Dear Democrat Party,...........

[Claymore]

I'm assuming the purpose of the letter is humor. That being said, I'd like to quote my favorite politicain:

"The great fundamental issue now before the Republican party and before our people can be stated briefly. It is, Are the American people fit to govern themselves, to rule themselves, to control themselves? I believe they are. My opponents do not. I believe in the right of the people to rule. I believe the majority of the plain people of the United States will, day in and day out, make fewer mistakes in governing themselves than any smaller class or body of men, no matter what their training, will make in trying to govern them. I believe, again, that the American people are, as a whole, capable of self-control and of learning by their mistakes. Our opponents pay lip-loyalty to this doctrine; but they show their real beliefs by the way in which they champion every device to make the nominal rule of the people a sham....

" I prefer to work with moderate, with rational, conservatives, provided only that they do in good faith strive forward toward the light. But when they halt and turn their backs to the light, and sit with the scorners on the seats of reaction, then I must part company with them. We the people cannot turn back. Our aim must be steady, wise progress. It would be well if our people would study the history of a sister republic. All the woes of France for a century and a quarter have been due to the folly of her people in splitting into the two camps of unreasonable conservatism and unreasonable radicalism...

"Friends, our task as Americans is to strive for social and industrial justice, achieved through the genuine rule of the people. This is our end, our purpose. The methods for achieving the end are merely expedients, to be finally accepted or rejected according as actual experience shows that they work well or ill. But in our hearts we must have this lofty purpose, and we must strive for it in all earnestness and sincerity, or our work will come to nothing. In order to succeed we need leaders of inspired idealism, leaders to whom are granted great visions, who dream greatly and strive to make their dreams come true; who can kindle the people with the fire from their own burning souls..."

-Theodore Roosevelt

"THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO RULE" March 20, 1912 Carnegie Hall, New York City

Text: http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trrotptr.html
Audio: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10155

George W. Bush is one of the ultraconservatives that Roosevelt warned us about. The reaction to his presidency is worldwide hatred, nationwide hatred (his approval rating is something like 32% as of this morning, and every time he gives a press conference it drops) and the literal collapse of the American economy. The national debt is higher today then it has been since the second world war. We cannot sustain this kind of stress, and without relief economists are pointing to potential stock market collapse. China will soon own a significant number of our corporations, and this is frightening because of the fact that when china owns an american company, it's not a chinese businessman, but the chinese government that owns a peice of the United States.

George W. Bush and his people have used the media quite well to fool americans into thinking he's the best man for the job. What Karl Rove and his people did to McCain in South Carolina was inexcusable. The american people have realised that the NeoCons are terrible for america.

As far as Saddam Hussein is concerned? Who bloody cares? Where's Osama? Do we have any idea where he is? Iraq was politically and militarily incapable of attacking anyone. Iran hated saddam and his regime, and was waiting for their turn to take over. This is why Iran is causing so much trouble. They were once focused on a cold war with Iraq. Now, that doesn't exist anymore so they're building nuclear bombs.

Is the world a better place with Saddam out of power? I don't know. Iraq has never been ruled by any kind of government other than a dictatorial theocratic or monarchical. The reason that Germans, Italians, and to some extent, The Japanese were able to become effective democracies after the 2nd World War is beacause they had democratic governments before the imperial forces within took power. Yes, Japan had a Democracy prior to Hirohito. There was a military coup that led to it's demise. So I don't know if the world is a better place. Is civil war preferable to a dictatorship?

Is the world safer without Saddam in power? No. Saddam and Osama were bitter enemies. Osama had declared a fatwa against saddam, and encouraged people to kill him if possible. THis is because Saddam is a Sunni and a westerner, while Osama is a Shiite and a fundamentalist. Osama is the crazier one.

Al Qaeda didn't exist in iraq until about a year ago. They're there now because the iraqi civillians have been given rights. We're fighting insurgents now because the iraqis have rights. They have the right to hide, to do process, to the courts, to be left alone. In Saddam's regime, a rumor of rebellion was enough to allow his secret police to murder everyone in a building. Rebellion can't work effectively in that position.

This is why George Bush Sr. opposes the war. We now have tribal warfare, and what is basically civil war. Bush 1 knew this, and didn't invade iraq last time because of it.

The british were once successful in colonising Iraq. The reason we're failing is this: When the british invaded, they had one soldier for every 18 iraqi civillians. Counting the new units standing up within iraq, we have one soldier for every 270 iraqi civillians.

We need at least 350,000 boots on the ground to maintain order, and those numbers are impossible without international help or a draft. Furthermore, rumsfeld has been micromanaging the war. The british hate him, because he has no sense of military planning and strategy.

"Then why haven't the generals said anything?" They have, and they've been fired. This is why retired generals are calling for Rumsfeld's resignation. Rumsfeld fired the general who told him that 300 to 350 thousand troops would be neccesary to pacify iraq. This presidency doesn't even listen to their own military advisers, and then expects to win a war.

That being said, enjoy the cartoons.

Sorry Claymore but the cartoons had copyrights on them so I had to delete them. - Aesop