We all make mistakes....

[bling bling]

I've heard that response from not one, not two, but THREE "undecided" voters in the last week who I've been working on to vote for Kerry. The conversation goes something like this:

Me: Bush told us we had to rush to war because there were WMD's in Iraq and it was an immediate threat. He manipulated intelligence and lied to the American people and to the world.

Supposedly Undecided Voter: Well, we all make mistakes. The world can't expect the U.S. to never make a mistake. We can't wait for the "mushroom cloud" to hit us before we respond to threats.

Me: (Sound of jaw dropping to ground).

I can't decide what frustrates me more, that people could so casually dismiss a "mistake" of that proportion by the President of the United States, or that they STILL think that pre-emptively going to war with Iraq had anything to do with protecting ourselves from terrorists.

GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

[Shoeempress]

1. Have you tried pointing out that everyone else, UN, Blix, etc. told us

there were no WMDs? That Ambassador Wilson wrote an article before we went to Iraq saying there was no Yellow cake uranium? I know, shouldn't even have to ask, these undecided Knuckleheads, make me crazy.

[bling bling]

3. I've tried, but invariably

the next comment out of their mouths is "Well, the President got the authority from Congress who looked at the same intelligence. You can't just blame the President."

If I remember correctly, the Congress DIDN'T have the same intelligence. It seems to me that I heard the on the news back then various complaints from the Congress that they were being denied access to "top-secret" information from the White House. I could be wrong about that but even if I am it still doesn't mean that the President shouldn't be held responsible for his ineptness.

Again, GRRRRRRR.

[AndyTiedye]

2. This is Why I Have Little Hope for "Undecided" Voters

Anyone who dismisses going to war on the basis of a pack of lies,
with "we all make mistakes" is already too brainwashed to vote for
Kerry no matter what, and is just look for an excuse, any excuse,
to vote for Boozesh. The spinmeisters are always there to oblige.
24 hours a day.

This is why Boozesh's abysmal performance in the debate has not caused
a meltdown in his polling numbers as it should have. If they're still
undecided after watching that debate, the best we can hope for is that
they stay home on Election Day.

[onecitizen]

4. Learn to recognize these people........

early on and move on. Nothing to see here.

You'll never convince some people. They don't wanna be convinced. Their minds are made up. Move on.

[bling bling]

6. Thank you...

That's pretty much what I've been thinking too. I think I just needed someone else to verify for me that it's ok to give up on people like this.

I haven't given up hope on all the undecided's though. I'm keeping track and so far I've also managed to get several people to make up their minds to vote for Kerry.

I guess it's worth it if I can get one person to vote for Kerry for every three dolts like those I mentioned in my original post.

[Djinn]

5. Down my way

the line is all about "good faith" ie we believed the intelligence we had in good faith - why no-one mentions that there was FAR more intelligence stating it was buillshit than the other way around - and the "evidence" for the WMD line was widely discredited.

as for the "mistake" view...locking your keys in your car is a mistake, dating an asshole is a mistake, killing 10,000 civilians in an illegal war is a crime

[MercutioATC]

7. It's like the nuclear power argument to me...

"Some say that nuclear power generation is statistically safer than crossing the street.

True, but if something goes wrong when I cross the street, people in Sweden aren't told to stop eating vegetables."

(I heard this after the Chernobyl incident when people in Sweden were, in fact, told not to eat locally-grown produce for fear or radioactive contamination).

[captain disgruntled]

8. I need help converting my Afghani neighbours!!

I know, that's kind of a random response, but I am too new to start any posts, so here I am--
My neighbours are from Afghanistan, and I went over and gave them voter registration forms so they could change their address (they were registered at their previous residence). Their young daughter told me her mother is leaning toward *, and at first I was utterly confounded: they are immigrants, they are working class, they are Muslim, and they have 2 school-age children. WTF???? But then the child told me, her mother fears that if elected, John Kerry would pull troops out of Afghanistan, and the situation would once more revert to total chaos.
That actually made some sense to me.

So my question is, does anybody have anything concrete on this issue that I could reassure them with? Sure, they're American citizens, but they still have family, friends, connections in Afghanistan, and right now they also have hope. Can anybody help me with this??? Or should I just sigh and let it go??