All we are saying is give peace a chance

I read in The Independent that Hillary Clinton is being "dogged by criticism of war stance." Hillary's response to questions about why she voted for the Iraq War often contain the answer that she voted based on the best intelligence at that time, or, if she had known then what she knows now she wouldn't have voted for going to war. Then she puts blame on Bush as a way of taking it off her. Excuse me, but how stupid does Hillary think that the American populace is? Or the world, for that matter.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched in protest of going to war, on several occasions, before she even voted. Wikipedia, which I don't normally utilize, has an article about this filled with references, in particular individual news reports. Link here. Further summaries of the protests, especially the largest one on February 15, 2003 can be found at a number of sites, from CNN to Aljazeera. Remember, approximately 36 million people marched in protest of going to war with Iraq. Doesn't public opinion matter? Hillary's excuses are an insult to everyone who marched, and then some.

Furthermore, the internet was pretty much on fire with reports, news, opinions, and so forth, from individuals, other countries, soldier blogs, and even intelligence experts that all demonstrated to thousands of people around the world that Hussein did not have WMDs. Scott Ritter reported on numerous occasions that Hussein did not; Hussein, himself, invited US inspections in order to avoid an invasion; and even Joseph Wilson found the Bush administration's information flawed, seriously enough that someone in the Bush administration, with the help of prominent journalists, outed his wife as a CIA operative.

And Hillary repeatedly gives the lame excuse that she operated with the best intelligence at the time? This beggars the imagination!

At least John Edwards says that he made a mistake in voting for the Iraq War. Barack Obama has been against the war from the start. Kucinich actually took a stand and voted against it. Indeed, 23 senators voted against a war with Iraq. Did they have more intelligence than Hillary?

I am very tired of being treated like an idiot by politicians. My husband believes that "the corporations" have already picked Hillary as THE Democratic Candidate, but I disagree because I think that the grassroots of America have more power than the corporations. That might be very naive, but everywhere I hear complaints about corporations that are reminiscent of those that used to be leveled against big government. The corporations are so big and so corrupt that they will eventually have to implode, having lost every iota of moral responsibility towards the populace that allowed their growth in the first place.

I don't know who will be the Democratic candidate in 2008. I'd like Al Gore, but he seems to be caught up in a loftier pursuit. I think John Edwards is charismatic and appealing to both Democrats and Republicans, but I'm not sure how far he'll get because of the Democrats' puppy love for Barack Obama. Dennis Kucinich is steadfast, decent, smart, and unafraid of standing up for the truth, no matter the extent to which the mass media tries to portray him as the opposite. I'm not a fan of Chris Dodd or Joe Biden, and I don't know enough about Vilsack or Richardson to take a stand. I do hope, however, that Al Sharpton runs, because we need someone who can clean the air once in a while.

In the end, I'd love to see a woman elected as president even though I don't believe the country is ready for that. If it were, I'd rather have Barbara Boxer, the only person with the moral integrity and strength to stand up and contest the 2004 election results. I know what I, and many others, including Republicans, do not want: we do not want to choose between the lesser of two evils. Being put in such a position would set us back years. This election requires deep, reflective thought, an educated public, and a reformed mass media. The grassroots demands it.