I received an e-mail the other day...

I receive plenty of e-mail EVERY day (much of it junk), but this one was about politics. The text of this e-mail follows:

"Can You Name This Country?
709,000 REGULAR (ACTIVE DUTY) PERSONNEL.

293,000 RESERVE TROOPS.

EIGHT STANDING ARMY DIVISIONS.

20 AIR FORCE AND NAVY AIR WINGS WITH 2,000 COMBAT AIRCRAFT.

232! STRATEGIC BOMBERS.

19 STRATEGIC BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINES WITH 3,114 NUCLEAR WARHEADS ON 232
MISSILES.

500 ICBMs WITH 1,950 WARHEADS.

FOUR AIRCRAFT CARRIERS AND 121 SURFACE COMBAT SHIPS AND SUBMARINES PLUS ALL
THE SUPPORT BASES, SHIPYARDS, AND LOGISTICAL ASSETS NEEDED TO SUSTAIN SUCH A
NAVAL FORCE.

IS THIS COUNTRY:

RUSSIA? NO

CHINA? NO

GREAT BRITAIN? NO

FRANCE? WRONG AGAIN

MUST BE USA? STILL WRONG

GIVE UP?

THESE ARE THE AMERICAN MILITARY FORCES THAT WERE ELIMINATED DURING THE
ADMINISTRATION OF BILL CLINTON AND AL GORE.

SLEEP WELL!.........

If you can read this, thank a teacher; If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier."

John Kerry on Defense -- I hadn't seen this list printed before. It would make one heck of a mailer if it were sent to voters.

He voted to kill the Bradley Fighting Vehicle

He voted to kill the M-1 Abrams Tank

He voted to kill every aircraft carrier laid down from 1988.

He voted to kill the Aegis anti aircraft system

He voted to Kill the F-15 Strike Eagle

He voted to Kill the Block 60 F-16

He voted to Kill the P-3 Orion upgrade

He voted to Kill the B-1

He voted to Kill the B-2

He voted to Kill the Patriot Anti Missile System

He voted to Kill the FA-18

He voted to Kill the B-2

He voted to Kill the F117

In short, he voted to kill every military appropriation for the development and deployment of every weapons systems since 1988 to include the battle armor for our troops. With Kerry as president our Army will be made up of naked men running around with sticks and clubs.

He also voted to kill all anti terrorism activities of every agency of the U.S. Government and to cut the funding of the FBI by 60%, to cut the funding for the CIA by 80%, and cut the funding for the NSA by 80%.

But then he voted to increase OUR funding for U.N operations by 800%!!!

Is THIS a President YOU want?

Please pass this on, as many people may not know how bad it is. And don't limit your sending to just your Republican friends. Everyone needs to know."

A day or so later, there was a response from someone else who had received this e-mail. In the interest of saving space, I'll point to the article on Slate that was used as a rebuttal.

This brings up interesting points. How do we sort through the BS that is used by both sides? If you watch Fox News exclusively, you'd be unlikely to hear the Kerry side of things. If you listen to the Republican attack machine, you won't see the full story. The conservative machine cries foul when Michael Moore is using the same tactics that they use. Both sides use these methods. Both sides should be ashamed.

One way to sort through the crap is to check out the Annenberg Political Fact Check site. Another (much more difficult and far less likely for "joe swing voter" to do) way is to actually look at the voting records. In the minds of many voters, this election is one of the most important that has been held for a while. Please check the facts before making up your mind... This country went to war on what has proven to be questionable intelligence. More often than not, intelligence is conjecture. Sometimes we are lucky enough to be able to catch someone in the act but that doesn't happen very much. As Americans, we are bombarded from the left and right by snippets of information carefully sculpted to steer us in the direction that the source wants us to go. I've chosen to jump off of the wagon because it's beyond my control. I'd love to see people send a message to the powers-that-be (Democrat and Republican) by voting Libertarian or Constitution or even Nader. My vote may not put someone in office, but it won't be wasted.