Voting Responsibly More
Important Than Simply Voting
by Jimmie Lee Hollis
As the election draws near,
the talk gets louder about voting - even though much of the talk
is about voter registration and not voter education. Without
the proper education and perspective, a wily politician can hoodwink
the electorate.
Take, for instance, the issue
of terrorism.
There is a lot of talk among
the candidates about the war on terror and which political philosophy
can best fight it. I, however, see the ideologies they want
us to vote for and fighting terrorists as two very different
things.
It's resolve, not ideology,
that will win the war on terror.
Let me explain it this way.
If I were a terrorist, I would make it my mission to know America's
weaknesses. For those vulnerabilities I didn't know about, I
could learn by watching CBS, NBC, ABC and CNN because their "experts"
would fill me in. I would know where and how to strike to inflict
the most debilitating strategic and emotional-charged attacks.
If I were a terrorist, I would
also be quite amused at the fervor, panic, divisiveness, hate
and false hopes surrounding so much of the current campaigns.
That's because there are those out there who actually think
that by electing a liberal that terrorists will somehow put down
their bombs and go away. What people don't seem to have learned
is that terrorists are dedicated to destroying America regardless
of who occupies the White House and what policies they introduce.
In the presidential race, I
(in my terrorist persona) would let Senator Kerry know that he
can't - and he won't - defeat or deter me through appeasement,
passing meaningless U.N. resolutions or putting my actions up
for a global test of their appropriateness. I would see his
propensity towards political correctness as a weakness, and I
would show him no mercy.
As for President Bush, to his
credit, he has caused me some pain. The question is: Can he
keep it up? Can he convince Americans to foster a resolve to
get "down and dirty" over long periods of time? If
not, any victory over terrorism is impossible. Frankly, I don't
think the American people have that sort of resolve right now.
So the fact remains that the
terrorists' agenda does not depend on who is elected in November.
Thank God I'm not a terrorist.
But if I - an ordinary citizen - can understand and present
such a strategy, surely our enemies have already done so with
even more insightful planning aimed at making the maximum impact
on our nation's infrastructure and psyche.
Voting is important, but political
pundits and activists should not try to lead people to believe
that the agenda of the terrorists hinges simply on the politics
of who wins in November. And the voters should not be quick
to fall for their claims.
Whoever is elected had better
be resolved and ready to take on our enemies with everything
we have - politically, economically and militarily. Anything
less is suicide.
###
Jimmie Lee Hollis, a retired
U.S. Air Force Senior NCO and freelance writer, is a member of
the National Advisory Council of the black leadership network
Project 21. Comments may be sent to Project21@nationalcenter.org.
Published by The National Center for Public Policy Research.
Reprints permitted provided source is credited. New Visions Commentaries
reflect the views of their author, and not necessarily those
of Project 21.
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