The Moose emerges from a long hibernation feeling somewhat akin to a mosquito in a nudist colony – so many targets of opportunity and so little time!
But, enough of the high road!
There will be plenty of time for the Moose to rant. When that happens, the Moose warns that he will occasionally offend partisans of both the donkey and the elephant. That is why he is the Moose and neither of those other creatures – although he does have a distinct affinity for the New Donkey, which is also a marvelous blog – newdonkey.com.
But for his first post the Moose would like to take the high road. Well, not entirely.
The Moose spelled out why he is opting for Kerry in the latest issue of Blueprint. In short, the Moose believes that W. is not serious about the war against terrorism. That’s right. If Bush thought the war was so important, he would have given it a higher priority than say, crass and craven political gain.
Instead, after a brief period of time following 9/11, Bush returned to politics as usual which meant rewarding his wealthy donors with tax cuts. After all, Rangers and Pioneers have to eat! Those precious dollars should have gone to expanding the military and hardening the homeland. But, even more troubling, Bush took a united country, and re-opened the divisions of 9/10. The Moose wrote,
“As the 2002 election approached, Bush had a choice. He could have valued national unity over partisan gain. He could have opted for national greatness over political cravenness. Instead, he chose to conduct a cynical and unprincipled campaign that harkened back to the 2000 South Carolina primary and consequently divided the country. After first opposing the Department of Homeland Security, he reversed course by supporting it and brandishing the proposal as a weapon against Democrats who opposed a minor labor provision.”
Subsequent to the 2002 campaign, the Bushies have further divided the country with their hubris, arrogance, incompetence and mendacity and Rovian scorched earth political campaign.
The Moose believes that the first challenge of a Kerry Presidency is to bring the country together. That will be no easy task. It remains to be seen whether his administration will be more willing to break with its ideological base than a Bush team that has been slavishly loyal to its corporate paymasters. The lefties will wail and the righties will grumble. But, in order to govern in a closely divided country, President Kerry must cut the Gordian knot.
Always seeking the positive, the Moose offers President-elect Kerry (granted that title has not yet been achieved) some suggestions.
The Moose believes that we have a war to win against terrorist enemies that seek to destroy us. National unity is job number one. And for the new President, uniting the country should come before petty partisanship. --