From Wayne Williams on Ed Gish, the author of the following piece:

My friend Ed Gish is yet another Republican on my political email list who is out right fed up with the Bush Administration. Here are his comments.

I first want to say, we have seen little from Kerry in the media for just the reasons Ed lays out here, they know which side their bread is buttered on, for now. Being involved in the Kerry effort, I know John Kerry and the campaign will come out fighting big time as the Convention gears up, but for now it's just fine to let BushCo waste millions with little result. We haven't begun to fight yet, 6 months to the election, 3 months to the conventions. You ain't seen nothing yet!

WW

Wayne Williams
Writers for Kerry-CA Leader
Writers for Kerry-Los Angeles Co-Moderator

FROM REPUBLICAN ED GISH

Some of my friends have concluded that I have become a political animal. That is true in one sense, not true in another.

I am not a democrat. I have been a registered Republican for 54 years. That makes me an old time Republican who still believes in higher tariffs, less involvement in other country's affairs, we don't fire unless fired upon and I believe in lower taxes for wage earners.

My religious beliefs are between me and my God and I have nothing but contempt for anyone who uses theirs for gain (popular or material) of any kind.

Unfortunately for me and other real Republicans we haven't had a qualified candidate since most current Republicans were born.

We haven't had an honest candidate in either party who governed in the interest of the people since the advent of television.

When television replaced radio as the people's popular medium, this technological miracle that according to law and the FCC was supposed to operate in the interest of the people became a cash cow that political candidates had to feed huge amounts of money if they were to get any public exposure.

The money had to come from the corporate community who, being business men, do not spend money without expecting something in return.

What they got was the country.

You've all heard the story of how I was practically thrown out of a big Advertising Age convention when I stood up and suggested that just prior to elections, candidates be given free time on broadcast media to state their platform, debate and answer honest questions from real viewers and listeners.

Chet Huntley stood up on the dais in my defense and stated that he would happily commit the seven television stations he owned to that resolve.

I wasn't thrown out, but I was called a communist, socialist and other more colorful names that while possibly true do not bear repeating.

I was just asking that the FCC be allowed by the administration to function according to its charter: Broadcasting in the public interest. What is more in our interest than our government.

I was asked by a cousin of mine if George W. could do anything right in my estimation. I wish he would.

Here is one example that sort of sums everything up for me.

On the one hand we are told how we want to bring freedom and the good life to these poor misled Muslims, how we have their best interests at heart and we certainly are not there for personal power or gain, to reward our cronies or pay back old debts.

Does the name John Negroponte ring a bell?

You may have heard the Bush administration is appointing him our first ambassador to post war Iraq.

You may not remember that Negroponte was one of the key figures in the Iran-Contra scandal.

Why is this important? Well that idiotic plot sold American arms to Iran and used the money to finance an illegal "war" in Nicaragua.

Negroponte speaks no Arabic, has no grounding in middle eastern life and politics and he was responsible for arming Iraq's enemy during the Iran-Iraq war!!!

This is how concerned this administration is about making friends with the Iraqi people.

That is not all. When we hand Iraq over on June 30, standing there in the front row with his hand out will be Ahmed Chalabi, convicted crook, liar and purveyor of the false intelligence that gave his buddy Cheney an excuse to convince Rumsfeld and Bush to start the first pre-emptive war in the history of our country.

At this moment, Chalabi is on the Iraqi Governing Council earning an enviable reputation for corruption.

By the way until we took over Iraq this is the first time Chalabi has been there in 40 odd years. The Iraqi people have no use for him and he is our resident expert who will have an important voice in their new government. Any wonder they have taken up arms to resist that kind of "help?"

There's more. Too much more.

Happily I think the American people are beginning to get it. Even though Kerry has become a wus in his old age and is campaigning like he's running against Gerald Ford and even though Bush has carpet bombed him with over 50 million dollars in corporate donations on television, he is still running a 50-50 race.

We can thank George W. for that. Americans are learning that he is not the sharpest tack on the bulletin board, he is a C- student doesn't really understand the research and real intelligence put out by those he terms intellectual "fancy pants" so he has insulated himself from them and like Hitler he goes by "gut feel" and "instinct" much of the time.

He talks to God a lot and tells us that God is guiding him. Muslims talk to God five times a day and say that He is guiding them.

As I said, I have nothing but contempt for anyone who uses their religious beliefs for popular or material gain.

God gave me a brain, a soul, five senses, a voice, opposable thumbs and said, "Ye shall know them by their works." So, I figure I'm on my own. What I do with all these great gifts is pretty much up to me. He is not going to give me any more guidance than he has. However, he is going to judge me on how I've handled myself and all that he has given me.

I don't believe George W. has a different deal.

I don't believe he is on a mission from God to free all the oppressed peoples of the world and tell them how to live their lives.

I don't think the oppressed peoples of the world believe it either. Last month the Iraqis killed more of our troops than died taking the country in the first place. They believe that God is telling them to take their country back from the infidel invaders. Now, even though this was not our intention, we are in a religious war against Islam.

It is a war we cannot win. Let me see, there was Korea, Vietnam a bunch of brushfire conflicts that changed nothing anywhere...how many of those can we afford? How many can we survive?

We have big problems that need our attention here at home.

We are not educating our youth to handle the new technological jobs that are being outsourced to other countries where the people work cheaper and have the education to handle them.

We are allowing corporate greed and fraud to undermine our way of life and our health.

I'm not political. I'm an American and a Republican, but I'm not the kind of Republican who puts the party right or wrong before my country.

Ed Gish



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