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Ben Franklin Weighs In On George W. Bush
By Jack Walters
10/23/04 "ICH" -- In the annals of sales and salesmen, perhaps the most effective sales closing technique ever devised is the “Ben Franklin” close, also known as the “Balance Sheet” close. Used by salesman for decades, the essence of this sales technique is that it brings the prospect to a buying decision. By way of history, here’s how it all started: Old Ben advised an English scientist friend how to make an important personal choice his friend otherwise couldn’t seem to make—not unlike the decision many of us are struggling with this coming November 2nd. Franklin wrote that the difficulty in making an important choice is because “all Reasons pro and con are not present to the mind at the same time…” Franklin suggested dividing a sheet of paper into two columns, designating one as “FOR” and the other “AGAINST”. Then, over a period of time, filling in each column as thoughts occurred to him so that “when each reason is thus considered separately and comparatively, and the whole lies before me, I think I judge better and less likely to make a rash step…”
Americans now face a crucial and perplexing decision in whether or not to send Mr. Bush back to the Whitehouse for another four years. If ever there was a time for careful evaluation, this is it! So, in the tradition of Benjamin Franklin, let’s do a balance sheet on George W. Bush:
Should I Vote To Re-elect Bush?
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VOTE
YES
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VOTE NO
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George Bush
is working hard fighting terrorism and bringing freedom to
the
Middle East
.
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The phony
war on terrorism is a cover for attacking any nation with
resources, and “freedom” cannot be enforced on anyone
at the point of a gun.
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George Bush
punished Saddam for 9/11
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Saddam had
nothing to do with 9/11. This completely false insinuation
by the media is, however, believed by over half the
country.
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George Bush
talks to God: “God instructed me to strike at Saddam”.
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Many tyrants
throughout history have claimed divine authority for
heinous acts. Apparently “Divine Right of Kings” is
alive and well in
Washington
.
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George Bush
stopped Saddam from using weapons of mass destruction and
launching chemical weapons in 45 minutes.
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No weapons
of mass destruction have been found in
Iraq
to date.
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George Bush
is fighting for
America
in
Iraq
and winning hearts and minds.
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What? How is
illegally invading and occupying a sovereign country,
killing thousands in the process, and angering the entire
world “fighting for
America
”? And, if we were winning hearts and minds, why are we
receiving over 80 attacks per day?
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George Bush
has made us safer here by fighting terrorism over there.
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Our violent
interventionist policy in the rest of the world means we
are safe nowhere.
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George Bush
has given
Iraq
back a sovereign government.
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We have no
sovereignty to grant as the war was illegal. The puppet
government Bush installed has even less support than
Vichy
France
.
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George Bush
has created over 300,000 jobs.
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Over 5
million jobs have been outsourced in the past four years
by Mr. Bush’s corporate friends.
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George Bush
has cut taxes.
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Yeah. For
the upper 2%
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George Bush
wants smaller government.
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Government
has grown by a third these past four years.
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George Bush
wants amnesty for illegal aliens.
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Great. First
create a problem by wide-open borders. Then solve the
created problem by granting amnesty, further burdening
state and local governments with increased welfare and
medical costs.
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George Bush
has given us the “best economy in twenty years”.
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Oh Susanna,
don’t you cry for me…
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George Bush
supports our troops.
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By not
attending a single funeral of a fallen soldier, not to
mention cutting veterans’ benefits and keeping our
wounded soldiers hidden away often in squalid conditions.
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George Bush
has made us safer with the Patriot Act.
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A cleaver
name often belies evil intent.
This
“Patriot Act” deceptively sold to the congress and
America
, is the greatest assault on our Constitutional freedoms
ever undertaken and compares eerily to Hitler’s Enabling
Act.
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George Bush
would never lie to us.
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The
justifications for attacking
Iraq
have been all shown to be complete lies. In fact, one is
hard put to find any major issue this Administration has
been truthful about.
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George Bush
is helping the “Chosen People” by fighting
Israel
’s enemies, as millions of fundamentalist
“Judeo-Christians” believe.
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So is this
the real reason for this war? Why haven’t we been told?
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So there you have
it, a Ben Franklin balance sheet on George W. Bush. Old Ben would
be proud. But in actuality, what this sheet reveals is sinister
and disturbing. You see, the fanatic Bush supporters, wearing
their blinders proudly, believe only the information in the FOR
column, while a few of us, willing to consider the whole of the
vital issues expressed above, have seen through the looking glass
and discovered that the AGAINST column is a damning assessment of
this dangerous administration that is not only bankrupting our
country but placing us in grave risk of world war. It is apparent,
with armies mobilizing all over the world, that the Bush cabal has
engendered a war cycle. Just as nations formed a coalition to stop
Hitler from waging pre-emptive wars of aggression, nations could
very well ally themselves against us for the same reason. Judging
from the bellicose, war-threatening words against
Iran
and
Syria
, and talk of a new draft, Bush hasn’t even begun to fight his
planned wars.
When you vote
November 2nd, remember Ben Franklin’s sound advice
and consider the “whole” of the matter.
Jack Walters -
rapid.press@verizon.net
Jack Walters is a
former GOP County Chairman who resigned March 10, 2003 to protest
the
Iraq
war. His resignation letter was widely published, and can still be
found on many websites.
Copyright: Jack
Walters
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