Values My Butt....

Why the “Media” will never understand how George W. Bush won re-election.

By T. J. Willms


I do not accept the widely reported premise that the single most important “issue” for the majority of voters on Election Day was moral values. All of the major news organizations have been blathering about this ad nauseam for weeks, even though their own exit-polling data (flawed as it was) doesn’t support that conclusion. Terrorism and the war in Iraq were treated as two separate entities within every exit poll I have read or heard about since November 2nd, when they are inextricably linked. Those “insurgents” our brave Marines are battling in places like Baghdad and Fallujah are not disaffected Iraqi green grocers. They are fanatic, Islamic, fascists, simply put they are TERRORISTS.

As separate categories terrorism ranked 2nd in most voter’s minds with 19%, and the war in Iraq fell well below Jobs and the Economy at 15%. These two “issues” however, cannot be held apart they are the same. Same enemy, same objective, same tactics, and in most cases the same soviet made weapons. Only the location varies, but it is undeniably the same war. A war against extremist Islamic terrorists hell bent on killing Americans and ranked overwhelmingly as the number one issue with American voters at 34%. Moral values are and were very important to voters regardless of party affiliation, religion, or the economic circumstances of the individual voter. It was important enough to the vast majority of the voting public to rank resoundingly second at 22%.

The media would also have you and I believe that the “moral values” encompasses a wide variety of unrelated viewpoints such as abortion, gay marriage, the inexorable creep of cultural profanity, capital punishment, and for many the morality of the preemptive aspects of the Bush Doctrine. When I consider the phrase "moral values" it brings to my mind words like Leadership, Judgment, Character, and Responsibility. I decided to consult my aging American Heritage Dictionary to settle this apparent ideological dispute. I did have to scan past the first three definitions of the word all regarding monetary worth to find what I was looking for. A glance toward my thesaurus’ list of synonyms also showed a closer alignment with my interpretation than say… Dan Rather’s.

Values: 4. A principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable.

Thesaurus: 1. (n.) Rules of right or good conduct:
• Ethics
• Principles
• Standards
• Ideals
• Morals

It has always been the case that by casting our vote, we are searching for a leader with moral values similar to our own. It is my belief that the founders of this “Greatest Nation on Gods Green Earth” would be amazed and pleased that the experiment they began over 200 years ago is alive and well despite the insightful-illogic leaping forth from nearly all of our news sources. When considering this past election using the definition above as a guideline, it became obvious that our entire election process relies on these kinds of values in order to function properly.

First we must all TRUST that our constitution has set the stage for our nation to flourish despite whoever takes up temporary residence in the white house. We also need to have confidence in the INTEGRITY of our electoral system. It requires candidates with the COURAGE to stand up to everything from microscopic media scrutiny to forgery and outright scurrilous lies about who they are and what they stand for. The people have to have FAITH that our votes will be fairly counted and that a peaceful transition of power will result from their efforts. The process relies upon the WISDOM of the American people who take the RESPONSIBILITY for choosing the right person to lead their government.

All of these “Values” are so tightly interwoven within our election process that the very idea of “moral values” as a separate campaign issue seems seem to me to be slightly moronic. While my dictionary was still open I flipped through it to the definition of “journalism” to find out what kind of people would be foolhardy enough to try and winnow it out as a different issue. The third entry caught my eye because it is the basic standard with which they wish us to view them while each day they march to the tune of an entirely different and very partisan drum.

JOURNALISM: 3. The style of writing characteristic of material in newspapers and magazines, consisting of direct presentation of facts or occurrences with little attempt at analysis or interpretation.

National security and defeating TERRORISM was the primary factor in deciding who won in November. This requires no analysis or interpretation. Let the “NEWSIES” and the Democratic Pundits along with the DNC believe it was something different and they will continue to be wrong, and lose elections.


Now for the good news:

Today it was gleefully reported that the unhinged leadership at MoveOn.org has claimed ownership of the DNC party chair and is throwing their support behind Vermont Governor Howard “EEAAAARRRGH!” Dean. Well good for them! This should help the Democratic Party fragment further into oblivion as a major political force in American politics. Perhaps in the next election they will garner the same kind of support as the Libertarian Party did in this one. Their “Moral-Values” have already moved so far left as to be virtually unrecognizable as the same party that brought us J. F. K. in 1960. Good Luck Democrats, and when you finally reach the same conclusion as Ronald Reagan did that "their party has left them" we will have room in our big inclusive tent for many of you.