didn't know what they were getting into. But they didn't learn from this experience.

So go take a long, hard, and above all else critical look at http://www.johnkerry.com and check out his policies.

See what it is he stands for and ask yourself whether this is what you want for your country.

If it is...Great!

There's no reason that John Kerry and John Edwards shouldn't make a great team, but everyone needs to know what it is they stand for before they take office and it all comes as a nasty surprise.

If not, start asking yourself what you intend to do about it.

Kerry and the medals.

A purple heart is not awarded for bravery. It's awarded for getting hurt in combat.
It is expected that you will not accept the Purple Heart for inconsequential injuries, or that you will ask your CO to not process the paperwork for a scratch.
Kerry did not throw HIS medals at the white house lawn. He threw someone else's. You might ask yourself whether that gesture might have been more impactful if the medals had been his to throw.

So Kerry's wounds were shrapnel wounds; that may not be as serious as a bullet wound, but it is still a wound. I rather think it was up to the military awarding the medals to decide whether they were warrented. I'm less concerned with the technicality of how badly he was injured, and more concerned with the fact that he risked his life to help save one of his men.

I've checked out Kerry's website, and I agree, people should go there and read up on him! I agree with him on all the major issues. If I had my way, he would be a little less hawkish, but you can't have everything. Other issues - protecting the environment, stopping the constitutional ban against gay marriage, and stem cell research, I all agree big time.