MUST READ: Bush's hometown newspaper

is endorsing John Kerry for President... and in spectacular fashion. Not only are they endorsing Kerry, but in this editorial they clobber Dubya's record and rhetoric and attempt to hold him accountable for his poor decision-making. Although I agree with this reversal entirely... I'm a bit surprised at the complete indictment of the President's record.... they don't seem too pleased with anything George has accomplished.... but they strongly supported him prior to the 2000 election. Here are some choice excerpts... from Crawford, Texas' own Lone Star Iconoclast.

Few Americans would have voted for George W. Bush four years ago if he had promised that, as President, he would: • Empty the Social Security trust fund by $507 billion to help offset fiscal irresponsibility and at the same time slash Social Security benefits. • Cut Medicare by 17 percent and reduce veterans’ benefits and military pay. • Eliminate overtime pay for millions of Americans and raise oil prices by 50 percent. • Give tax cuts to businesses that sent American jobs overseas, and, in fact, by policy encourage their departure. • Give away billions of tax dollars in government contracts without competitive bids. • Involve this country in a deadly and highly questionable war, and • Take a budget surplus and turn it into the worst deficit in the history of the United States, creating a debt in just four years that will take generations to repay. These were elements of a hidden agenda that surfaced only after he took office. The publishers of The Iconoclast endorsed Bush four years ago, based on the things he promised, not on this smoke-screened agenda. Today, we are endorsing his opponent, John Kerry, based not only on the things that Bush has delivered, but also on the vision of a return to normality that Kerry says our country needs.

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Rather than using the billions of dollars expended on the invasion of Iraq to shore up our boundaries and go after Osama bin Laden and the Saudi Arabian terrorists, the funds were used to initiate a war with what Bush called a more immediate menace, Saddam Hussein, in oil-rich Iraq. After all, Bush said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction trained on America. We believed him, just as we believed it when he reported that Iraq was the heart of terrorism. We trusted him.

The Iconoclast, the President’s hometown newspaper, took Bush on his word and editorialized in favor of the invasion. The newspaper’s publisher promoted Bush and the invasion of Iraq to Londoners in a BBC interview during the time that the administration was wooing the support of Prime Minister Tony Blair.Again, he let us down.

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Iraq is now a quagmire: no WMDs, no substantive link between Saddam and Osama, and no workable plan for the withdrawal of our troops. We are asked to go along on faith. But remember, blind patriotism can be a dangerous thing and “spin” will not bring back to life a dead soldier; certainly not a thousand of them.

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John Kerry has 30 years of experience looking out for the American people and can navigate our country back to prosperity and re-instill in America the dignity she so craves and deserves. He has served us well as a highly decorated Vietnam veteran and has had a successful career as a district attorney, lieutenant governor, and senator.

Kerry has a positive vision for America, plus the proven intelligence, good sense, and guts to make it happen.

That’s why The Iconoclast urges Texans not to rate the candidate by his hometown or even his political party, but instead by where he intends to take the country.

The Iconoclast wholeheartedly endorses John Kerry.

Fantastic!