Reply #50: My belief had an expiration date

[LittleClarkie]

Colin Powell did much to, if not convince me that we needed to go to Iraq, then at least convince me to hold my tongue until I saw what happened.

That was why, when I finally woke up politically I gravitated to Clark, though I really knew little about him. He said exactly what I had thought when we started the Iraq war, that this administration did NOT have a blank check dated 9/11. When the mission suddenly went from WMD to "liberation" because it spun better, that was my wake up call.

I followed Clark until he fell out of the race, and then sort of sat there politically until about April. I found the article that triggered phase two of Erica's political awakening. It was an account of what was going on in Guantanamo. The article quoted the military as saying that everyone who was there deserved to be, but that they'd been there for almost two years with no due process and were not considered to be covered by the Geneva Convention because they weren't on American soil and were terrorists rather than soldiers in a war. As if due process was something we grant ourselves because we're cute, and not something that is due any human being. As if we were going to hold these people until the "war on terror" was over. And when was that going to be?! That's like declaring war on air! (or drugs, for that matter)

That drove me into John Kerry's arms, esp. after I went to Clark's old site and saw that he was advocating we jump on the Kerry bandwagon. Eh, ABB. I dutifully got a round Real Deal sign like my avatar, if only to announce to my Republican neighbors that I was NOT down with what was happening in Iraq.

I didn't know much about Kerry, except what I'd heard about his personality, which was that he had the charisma of styrofoam ("That good?" said one source.) But as I looked up articles, read books, and just generally researched my new candidate. I warmed up for real when I saw him do it first. He was in a group of veterans, and you could just see him loosen up around them.

Then I found out about Iran/Contra, BCCI and his anti-war stance back in the day, and I started to fall in love. I started showing up at HQ with goodies, whatever I thought they could use. Then I started actually working on the campaign. I even took off work for the last 5 day GOTV. I have never, never done that for anyone. I'd barely been in a Dem HQ before, except for maybe a token hour.

The first debate and then "Going Upriver" have cemented me in place. I ain't goin' no place.

As for Kerry's vote, I think he was in the same boat we were at about the same time. He should have known better, but from his writings on terrorism and his reaction to 9/11, I think he really wanted to see something done, and he foolishly believed the president. Whatever evidence they drummed up for the Congressmen must have been relatively convincing. But even so, he had this to say at the time:

"I will vote yes because I believe it is the best way to hold Saddam Hussein accountable. And the administration, I believe, is now committed to a recognition that war must be the last option to address this threat, not the first, and that we must act in concert with allies around the globe to make the world's case against Saddam Hussein ... I expect him to fulfill the commitments he has made to the American people in recent days -- to work with the United Nations Security Council to adopt a new resolution setting out tough and immediate inspection requirements, and to act with our allies at our side if we have to disarm Saddam Hussein by force. If he fails to do so, I will be among the first to speak out."

He did, and he was. Others may have been playing politics, but I believe Kerry honestly thought he was doing the right thing at the time, and didn't think his actions would necessarily lead to war. I read in a subsequent article that yes, he'd foolishly trusted the administration but that no, he would never do that again.

Others may have seen through the bullshit, and with his history, Kerry should have too, but I still remember the climate just a year ago. You could not say a mumbling word without getting "why do you hate America" slapped in your face. Many of us have since woken up.

Shant be fooled again. Not going back to sleep either. I wonder how many of us there are. Not enough, I suppose... yet.