This is my last column for the R-C News-Herald…before the election!

Ha! Got the Bushies hopes up for a second. If you heard a Bushie whooping with delight this morning, he or she probably whooped too soon.

I hope they’re whooping too soon, anyway. We’ve got to vote President Bush out of office before he undoes what presidents of both parties have accomplished over the past 60-plus years.

If you’re still undecided, vote for Sen. John Kerry and Sen. John Edwards. I guarantee they will do at least as good a job in the war on terror as Bush/Cheney, but I really expect them to do much better. Don’t listen to the &uot;weak on defense&uot;, &uot;soft on terror&uot;, &uot;flip-flopper&uot; rhetoric coming from the White House.

Even if that were true about Kerry’s record (it is not) anybody elected to be Commander in Chief would have to go aggressively after the terrorists. To do otherwise would be insane and would have the American people ready for the second revolution.

But let’s clarify something for those Bushies who can’t believe Kerry would make a good Commander in Chief. First, don’t be too chagrined if you’ve listened to what our President has been saying about Kerry. Sure, you should know better than to take what any politician tells you as gospel and you have a mound of evidence that this President engages in deception (at best) frequently and without any reservation or hesitation.

Don’t be embarrassed if you’ve let Bush, Cheney and the rest of the current administration scare you into thinking a vote against them is a vote for Armageddon. Again, you’re a trusting soul who wants to think a good Christian man like Bush wouldn’t mislead you and wouldn’t do or say anything to convince you that he’s your savior.

That being said, I’ve got some disturbing news for you: The war in Iraq has nothing to do with the war on terrorism.

Calm down. I know it’s like being told the tooth fairy doesn’t exist after all them years of finding quarters under your pillow, but it’s true. Now that you know, try to hold onto your teeth ’cause you’re not gettin’ any more quarters.

But enough of that. I’ve beat that dead horse into pulp already. The reason I brought it up again is because I was flabbergasted to hear Bush last week saying the war in Iraq was justified because of the connection between Saddam Hussein and al Quada terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

What? Good grief, how gullible does he think we are? Ooops, I’m sorry, apparently about half of us are gullible enough to buy into this obvious lie. Let’s look at the facts, shall we?

The terrorist group known as al Quada attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Shortly thereafter, President Bush declared war on terrorists and vowed to get them where they live, which for the most part was in Afghanistan. Our military made pretty quick work of Afghanistan, putting the ruling Taliban faction to flight and sending the terrorist scurrying for new rat holes to infest.

Surviving al Quada members fled to the mountains of Afghanistan, to Pakistan, to Syria, to Saudi Arabia, and to Iran. They did not flee to Iraq because the brutal dictator there (Hussein) would have considered them a threat to his security.

A bit more than a year later Bush went to war with Iraq for reasons that have now been proven false. After the initial invasion, Hussein was ousted from power, the Iraqi military was dismantled, and the police force was dismissed.

Zarqawi took advantage of the chaos of this now lawless land (check the facts, Bushies), set up shop, and commenced murdering American soldiers and Iraqi citizens.

The only connection between Zarqawi and Hussein is that by ousting the Iraq tyrant we gave the terrorist a new home where he was free to kill and terrorize. If there’s a connection between al Quada terrorists like Zarqawi and Iraq, it’s a connection that the Bush administration created.

And this week we discover that 380 tons of high explosives – the kind used to detonate atomic bombs because normal explosives aren’t powerful enough to do it – was just left laying in a bunker to be stolen by…we know not who.

The International Atomic Energy Agency told the Bush administration before the war where this material was located and how much of it was there. Did the Bush administration promptly make this a high priority, as anyone concerned with the security of these deadly weapons would have?

No. Instead the site was given a medium security rating and the few soldiers who went to the site didn’t even bother checking to see what was in the bunker.

I heard a Bush spokesman earlier this week saying that they shouldn’t be criticized because 380 tons of super-duper explosives went missing because the military did find and destroy about 400 tons of other weapons and explosives. Golly, with ammo dumps around every corner even I could have found 400 tons of guns and bombs, but I would certainly have found the 380 tons of explosive material because, ta-da, the IAEA told me where it was!

The only issue Bush has a lead on Kerry going into this election is his claim to be the toughest on terrorism. Bull. This administration’s incompetence has empowered terrorists around the world, given them more firepower then they ever had before, brought in funding sources that didn’t exist, and divided the world’s nations as to how the war on terror should be fought.

In other words, while our military is doing their jobs valiantly, their overall mission has been sabotaged by the utter incompetence of the Bush administration and its stubborn unwillingness to learn from its mistakes to make things better.

We need John Kerry and John Edwards in the White House today. Every day Bush is in power is another day the terrorists gather strength, another day that our soldiers are targets of maniacs, another day the vast majority of the world’s nations distance themselves from our insane policies, and another day in the countdown until the terrorists attack us again.

Don’t let fear rule your decision. Use common sense and the truth to make up your mind about who should be the next President of the United States.

One candidate has surrounded himself with incompetents who he will not fire or even reprimand. Bush. One candidate ignores facts and the wisdom of experts to do what he thinks his deity wants. Bush

The other candidate wants to lead the world in an all-encompassing war on murderous terrorists so that we can all be safer. Kerry! This candidate wants to give people power over their own lives by providing jobs that pay living wages. Kerry! This candidate will utilize the nation’s brightest minds – regardless of party affiliation or religious conviction – to improve living standards for all Americans, keep Americans safe from terrorists, and improve international relations with both allies and adversaries. Kerry!

The choice is simple: The choice is Kerry.