[R-G] Rick Wilhelm on John Kerry

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

*****   Date: Sun, 07 Mar 2004 00:01:02 -0800
From: Rick Wilhelm
Subject: [C-JwJ] Strategy
To: columbuslabor at topica.com

**Columbus Jobs with Justice Calendar**
To post: send to columbuslabor at topica.com
According to research, it appears to me Kerry is a far-right 
candidate.  Although many comments have said he has a "liberal" 
record, I see no evidence is offered other than the fact on small 
issues he has better votes than the Republicans, according to some 
liberal groups.  According to key issues, here, he does not: 
<http://dsco1.tripod.com/issues.htm>, taken from the archives of the 
same liberal groups offered by some as proof he has a good record.

As a matter of fact, Kerry is so bad, it could be argued he was the 
"greater evil," between Bush and Kerry.  Bush's personality is one of 
pompous privilege, where Kerry's is one of arrogant privilege. 
According to this article and others, 
<http://www.counterpunch.org/hand02182004.html>.  Kerry believes in 
Internationalism and International Intervention in the name of 
maintaining our Empire, and has even wrote about it as an imperative 
goal.  This article reveals a little about Kerry's personality: 
<http://www.counterpunch.org/cranmer03042004.html>.

Why could it be argued Kerry may in fact be a "greater evil" than 
Bush?  Because he is smarter, and since he also believes in military 
action to preserve our "values," he may be more successful than Bush 
in implementing the policy of force of Empire.  The policy looks as 
though it will fail under Bush, because of its transparency and 
stupidity.  And foreign policy has been offered as one reason we 
should support Kerry, since their domestic agendas are so similar. 
Kerry voted for the war, welfare reform, the Patriot Act, the China 
Trade Bill (H.R. 4444), NAFTA, Fast Track and GATT.

Of course Kerry is on record of supporting a minimum wage increase to 
6 dollars and 15 cents an hour, while Bush is not.  That is still 
about 2 dollars and 75 cents less than what the minimum wage would be 
had it kept up with inflation, since in 2002 it would have been 8.70 
cents per hour.  I assume 2004 is slightly higher. See: 
<http://dsco1.tripod.com/news.htm#Why%20a%20LIVING%20WAGE>. And it is 
no guarantee Kerry would actually keep his word about even the small 
increase to $6.15.  But by voting for just things, his "record" 
appears better, since the AFL-CIO give him the same credit for small 
stuff as key issues.

So I feel any strategy should be to attack both candidates, and 
attack them now, and keep attacking repeatedly and continually.  The 
same should be done as far as sell-out Democratic Council members and 
the Mayor of Columbus.  I actually sat through a meeting a year or so 
ago organized by JwJ where one council member suggested the Chamber 
of Commerce should be on any "Living Wage" board.

Rick Wilhelm
Columbus Jobs with Justice organizes this list but does not 
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*****
-- 
Yoshie

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