We live in a very cynical time and I know people can get especially jaded when it comes to politics. I mean, when it comes to things like political "dirty tricks", surely everyone does it. Right? But the truth is, no, not everyone does. Not everyone stoops to lies and innuendo to win. Not everyone believes the end justifies the means.
It's sort of like when you were in high school and you thought everyone was "doing it." Except you, of course. But they weren't. In fact, the great majority weren't.
But to believe that everyone does dirty tricks in politics reduces respect for the process and leads to lower voting rates. For a republic, this is a very dangerous thing. If people disengage from the political process, it leaves only the hardcore power brokers to do as they will. If you believe nothing else, believe that the power brokers, whether they call themselves Republicans or Democrats, don't care what is best for you. What they care about is what's best for themselves. But I digress.
I've been involved in politics for 30 years and the only dirty tricks I've seen seem to be the trademark of certain people. These people tend to call themselves Republicans. Before you go running off into the night screaming, let me say I don't believe these people are true Republicans. Rather, these people wrap themselves in that word like cowards wrap themselves in the flag - both hoping to draw attention away from their lack of courage, ethics, and morality.
So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a "photograph" is making the Internet rounds that purports to show U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry standing next to Jane Fonda at a 1970 anti-war rally. First, let's be clear that Kerry, a war veteran, came back from Vietnam a changed man. He went there, from all reports, to serve his country and he did so with distinction. But he came back and protested the very war he had participated in as being unjust and based on false pretenses.
Did he speak out against the war? Yes. Did he speak at a rally that Fonda also attended? Yes. Did the photo capture him standing next to Fonda at this rally? Nope. The picture is a fabrication merging two photos taken at two different locations on two different dates. There are already other fabrications floating like dirt on the waters. Don't believe them.
As for me, up untill I saw the fabrication, I was undecided as to who I would vote for at our Hawai'i Democratic Party caucus next week Tuesday. I am no longer undecided...Give Peace a Chance. Kerry for President.
Aloha!
