Bush's Flip Flops: A Look From the Other Side

I live in South Carolina. Now, I am not a native here, I transferred here last November for school. At the time, I knew that South Carolina was a traditionally Republic state, with a large number of Republican voters, and a decidedly Conservative slant on things. I guess I didn't truly understand what that meant.

2003 was a difficult year for me, in terms of politics. The State of the Union Speech, given somewhat flatly, had outlined the immediate danger of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, and the Iraqi intent to sell those weapons to the Taliban, and other terrorist groups. This was followed by a moving speech at the U.N. by Colin Powell, someone I trusted very much, which outlined the Iraqi weapons, weapon-making facilities, and even transport trucks. I remember watching it with increasing awe, and even a little anger at Clinton for not doing something about this earlier.

Before I go on, understand something: I was born in 1980. The only President I was truly aware of was Clinton, and all of my life I had heard about Iraqi Weapons Inspectors and the use of chemical weapons against the Kurds by Saddam, and so the possibility of WMDs in Iraq was, to me, sort of a 'duh' thing. Of course they had WMDs, we gave them to Saddam in the 80's. To me, the whole case seemed pretty much open and shut.

The only time during Powell's speech any questions rose in my mind was when he held up an illustration of one of the mobile chemical weapons trucks. It reminded me of the footage I had seen of Adalai Stevenson during the Cuban Missile Crisis, holding up pictures of weapons on Cuba. The only thing was, this was an illustration, albeit a good one, not a picture. However, it was pretty fleeting, and I watched the end of the speech with satisfaction.

Soon afterwards, I heard there were some questions about the Nigerian documents. Something about them being forged. I didn't really know what to think, so I talked to my step-mom about it. Her brother works for the CIA (back then, he was still covert), and I asked her if he'd said anything. She kind of frowned (she, and her parents, are staunch Republicans), and told her that my uncle had said there were some "serious problems" with the authenticity of the documents.

Well, I decided to do a little researching, and in the process of that research, discovered many things that really tore me up. Here I was, 23 years old, all of my life supporting the Republicans, even joining the Marine Corps out of High School, and found lie upon lie upon lie. I knew I couldn't be a real Democrat, because they believed in things like gun control, and abortion, which I don't agree with. So, here I am in the middle with Ron Regan. Anyway, I was starting a list of Bush's top ten flip-flops, but someone else did it for me.

www.cbsnews.com...

Now, I don't want to get another warning for quoting, but I will pick out a few of the more blatant ones for your reading pleasure.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Announcing the invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003, Mr. Bush said, �Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.�

Two months into the war, on May 29, 2003, Mr. Bush said weapons of mass destruction had been found.

Ooh, this is fun. Here's another.

Same-Sex Marriage

During the 2000 campaign, Mr. Bush said he was against federal intervention regarding the issue of same-sex marriage. In an interview with CNN's Larry King, he said, states "can do what they want to do" on the issue. Vice President Cheney took the same stance.

Four year later, this past February, Mr. Bush announced his support for an amendment to the Constitution that defines marriage as being exclusively between men and women. The amendment would forbid states from doing "what they want to do" on same-sex marriage.

Well, remember, back then Dick Cheney's daughter was a lesbian. Now, according to Alan Keyes, she's practicing "selfish hedonism". So, you know, she's going to hell, I guess. Serves her right for being with someone she loves.

Anyway, I just thought that this article would provide some nice reading for those of us who like both sides of the story.

[edit on 29-9-2004 by RockerDom]

Appreciate the effort of your perceptions and highlights from the article.

Let's discuss, add and compare, but not start posting entire chain mails please.

Before anyone does a copy/paste on this here's thirty or so other "popular" (or rather unpopular) Bush Flip Flops.

But that CBS list is pretty tight.

[edit on 30-9-2004 by RANT]

And in an effort to keep this thread balanced, here is the other half of that CBS report:

www.cbsnews.com...

Some highlights:

The Israeli Security Fence

In October 2003, Kerry said Israel�s unilateral construction of a security fence was �a barrier to peace.�

�I know how disheartened Palestinians are by the decision to build the barrier off the Green Line," he told the Arab American Institute National Leadership Conference. �We don't need another barrier to peace. Provocative and counterproductive measures only harm Israelis.�

But less than a year later, in February 2004, he reversed himself, calling the fence "a legitimate act of self-defense," and saying "President Bush is rightly discussing with Israel the exact route of the fence to minimize the hardship it causes innocent Palestinians.�

And:

Affirmative Action

Though he has long supported affirmative action, in a speech at Yale University in 1992, Kerry called the program "inherently limited and divisive," and said it had "kept America thinking in racial terms." He added that it was failing those most in need of assistance: African-Americans.

At the height of the Democratic primary race in January, Kerry reiterated his support for affirmative action. Kerry�s critics question how he can support a program that he once called �divisive.� Kerry says he was speaking about racial quotas, which he opposes.

Hmm. Your right. This is kinda fun.