by Mehr Jay Shahidi • 11/1/08 • I don’t mean to show off. But, I was right about George W. Bush.
And, I strongly believe I am now right about McCain.
My observation on U.S. foreign policy:
In Fall of 2000 and again in Fall of 2004, I called my relatives, friends and others all over the United States and other countries begging them not to vote for W. I failed. Because even the majority of Moslem Americans, Arab Americans and, overwhelmingly, Iranian Americans voted for him in 2000.
In 2004, after Bush named Iran as part of the “axis of evil” and made preparations to strike it militarily, and after his invasion of Iraq based on phony evidence, still the majority of Iranian Americans and significant numbers of Moslem Americans cast their votes for him. Why?
First of all, some Moslem Americans have been lead to believe that Democrats are more pro-Israel and anti Arab, or for that matter, anti-Islam because most Jewish Americans have traditionally voted Democratic. This notion is absurd. Please take a look at the modern U.S. presidential history regarding war and peace between Israelis and Arabs. Were Presidents Carter and Clinton who worked feverishly for peace between these people Republican?
Secondly, large numbers of Iranian Americans, blame President Carter for the overthrow of the Shah of Iran and therefore consider the Democratic party as anti-Iranian ( no connection to Jews and Israel). This contention is also absurd. Read Los Angeles Times of October 17, 2008 on how the Republican presidents first started destabilizing the Iranian dictator.
At a speech before the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis a few days after the September 11, 2001 attacks, I forecasted that the Neo-Conservative military adventurers, would use that horrendous tragedy “as an excuse to double and triple the U.S. military budget” an bring much bloodshed for humanity. In the year 2000, I had warned my friends of this imperial goal of the Bush-Cheney regime too.
My observation on U.S. economy:
My business-owning acquaintances told me before both elections that the Democratic party was anti-business. And, the American dream wanted you to be Republican.
Well, obviously this belief is groundless as well. Who saved the American capitalism in the 1930s Do remember Franklin D. Roosevelt? Was he a Republican? And how many Republican leaders do we remember who have strived for the promotion and protection of civil liberties, justice, hard work, free enterprise and individual integrity. Was not it President Eisenhower who warned us against the excessive power of the “military-industrial “ complex. Was not it Nixon who pushed the passage of the Clean Water Act and created the Environmental Protection Agency? Does Harold Stassen come to mind, who signed the Charter of the United Nations? Some of the best members of Congress have been Republicans such as Jim Ramstad and before him Arlen Erdahl.
What my contacts failed to realize was that W. was not a traditional Republican. He was a hand-picked agent of the Neo Conservatives. And, I could not convince them to study his personality and background. None had read the declarations of The Project for the New American Century and the plans and policies the founders and followers of this movement advocated. I knew the members of this group were not Republican but had taken over this party and would embark on a dangerous and destructive course of world conquest and plunder of America’s resources for the short-term monetary benefit of a relatively small band. Read the last book by the former Republican Governor of Minnesota, Elmer Andersen.
Now, what about McCain? He used to be “independently Republican”. Not anymore. The same Karl Rove & Company, who have manipulated Bush 2, have taken over McCain and wrested the control of his mind. Just look at his campaign planners and advisers. He is a decent person. He has tried to do good in the past. But, now, he is in the hands of the same Neo-Cons who have brought us W. and the worst economic disaster since the great depression. We now face, an increasingly militarized world in response to their lone ranger assaults, and, over one million dead Iraqis. Millions more will die needlessly in Africa and Asia as a result of the mismanagement of the American statecraft.
To minimize the destructive effects of the policies of the Neo-Cons, perhaps this time we need to know who we are voting for.
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