Joseph LaPatka – 10/26/04

This page was last updated on October 26, 2004.

If roles were reversed …; Joseph LaPatka; Beaver County Times; October 26, 2004.

This is Mr. LaPatka’s third anti-Bush letter since September 5^th.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“With the presidential election now only days away, let us pretend for a minute that John Kerry is running as the Republican candidate and George Bush the Democrat.

“I would now venture to say Kerry would be portrayed as a cross between Audie Murphy and John Wayne. There would not be any swift boat ads and Kerry probably would be responsible for ending the Vietnam War.

[RWC] Is Mr. LaPatka kidding? The Kerry campaign and the old media have been portraying Kerry as a war hero from the beginning? Heck, Kerry himself took a home movie camera to Vietnam in 1968 and filmed re-enactments of his alleged actions and used them in his campaign ads. At the Democrat convention, he “took” Boston harbor with a few veteran pals on a ferry. When he accepted the Democrat nomination, Kerry saluted and stated, “Reporting for duty.”

Regarding the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Mr. LaPatka fails to mention the group is composed of Democrats, independents, and Republicans.

“On the other hand, you could still not change Bush. He would still be a coward and liar. Simply put, Bush is no commander-and-chief.

[RWC] Ah, name-calling. You can tell a person is lost when he sinks to that level. Mr. LaPatka, please provide provable facts to support your claims.

“Nobody in their right mind would divide the country like he has and distance themselves from longtime allies. If you are arrogant and disrespectful of friend or foe, you are doomed for certain failure.”

[RWC] The “divisive” claim again. Mr. LaPatka wrote, “If you are arrogant and disrespectful of friend or foe, you are doomed for certain failure.” I guess this means we can’t vote for Kerry because he calls our allies in Iraq a “trumped-up, so-called coalition of the bribed, the coerced, the bought, and the extorted.” Does anyone care to guess how the “bribed and coerced” would respond to John Kerry if he were elected? Kerry also trashed Iraq PM Allawi when he visited the United States to thank us on behalf of the Iraqi people.

To folks like Mr. LaPatka, why are countries that don’t support us more valuable than those that do support us?

“As time goes on, you can see Bush and his cohorts are weakening our military. As a combat veteran of Vietnam, the No. 1 morale booster was knowing that after one year, and your tour being over, you were going home.

“Some of the military personnel are now returning to Iraq two and three times. Put yourselves in their place and their families. Sooner or later, you know your luck always runs out.

“With little or no planning for the occupation, Iraq is now a powder keg.”

[RWC] What proof can Mr. LaPatka provide that there was no planning? Though there is still trouble in Iraq, I believe the great progress proves there was a plan.

“Kerry must be given a chance to regain our country’s respect and strengthen our forces. He must be given the chance to re-start our economy, create good-paying jobs and make health care and higher education affordable.

[RWC] Our country has the respect of its true friends and that’s all I care about. Mr. LaPatka claims Kerry will “strengthen our forces” despite the fact Kerry’s Senate record points in the opposite direction.

Regarding “restarting” our economy, does Mr. LaPatka pay attention to the facts at all? The unemployment rate (5.4%) is lower than the average of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s and is lower than the unemployment rate when we re-elected Bill Clinton in 1996. The unemployment rates of France and Germany are nearly double that. More Americans are working now than at any time in history. Our economy is growing faster than just about every other industrialized nation. More Americans own their own homes than at any time in history. You get the idea.

Presidents don’t generate jobs, the private sector does. Kerry’s tax plans would work against that.

Presidents don’t set the prices for education and healthcare. That said, government is the reason the prices for these services are too high. The more we reduce government’s meddling in these issues, the quicker we can get the pricing to what it should be.

“We need a president to make the middle class the No. 1 priority, not companies like Halliburton. Bush has had his four years and he has failed miserably. It is time for a change. Only voters can make this happen.”

[RWC] Oh my gosh, not Halliburton again! Man the anti-Bush crowd is flailing.