The unknown Bush voter is discovered!

[bush_is_wacko]

All my life I never understood what it was about my oldest uncle that caused, both my grandfather, a Korean War and WWII veteran (army), and my younger uncle, a Vietnam veteran (marine) to despise him. This Thanksgiving, I finally realized what it was. In the process, I also figured out why John Kerry was not elected President on Nov. 2.

My uncle served in the Navy for 8 years, but never saw a day of combat. He ended his tour of duty shortly after the Vietnam War broke out. He went home, raised a family during the Vietnam War, had a moderately successful sales career, but was and still is overextended on his bills and constantly borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. He came down with a debilitating illness in his early thirties that left him filing for bankruptcy just a few years later. Even after that however, he continued to overextend himself. He has “borrowed” more money from my parents than their own children have. In fact, I can honestly say, I don’t think I have ever borrowed more than $100 from my parents at any time since I left home, and I promptly paid them back as soon as I possibly could. He is currently on complete disability and social security. His wife still works her butt off to pay for the tiny house they have re-mortgaged until they can no longer re-mortgage and the fancy Cadillac they must have at all times no matter how financially strapped they are. Mind you this woman was diagnosed with what we thought would be terminal cancer about five years ago and somehow managed to beat it while still working a full 8-hour shift at her job. She hardly took any time at all off after her initial surgery to remove a tumor that had invaded her lymph nodes and continued to work while undergoing radiation therapy except for the mandatory time her doctors told her she could not go to work. I still have no idea how she managed to do this but she did. She had to. Her husband was at home unable to hold down even a part-time job (at least in his mind) because of his illness. In reality, he was fired frequently because he was, at best, a complete ass to everyone within earshot. No one in our family will eat out with him in attendance because it seems his favorite pastime is making waitresses cry over his obnoxious behavior. He is a lazy, self-serving, greedy, blatantly ignorant, self-proclaimed-patriotic, God fearin’, redneck, good ol’ boy, veteran (of no war), racists Republican.

His disqualifying reason for John Kerry bid at Presidency is “He threw his medals away and went to Hanoi!” Mind you he also was ignorant enough to agree with me that the Vietnam War was WRONG! I suspect he only said that because he knows his brother has lived a life of misery because of his service in that war. What he does not know is that his brother also THREW AWAY his medals when he arrived home from that war. The only reason the family still has them is that my grandfather dug them out of the trash and hid them until his death. My father (the middle son, who was rejected for service for medical reasons) now hides them until either his death or his younger brothers death.

My uncle also admitted that Oliver North was a bad guy, “but not really that bad.” The Bush family are criminals, but “so is everyone else in Washington.” We probably should have searched harder for Osama bin Laden, there were no WMD’s, “but Saddam was a bad guy, even if Bush Sr. did give him weapons to use against the Iranians, and “we’ve always put bad guys in power, like Castro.” He saw no hypocrisy or ignorance in his statements. He seemingly thinks the world is just fine and dandy with all the “bad guy’s we put in power. He is pitiful and he is representative of the voters we didn’t know about. Those pompous asses, who think they deserve the world on a silver platter because they served this country well, in NO WAR at all, but gave their time nonetheless.

[Selatius]

1. They don't know what pain is, I guess

Or maybe they have a lack of an ability to empathize with others who suffer because of the mistakes made by our previous leaders. Does he not feel for others who suffer misery and pain because of things our government has done? Can he even feel at all?

[bush_is_wacko]

3. The only feeling he has

is entitlement!
My younger uncle and my grandfather have told me that countless times. My parents have raised me to "love him anyway" despite his faults. I agree that you should treat everyone w/ dignity and love them to the best of your ability, but his ignorance, and ruthlessness is appalling. When my grandfather died, he made a complete spectacle of himself at the military funeral, when we discussed who would receive the flag from my grandfathers coffin. None of us were particularly keen to receive it, not because we didn't respect my grandfathers service, but because we loved and missed my grandfather. My uncle loudly proclaimed for all to see that he didn't "give a rat's ass what we all felt, he was the oldest son and he deserved the flag." As I said no one else wanted it, so it was really never a question and there was no argument. the only effect his words had on us was to make us more upset than we already were.

I'm not sure I can face this man the next Holiday. My parents realize he is an ass. But they won't stand up to him because they say, he is a softy at heart. i say bullshit, his heart is solidly frozen, as far as I'm concerned!

[noiretextatique]

2. amazing, isn't it?

i met some bush voters recently who were against the war...but for the war too :crazy: their "reasoning" was similar to your uncle's...saddam was bad, and even though there are no WMDs, the itaqi people are now experiencing what we believe freedom is to them.

[bush_is_wacko]

4. Here's the thing about my uncle...

My family years ago met an Iraqi freedom fighter that came to this country at the age of 16 as a refugee. His name was on the infamous list. If Saddam or his goons ever found him he would be tortured and executed on site. He has a young American born son serving in Iraq right now. His entire family was on a watch list and over a period of many years he managed to get all of them out of Iraq as well as several other moderately famous Iraqi men and women. He was a
very successful business owner and the men and women he helped get out of the country were, doctors, lawyers, poets, freedom fighters, etc. Anyway, my uncle knows or at least he should know better than to think we can ever fix the mess that part of the world is in. We have heard the horror stories and the points of view of several Iraqi's from different walks of life in that country. these are good people and lots of them still have family in Iraq. At least I hope they still have family in Iraq. The reality is those that have family there have had little or no contact w/ family since this war began. they were, needless to say , happy to see Saddam removed, but appalled that we went there before catching OBL and even more appalled that we think democracy can work in a country that Has been killing each other over religion since time began.

My uncle knows these men and women and considers them friends, like the rest of my family does, but he obviously could give a shit less whether their families survive a war that he clearly realizes is about oil. this was yet another thing he admitted in that conversation.

My uncle is in his mid sixties and I find an awful lot of veterans his age think exactly the way he does. Let the government act like criminals they always have and the United States still stands. i don't think he realizes that the economy is on the verge of collapse because of our policies, and that the "bad guys" we put into power today will be the OBL's and Saddam's of tomorrow, except they are far more likely to use WMD's than the dictators we remove today. he sees no escalation in violence from war to war.

He is from the very beginning of the baby boom generation. There are far more of this particular generation than there are of the rest of us. He seems to believe his generation should get everything from the government they were promised and the rest of us can lump it for eternity. After all we a re young and used to working 80 hr. weeks to have the lifestyle he had working a 40 hr. week at our age. He has no concern whatsoever for the next generation or the one after that.

WITH AMERICANS LIKE THIS AT OUR VOTING BOOTHS, WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO INCREASE OUR NUMBERS TENFOLD AT THE NEXT ELECTION. WE HAVE TO OUTNUMBER THEM, PLAIN AND SIMPLE. THEY WILL NOT VOTE THEIR CONSCIENCE, THEY HAVE NONE!

[ooglymoogly]

5. its the voting machines stupid

you have just profiled the republican party. a bunch of besotted ignorant pseudo religious freaks who really don't belong anywhere flexing muscle they don't really have and are stupid enough to try and fix an election in their favor. but god willing truth will out and then watch this house of cards explode in the wind of an anger so raw it will take the skin away from these treasonous bstrds.

[bush_is_wacko]

6. Yes, but how many really understand

What we are up against? My uncle hasn't attended church since the last family funeral about eight years ago! His loyalty is truly to himself and himself alone!

[Touchdown]

7. Your uncle sounds like a bitter old man.

Life didn't hand him a bowl of cherries, and although he most likely agrees with you about everything on the BFEE, he wants others to suffer just as much as he does, because there's no justice in this world where others are luckier in life (in his eyes) than he is. He should have been injured 3 times in Viet Nam, he'd show those pussies!

I've got cousins/uncles who are recovering alcoholics/children of alcoholics, who think the same way. They know they're wrong, but they don't care, and they've got an axe to grind...might as well do it to the rest of the (Democratic) family.

[bush_is_wacko]

8. That is exactly what he is!

I'm sad to say, he has raised a son and a daughter who continue the tradition of feeling as if life has taken a giant dump on them. They , however, don't bother to vote at all. They are too busy complaining!

Oops! i forgot to add that they spend much of their time sueing their bosses and others for injuries on the job and such. it makes me crazy that they, like their father cannot see this behavior only hurts them in the end.

[xerox]

9. shame on the guy

that voted for Bush!