Military kin split on Bush - Iraq war changes some minds

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/election/0304nation/08bushmilitary.html

When President Bush toured ground zero in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Donna Bramblett cried openly.

"I am angry. I feel betrayed. I won't vote for Bush again," said Donna Bramblett of Adrian, whose husband, James, a National Guardsman, was deployed to Iraq last June.

Barbee Smoot, a native of Blackshear, says she has voted Republican all her life but won't vote for President Bush this year. She and her 13-year-old son, Trent, have done without Army Staff Sgt. Lawrence Smoot since he left for Iraq a year ago.

She liked that he mentioned God in his speeches. She was thankful she had voted Republican the year before.

This November will be very different.

"I am angry. I feel betrayed," said Bramblett, 41, a nurse from the small Emanuel County town of Adrian. "I won't vote for Bush again."

Bramblett plans to cast her ballot for likely Democratic nominee John Kerry, even though she and the Massachusetts senator are on opposite sides of many issues. As the wife of a National Guardsman, Bramblett cannot forgive President Bush for the war in Iraq.

<snip>

We sure coulda' used their votes in 2000.

*sigh*

:eyes:

To every man woman and child in this country .

(Iraq) that should have been fought and with so many deaths and families torn apart for PNAC and the Repugs fantasies of using 9/11 as an excuse for all the wrongs in the world.

have been lied to and forced to follow orders from this illegitimate squatter.

It has been disastrous.

"I consider myself patriotic," continued Bramblett, dressed from head to toe in red, white and blue. "But if I could talk to Mr. Bush, I would tell him about all the wives who cannot pay their bills, who cannot make it alone. And I would take my children with me so he could explain to them why their daddy is over there."

To lots of these deluded people, the Bush admin. is all wonderful ra-ra-ra goodness until it affects them personally, isn't it?

"Oh, we didn't mind so much when he went after the Muslims, potheads, and gays - but gee whiz, now that I'm affected..."

"Bush doesn't care about us. He only cares about money."

"We work so hard, for so little, while he's getting rich."

"I'd like to get one of his action figure dolls and light it on fire."

That kind of superficial cluelessness just makes my blood boil and a stream of profane epithets spew from my shouting hole!

This is a reason to hand someone your support and the keys to the largest killing machine on the planet, that he said "God" in speeches?!

Un-fucking-believable. An informed democracy? Ignorant bloodbathers.
SOL. Screaming out loud.

Lord, protect me from your followers.

Helllllo?

All Presidents have and always have as far as I can remember.

She probably was swayed by all the religious propaganda that has come out under Bush. that he says he speaks to a god and is pictured in those disgusting pictures with a golden halo around his head or those words "king" and a crown placed so predominantly over his head in a church as if he were the holy card of the week-This has not been the propaganda mode of any other president I can remember--even Jimmy Carter-she most likely subscribes to all those type of urban legend stories that get passed around and believes them to be true. People do bellieve them all--I know a few friends that cannot be convinced they are illogically conceived fairy tale type legends. Some churches have been known to teach that intellectual curiosity is a tool of the devil. The coverage and propaganda showing Bush as religious crusader, or saint has been absolutely in the worst of bad, cheap taste , and manipulative of naive, easily led, pliable people.

The killing of the Iraqi people by the tens of thousands on a lie, does not matter to many people who believe or have faith because the God of the bible is quite a vengeful, violent god to begin with so it's OK--especially , to kill these infidel types. Next it will be OK to kill the "atheist" types--ie China, and after that it will be OK to kill the "pagan" types--Hindues--and to do so unjustly and pre-emptvely to preserve our freedoms and make sure they all convert to Christianity. It does leave a very bad taste in my mouth.

"Supporters of the president, however, cite a recent Military Times poll of 993 active-duty troops that showed 56 percent backing Bush, even after a year of grueling tours and constant casualties."

The serving military as I remember voted 70% for Bush in 2000. This 56% is a lot of votes.

"Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said uniformed personnel and their families have traditionally voted Republican because national security is seen as one of the party's greatest strengths. But Chambliss, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, acknowledged "there was a lot of discontent out there," especially among families waiting for their loved ones to return home"

For every troop, there is their wife/husband and/or their parents. So up to 4 votes could be lost for every member of the service.

As for Georgia, the Army's 3rd has been told they are going back in Nov for their 2nd tour. I bet there are a lot of happy Repug voters their.

been done to them by this regime and they are still dumb enough to vote for him? It's why I can never figure out why people want military people for Prez.

I guess the angry left has some more company..

Ive been against this bloodbath from the beginning. I cannot fathom how anyone with half a mind could have ever just not questioned not only the Florida debacle and thuggery, but then the lies and more lies that led up to this occupation?! The irony of marching against Bu$h at his fake inauguration, marching in DC against the war, marching again against the war, and then having our stepson taken to Iraq, and almost having my other son go..well, its beyond comprehension to me why any one now in the military would vote for that slime.
I told my husband last night, if we were the kind of people who preferred delusion over truth, or preferred allowing ourselves to be manipulated by the right wing press, then we wouldnt be in half the anger and pain we are now..but we both prefer the truth, and have been horrified beyond belief since 2000.
When I meet people who yell at me for questioning Bu$h I remind them quickly that I ALSO QUESTIONED CLINTON..and was vehemently opposed to many of his choices . I also ask them why in the world they dont think they can question the policies of Bu$h, he is not a f*cking sacred cow for petes sake!
Oh well, I guess a lot of the families out there just dont want to know the truth, and it takes something like this to start the thought process.