Bearing False Witness

To the Editor:

“I am a man of faith” says Bush. Which one? What faith teaches one to “Bear False Witness” as Bush has done in thousands of TV ads shamelessly misrepresenting the beliefs and actions of John Kerry? One of the ten commandments is “Thou shalt not bear False Witness.” Bush has made a mockery of it!

Bush attack ads on Kerry’s health care plan: “Government in control of your health care,” “5 trillion dollars cost!” Republican analysis showed a cost of $1.5 trillion with your choice of doctors! Why is Bush lying?

Bush: “We value the sacrifice of those who have fought for our country.” Really? Then explain why in 2003 you cut veterans’ eligibility for medical benefits? Why are 1.7 million vets without medical insurance, 235,000 more than when you took office?

How can Bush state, “We value our soldiers” and “There will be no draft” and then dishonor their contracts by forcing them to leave their jobs and families, again to fight, after completing their service?

The RNC has admitted distributing pamphlets that say, “If elected, Kerry will ban the Bible.” Where’s the evidence for this outrageous claim?

What faith teaches hypocrisy as an appropriate value for a “Man of Faith?”

A Bush attack ad criticizes Kerry for his vote to “Reduce Intelligence spending by $6 billion” (3 percent), yet Republican leadership voted for cuts of 20 percent. If this “would seriously weaken our national defense,” then why did Bush, last month, appoint Porter Goss to be the new US Intelligence Chief after he voted for 20 percent cuts?

Bush ads claim that under Kerry “Our nation will not be safe” and Bush/Cheney claim that Kerry policies will allow proliferation of nuclear weapons. So why does the 2005 proposed Bush budget reduce defense department spending by $41 million for “securing foreign nuclear weapons”?!

Bush ads attack Kerry’s statements on Vietnam, mostly verified! Kerry fought for our country while Bush hid in the Alabama National Guard!

Bush’s ruinous economic policies have caused a 30 percent crash in the value of the US dollar since March 2002 and the unemployment rate has fallen only because the US workforce shrank by 1,400,000!

Three years after 9/11, why isn’t there one unified list of suspected terrorists? Why isn’t all airplane and port cargo x-rayed? Why hasn’t Bush demanded nuclear and electric plants to safeguard their facilities?

Bush refused to create the Office of Homeland Security. Bush refused to testify before the 9/11 commission. Bush refused to send adequate troops in Iraq. Bush refused to let UN inspectors safeguard known Iraqi munitions sites allowing the disappearance of 760,000 pounds of high-explosive. Only, one pound killed 300 people in Egypt last month!

The most dangerous impact of a Bush reelection will be that Bush will appoint several Supreme Court Justices who, like Scalia, may trample the Constitution, and further erode the personal freedoms that we have not yet lost.

Failure on morals. Failure on the economy. Failure in Iraq. Failure to admit mistakes. Failure to be truthful.

Only a failure believes that a record of mediocrity is a success!

Our country needs a “Regime Change” on November 2. Please vote for Kerry!

Robert L. Shohet

51 Saddle Road, Newtown                                         October 27, 2004