In my previous piece addressing the tasing of 21 year-old, Andrew Meyer as he tried to ask Senator Kerry questions concerning his concession after the 2004 presidential campaign, I have been inundated with emails and they are to numerous to address individually. I have even read the numerous comments under my published piece on OpEdNews.com. I do appreciate all of your comments and will try my best to somehow address them within this one. If I don’t, please forgive.
While the great majority of them are supportive of Andrew Meyer, only two came into me siding with Senator Kerry. One identified himself as a Democrat and the other I do know to be a Democrat. I would like to pose the question; had this been President Bush speaking and this man was forcibly arrested and tased; would they side with Bush? I do think that a fair question. I have read Senator Kerry’s statement saying he was unaware that Meyer was tased and had left the building by viewing the original feed in my previous column, you can hear Senator Kerry as Meyer screams out, “Don’t tase me, man” as he screams. He must have heard that plea coming from Meyers and his screams as well. While he states he had left the building, the feed says otherwise. But, that is for Senator Kerry to address and not me.
While Meyer’s seemed somewhat excited, there are many who do feel as if Senator Kerry let the country down conceding all too quickly after that campaign. Seeing how we have just heard that over one million Iraqis have died and continue to die as a result of the Iraq War via the LA Times, I do suppose many who have opposed this war are seeing red by now. As many more of our soldiers die in this war, it is heightening people’s emotions. Many feel this war could have been handled differently had Kerry stuck to his guns and challenged that outcome. Maybe, just maybe Senator Kerry as president would have ended it. But, we will never know.
In questioning, Kerry, Meyer’s cited Greg Palast and I would like to point you the reader to one of his columns which is up on MikeHersh.com titled, Kerry Won Ohio and the White House, it was published on November 12, 2004 and it is a powerful read and I do invite everyone to in fact read it.
As written by, Palast, “Blackwell, co-chair of Bush-Cheney reelection campaign, wasn't warning his fellow Republican of disaster, but boasting of an opportunity to bring in Ohio for Team Bush no matter what the voters wanted. And most voters in Ohio wanted JFK, not GWB. But their choice won't count because their votes won't be counted.” Again, please take time to read the article in its entirety to fully understand why Meyer’s wanted some explanation coming from Senator Kerry.
I do think that in this post-9/11 world, we have surrendered what rights our founders gave us through the United States Constitution. We have somehow become complacent as we hear of other cases in which people are censored and not afforded free speech. It is not only the Patriot Acts and the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that is usurping our civil liberties, but ‘we the people’ for the most part.
Some may digress on this opinion, but for the most part people who read columns like this are politically savvy people. But, a great majority of Americans are not tuned into these discussions as they go about their life. Would they wake up should their freedom of speech be hindered in someway? Only God knows and I do hope that they do.
Some have even asked me pleadingly, what can we do about this and frankly, I am at a loss to give such advice. It seems when addressing issues, a writer or an activist feels they are sweeping the ocean back with a broom. I do however think we need better leadership coming from our elected officials and ones that will fight to restore our civil liberties and that does mean tearing up both Patriot Acts and the Military Commissions Act. Yes, we can still protect our national security and protect people’s Constitutional rights at the same time.
I also think that our elected leaders are not as accessible to ‘we the people’ and that too may be why folks feel frustrated. This was a golden opportunity for Senator Kerry to say to the police, “I will give this man a little more time in order to answer his questions.” even if he jumped the line as been reported. Maybe he could have answered this man’s questions concerning the 2004 race and why he conceded quickly. Quite frankly, I was dumbfounded as he did so and do know that others feel the same way that I do.
Not to rehash old news, but I do think it applicable at this time considering the query Meyer’s brought up, according to a Seattle Post Intelligencer article dated July 13th, 2004, “Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry yesterday announced the formation of a nationwide SWAT team of election lawyers to combat the kind of voting irregularities that occurred in Florida four years ago, contributing to the disputed election of President Bush.” It also goes onto to report, that Kerry would take “tough action” to prevent, "intimidation and harassment"
The article further states that Kerry was taking this tough action because it “kept about 1 million African American voters from the polls in 2000 and prevented about 57,000 black voters from casting votes in Palm Beach County, Fla.” I do think that folks want to know why he conceded when it was reported by Greg Palast that there was major voter fraud.
As I close out this article, I wish to address a woman who is a Democrat that has been concerned of my articles in which I confront Democrats, I also confront Republicans. That is what a writer does. As an independent writer with no party affiliation, I have to be objective in my writing and that means either addressing or confronting both Democrats and Republicans alike. I also believe in strict adherence to the United States Constitution. Either we protect all the amendments contained within it, or we protect none. Many a soldier died on some battlefield as they continue to die today giving Meyer’s the right to ask Senator Kerry that question unhindered.
Author’s email address is, xmjmac@optonline.net
