Thailand RPCV Charles Frederickson says the future of peace lies with John Kerry
The future of peace lies with John Kerry
I was born and raised in the buckle of the Bible Belt and was taught to respect and honour the democratic values of fair play, liberty and justice for all humanity. As a Peace Corps volunteer, I became a pragmatic idealist, chronic optimist and heretical make-do believer, appreciative of the free opportunities and conveniences I had for too long simply taken for granted, but also emotionally disturbed and perturbed about the indignities and inequities suffered by those circumstantially less fortunate, determined to somehow make a positive impact.
With a PhD in International Education, I have enjoyed working in or travelling to 206 countries, always trying to treat the people I met with a warm smile, calm tolerance, compassionate dignity and heartfelt caring. I have been welcomed with generous hospitality and made some truly wonderful loyal friends. That is until the Century of Disillusionment dawned, overcast with a dense, fearsome dark cloud cover of Bush-whacking bullyrag, true lies, deceptive intimidation and uncompromising aggression.
The overwhelming global condolences and expressions of sympathy following the horrific September 11 tragedy were squandered by the unilateralist policies of an elitist neo-con administration that duped and misled the gullible American populace by waging an unnecessary, costly and senseless pre-emptive war for the wrong reasons and wrong ambitions, with serious long-term negative consequences for the US. Vested interest powerbrokers and immoral crusaders, fomenting anti-Arab biases, hate and fear, subjected those of us advocating peaceful or diplomatic solutions to petty denigrating labels, arrogantly dismissing us as unpatriotic saboteurs.
Previously, I was rather apathetic about politics, but the importance of this election has made me become a progressive rebel with an honourable, just cause. If we want to put an end to curtailed civil liberties, torture abuse horrors, ghost detainees and the mindless humiliation pranks of the past four years, we must restore a rainbow of hope and trust, renewing passionate belief in the American dream we still hold dear by re-defeating clueless Bush and reprioritising insurance claims for a safer, saner, more secure future by electing a more intelligent, aware and perceptive Kerry. Pax vobiscum.
Dr Charles Frederickson
Bangkok
