What is Republicrat?

[Conscious Manipulation]

asalaamu alaykum,

 

I got this forwarded from a friend. It essentially outlines the mechanism of democracy: get two candidates that are virtually identical, and then tell everyone they are "free to choose".

 

One interesting fact if you can't read the whole article: "Commission on Presidential Debates is a jointly owned subsidiary of the Democratic and Republican parties" - that is they debate is managed by the 2 parties, and this is why independents (such as Nader) are not allowed on TV to discuss their ideas.

 

 

 

http://www.businessweek.com/print/bwdaily/dnflash/sep2004/nf2004101_6866_db009.htm?chan=db&sub=politics&

 

OCTOBER 1, 2004

 

A NOT-SO-NEUTRAL CORNER

By Ciro Scotti

 

 

Republicrat vs. Democan

Get past the bluster and bile, and the two products of privilege who each want to be the next President aren't all that different. How sad

Last night was Debate Night USA. Perhaps you tuned in. But what did America really see after months of endless campaigning, hundreds of millions of dollars lavished on attack ads, and enough cheap talk (as my mama used to say) to drive any sane citizen off the nearest bridge?

 

Answer: Two flawed candidates -- George Walker Bush and John Forbes Kerry -- both of the same generation and privileged class, but who differ largely in style. Two representatives of the major-party duopoly that controls the debates, the political process, and the country.

 

You don't agree? Let's look at the Tale of the Presidential Tape.

 

Bush is 58. Kerry is 61.

 

Both went to New England prep schools (Bush to Andover, from which both his father and Kerry's father graduated. Kerry to St. Paul's).

 

Both went to the same college (Yale).

 

Both joined the same secret society (Skull & Bones).

 

Both served in the military. Bush was an officer in the Air National Guard (a good way to avoid Vietnam combat). Kerry was an officer in the U.S. Navy (usually a safer alternative than the Army in those days).

 

Kerry saw combat and became an antiwar activist after his discharge. Bush never served overseas, disengaged from the Guard after being trained as a pilot, and worked on the political campaign of a Bush family friend.

 

Bush went to grad school (Harvard MBA). Kerry went to law school (Boston College).

 

Bush, bankrolled with family money, pursued a largely unsuccessful career as an independent oilman. Then, again through family connections, he became a part-owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team. Kerry became a prosecutor.

 

Both ran for Congress and were defeated. Bush was eventually elected governor of Texas, then President. Kerry was eventually elected Lt. Governor of Massachusetts, then U.S. senator.

 

Both married and had two daughters. Kerry later had his marriage annulled and remarried.

 

Bush was an Episcopalian, then a Presbyterian, and finally a Methodist (talk about flip-floppers). Kerry is a Roman Catholic. Bush wears his religion on his sleeve. Kerry is more circumspect about his beliefs.

 

Both are connected to political dynasties (Bush to the Bush Dynasty of his grandfather, Senator Prescott Bush, and his father, former President George H.W. Bush; Kerry to the Kennedy Dynasty, although his own ancestors include John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts, and a great-great-grandfather who was a U.S. senator).

 

Bush runs, bikes, and clears brush. Kerry skis, bikes, and windsurfs. Both hunt (at least for the cameras).

 

Both are multimillionaires.

 

Both are Washington insiders (Bush settled scores for his father from the White House; Kerry has been in the Senate for almost 20 years).

 

Both are the highly marketed and focus-group-targeted products of two competing political brands owned by Dems Inc. and GOP Inc. Corporate America has enormous equity stakes in both outfits.

 

Neither, despite all the spin, is a regular guy.

 

In fact, the only Presidential candidate with a national following who wasn't born with a silver microphone in his mouth is Ralph Nader. Of course, Nader wasn't allowed to participate in the debates, even though his candidacy in 2000 probably determined the outcome of the election.

 

That's because the Commission on Presidential Debates is a jointly owned subsidiary of the Democratic and Republican parties, and squabble as they may, the last thing they want is to share their lucrative business with some political startup. Why, fresh ideas might be injected into the debate, and who knows where that would lead?

[Reality Check]

So what.

 

They have different positions when it comes to issues.

 

And alot of former presidents fit that bill (give or take few of the criterias).

 

 

Gosh darn this election! Hope its over, and Kerry wins.

 

Yeah, Kerry is the lesser of the two evils.

[Baashi]

What the author is getting at is that America has ceased to be be a genuine grassroot democracy. Money, class, and access to the big media is what you need to win in any election. Not to mention as he pointed out that two-party democracy have rendered the system as a pie only edible by them.

 

One man one vote works well but the voter is being lied to and there is nowhere to go to get informed anymore as the big media that have reach to the critical mass is part of the deception.

 

Sad! Vote for Kerry. Why? Because if you work like I do then you have already felt the heat. My premium has increased 18% in the 2005 coverage year. Bush has already promised another tax cut for everybody. Now add the gigits up and you are looking another premium increase next year. Not only has my Health Care premium increased, I have to pay 10% of the services unless is a preventive care.

 

On the foreign policy, the two candidate are almost same. Therefore Kerry looks good in the domestic issues.

 

Vote whoever you prefer but make sure you vote if you are citizen.

[LANDER]

Both served in the military. Bush was an officer in the Air National Guard (a good way to avoid Vietnam combat). Kerry was an officer in the U.S. Navy (usually a safer alternative than the Army in those days).

I have to disagree with this insinuation that Kerry was somehow trying to avoid real combat. In his service in the navy it shows that he requested to be transfered from the navy ships along the coast line to the swift boats because he was in his own words seeking more action. The swift boats were often susceptible to suprise attacks from the vietcong and had high casuality rates, I don't see how that could suggest he was trying to duck the real battles. He won a silver star and three purple hearts for a reason, you can judge the man's political career but his military record shouldn't be questioned. By all indications he fought like a true soldier.