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POLITICS AND RELIGION

TWO THINGS TO NEVER MIX WITH BUSINESS

However, I will anyway. If politics drives you up the wall, just close this window now. If someone is too close minded to do business with me for honoring THE AMERICAN WAY of freedom of religion and politics, then you really need to do some soul searching. I'm not asking anyone to agree with me, simply to honor our right to freedom of thought. A FREE exchange of ideas is what makes America better and stronger than dictator-run countries. This is my personal webpage and is not to be inferred that the Fuller Brush Company is taking any stand on the election. Either listen respectively, or don't - just ignore it. Thanks. 9/18/04. Last Update 8/07 combining other politics pages and deleting old info. (The warm response back from all of you has been really encouraging for the future of America. Thanks to all of you willing to look at the facts instead of just the rhetoric, and for the many new links you have sent me.)

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. (1918)" -- President Theodore Roosevelt

POLITICS
If you want to separate fact from the lies and mudslinging propaganda, I recommend visiting the Program on International Policy Attitudes website which analyzes the differences between Democratic and Republican perceptions with the actual facts. To counter the distortion of facts by the media, I also recommend visiting Media Matters for America.

Polls Show Worsening of U.S. Reputation Oct 15, 2004
By BETH GARDINER

LONDON (AP) - America's reputation around the world is hurting, according to a series of coordinated polls published Friday from 10 countries, including many of the United States' closest allies.

In eight of the countries where the surveys commissioned by major newspapers were conducted, more people said their view of America had worsened in the past two to three years than improved. That question was asked in nine countries.

By big margins, those questioned said the war in Iraq did not aid the global fight against terrorism.

And in eight out of 10 nations, those polled said - often in landslide proportions - that they hoped to see Democrat John Kerry beat President Bush in next month's election. Bush won backing from a majority of respondents only in Russia and Israel.

The polls were conducted in Canada, France, Britain, Spain, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Mexico, Israel and Russia, with results to be published in the participating newspapers on Friday. Not all questions were asked in every country.

On average, 57 percent of those questioned said their opinions of America had worsened over the past two to three years, compared with 20 percent who said their view had improved. That question was asked in nine of the countries, but not in Russia.

Seventy-four percent of Japanese, 70 percent of French, 67 percent of South Koreans, 64 percent of Canadians and 60 percent of Spaniards said they had a worse opinion of America now than two to three years ago.

Only in Israel did more people say their view of the United States had improved than worsened in the past two to three years.

In that period, which began just after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the United States has led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. While much of the international community backed the invasion to oust the Taliban, Bush's decision to invade Iraq has fueled anger around the world.

However, many of those polled separated their feelings about the U.S. government from their views of the American people. Sixty-eight percent said they had a favorable opinion of Americans.

Asked whether American democracy remained a model for other nations, 52 percent of those asked said yes and 42 percent said no.

In Britain, Mexico and South Korea, more people thought the United States was no longer a model, while in Canada, Russia, Japan and Israel, majorities said it was.

Fifty-nine percent of people questioned in seven nations - including Britain, America's closest ally in Iraq - said the war there was not helping the world fight against terrorism, while 35 percent said it was, as Bush contends.

People in all 10 countries were asked who they hoped to see win the White House on Nov. 2, and the result will make Kerry wish they had a vote.

The Democrat was favored by healthy to enormous majorities in eight of the nations - 72 percent supported him, compared with 16 percent for Bush in France.

In South Korea, it was 68 percent for Kerry and 18 percent for Bush; in Canada, 60 percent to 20 percent; in Spain, 58 percent to 13 percent; in Australia 54 percent to 28 percent; and in Britain 50 percent to 22 percent.

Bush came out on top in Israel by a margin of 50 percent to 24 percent and in Russia, 52 percent to 48 percent.

The newspapers involved were La Presse in Canada, Le Monde in France, the Guardian in Britain, El Pais in Spain, Asahi Shimbun in Japan, JoongAng Ilbo in South Korea, the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age in Australia, Reforma in Mexico, Haaretz in Israel and the Moscow News in Russia.

The sample sizes in the 10 polls varied from 522 people in Israel to 1,417 in Australia. Margins of error were mostly around 3 percentage points, but varied between 2.6 and 4.38.

The polls were conducted on different dates from September through early October.

MORE POLITICS

We need: Someone who will stop giving financial and tax incentives encouraging companies to send jobs to China. This is in the interests of every Fuller Brush distributor. We want to ensure that Fuller Brush continues to be "Made in the USA".

I found the Air America talk radio station to be the salvation of my sanity. Find out if there is an Air America radio station near you, or listen on-line, at www.airamericaradio.com . You’ll find many great links and discussions on there too.

George Bush gave us all tax cuts. He gave his millionaire buddies $300,000 tax cuts and he gave the rest of us $300 tax cuts. He thinks that since he gave us money, that we are too duped to realize that WE are going to end up paying the cost of the national deficit caused by the rich not paying their share. "Pay me now, or pay me later" as the saying goes. It took Bill Clinton 8 years to undo the Big Spending Republicans and George Bush Sr's record budget deficit. Big Spender George Jr has him beat, turning the budget surplus that he inherited into another record budget deficit. If you are making over $200,000 per year, go ahead and vote for George Bush. Otherwise, John Kerry will roll back those tax cuts on the rich, and use it to pay off Bush's "credit cards", and give LARGER tax breaks to those of us who really need it. Many rich people like Bill Clinton, John Kerry, the Kennedys, and John Edwards say, "Hey we appreciate the thought, but we really don't mind paying our share, especially when it puts a bigger burden on the regular $20,000 - $50,000/year working person. Those people mentioned above certainly are not the common working people, but Democrats historically have stood for the economic interests of working people and small business. More jobs have been lost on George Bush's watch than any other president since the Great Depression. Though I must say that GW has been trying to cut the unemployment rate by sending people to Iraq; over 3700 are off the unemployment rolls now.

REPUBLICANS SAY...
Everyday Life-long Republicans who do their research are also changing their minds:

Here's parts of two emails I got from a small-business owner:

Hi Roland,
You and I have never talked politics, because mixing business and politics is generally not a good idea. But I wanted to take just a moment to say a few words about "saving the world from George Bush."
I am a life long republican, who has in the past year or so begun to have a different view. I am an avid news reader and watcher, and the more Fox news I watched, the more sick I got. The republican party today, under George Bush, is a dangerous organization being led by a madman. Although I still hold to my core conservative principles, in this instance, I am on your side. I will not cast another republican vote as long as Bush (or anyone like him) is in an important position of power.
I have a large group of friends spread across the country. A group of friends who originally met at church in our youth. We have somehow stayed in touch for over 30 years. The topic of conversation in our group emails has turned hotly political lately. Most of the group is democratic, with just a smattering of republicans. There are two veterans in the group (I'm one of them) and we are both republicans who are voting for Kerry.
I am 47 years old. I have been voting since I was 18. I have voted for every Republican presidential candidate in all those years. I tend to adhere to, and agree with, most conservative principles. But I cannot support George Bush this year. And there is but one overriding reason. George Bush has put us into, and seemingly wants to keep us in, a war we have no reason to be in. Do I think we should fight terror? Yes, absolutely. Do I think we should have Invaded Iraq? No.
John Kerry, on the other hand, wants to clean up the mess Bush made in Iraq. Not by withdrawing quickly, but by mending our international relationships, and coming to an agreeable peace.
Don't vote for Kerry if you disagree with him and his policies. But I'm still waiting for any conservative, or any republican, to give me an understandable and reasonable argument WHY Bush's ideas and policies are good for us, our country, or our children.
WHY is war in Iraq good?
WHY are soaring deficits good?
WHY are huge tax cuts for the wealthy good?
WHY are poor international relations good?
WHY is unaffordable health care good?
WHY are no bid contracts for Halliburton good?
WHY is foreign oil dependence good?
WHY does Bush insist, even now, that if he knew then what he knows now that he'd have STILL gone to war? He talked me, you, the Senate, the House of Representatives, some of the international community, and almost all of the American public into believing that Iraq was a CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER to the United States of America. Now that we know that was not the case, on what does he base his most current statement?
I've got news for president Bush. If we ALL knew then what we know now, he'd have never been given permission, yes permission, by the Congress to go to war. For THAT is where the power lies. And if Congress knew then what it knows now, that authority would NOT have been granted. Did George Bush lie? I don't know. Did he mislead purposefully? I don't know. Did he make a mistake? Yes. But will he admit it? No.
We need a leader, a president, who will not be so hot headed. A leader, a president, who will not be so arrogant. We need a leader, a president, who will guide us with a cooler head, and a deeper regard for international relations, and a much, much more deeply and personally held belief that war, any war, for any reason, is something to engage in only as an absolutely final, last resort. - Haynes Fuller Brush

I also recommend THE NATION as a great source of "outside the box" news, instead of the censored stuff we get on the corporate-owned networks. "Unconventional Wisdom Since 1865".

And I also recommend News You Won't Find on CNN or FoxNews to get the real stories behind the stories. Thank you to Silverio, one of our Fuller distributors, for telling me about this website.

President Bush got off his helicopter in front of the White House carrying a baby pig under each arm. The Marine guard snaps to attention, salutes and says, "Sir, those are very nice pigs, sir." The President salutes back and says, "These are not just pigs, soldier, these are authentic Texas Razorback Hogs. I got one for Vice President Cheney and one for Defense Secretary Rumsfeld." The Marine again snaps to attention, salutes and says, "Yes sir, very good trade, sir!"

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” – President Dwight D Eisenhower

"The challenge of statesmanship is to have the vision to dream of a better, safer world and the courage, persistence, and patience to turn that dream into reality." – Ronald Reagan

Let’s think about what President Reagan said. The www.COSTOFWAR.com is already over $152 BILLION in Iraq. Check out that website to see exactly what and how it is costing us. Let’s look at what THEY have accomplished, and what WE could have accomplished.

They have shown the world that the United States believes it is The Almighty and will enforce its Word as Law worldwide. After September 11, 2001, WE had the world honoring the United States with compassion. Public opinion worldwide was very favorable. Muslim extremists and terrorists were being marginalized as the “evil ones” in the world. The timing was prime for the US to live up to its potential to show generosity in returning friendship to the world, which means supporting what each country considers its best interests. GW preferred to bully the world into submission. If he was educated, he would have known better. I think many of his advisors DID know better, but their ultimate goal was the OIL and the destruction and reconstruction contracts for their corporate buddies. We gave the terrorists the ammunition they needed to change the minds of their countrymen. They can now say, “See. We told you the US didn’t care about you. They are killing us for nothing. They are waging a holy war against Islam. We need you to help us defend Allah.” American troops in Iraq are part of the problem, not the solution. War is a violent response to complex issues, by simple minds.

For MUCH LESS than what we have spent on bullying the world, we could have fed the “somewhat friendly” Moslem countries and used that to show the Iraqis we will help you if YOU decide you don’t want Saddam Hussein any more, and will provide what you need to get on your feet. Frankly, that wouldn’t have cost much if we kept their oil wells productive and spread that wealth nationwide among the Iraqis. True Islam is a peaceful religion, but just like anything else, there are extremists. When the terrorists tried to recruit against “the evil Americans”, the response would have been a totally opposite “What are you talking about? Are you blind? I think Americans could help us more than you.” And we could have also provided Universal Health Care for everyone and no one would have to worry about whether it’s going to be medicine and doctors this month, OR food. See the cost of war website for the possibilities.

George Bush was taking a stroll around Capitol Hill with Donald Rumsfeld when he met a little girl carrying a small basket with a blanket over it.
Curious, Bush says to the girl, "What's in the basket?".
She replies, "New baby kittens" and opens the basket to show him.
"How nice" says Bush. "What kind are they?"
The little girl says, "Republicans."
Bush smiles, pats the little girl on the head and they continue on.
About three weeks later, Bush and Dick Cheney are strolling around Capitol Hill when he sees the little girl again with the same basket.
Bush says to Cheney: "Watch this, it's very cute" and they approach the little girl.
Bush says to the girl, "So how are those cute kittens?"
She says "Oh, they're doing fine."
He then says, "Now what kind of kittens did you say they are?"
The little girl says, "Democrats."
Somewhat abashed, Bush says, "Three weeks ago you said they were Republicans!"
"I know," she says. "But now their eyes are open."

Regime Change Begins At Home.

What the heck kind of people do we have running this country who mouth filth like this?:

Nominees for Mother Jones' Diddly Award:

Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) appeared at a prayer breakfast just after the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 240,000 people. DeLay read a passage from Matthew about a nonbeliever: "...a fool who built his house on sand: The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew, and buffeted the house, and it collapsed and was completely ruined." Then, without comment, he righteously sat down. [if you're not Christian, you deserve to die? MY Jesus wouldn't want anything to do with this guy. - R.]

Rep Richard Baker (R-LA) was overheard by the Wall Street Journal explaining to lobbyists right after Hurricane Katrina had destroyed New Orleans that "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."

WINNER! Richard Baker, who will receive a granite tablet carved with the words of Mark 12:40, where Jesus warned that those who "devour widow's houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation."

For more details on the Diddly Awards or for a free email subscription to the latest atrocities in government, see www.motherjones.com

I strongly urge EVERYBODY who doesn't already subscribe, to get the December 2005 issue of Mother Jones, covering religion in depth. What gets me is all these demons in the current Bush administration parading as evangelistic fundamentalist Christians, and being glorified by same. You are equated with those you support and glorify. They need to take a closer look at their definition of the evil one.