Expats Against Bush - Australia

Back in Action

After a bit of a posting hiatus, I'm back in action now. I've certainly been viewing all of the healthy discussion but have had to focus on some other things for a while. As we are moving closer towards the business-end of the election season, I hope to be more active and also hope that we are able to continue building a stronger presence down under.

As part of that process, Greg Altreuter got in touch with me recently. He has a blog at http://crosswords.blogspot.com and is working on building up a Democrats Abroad presence in Australia (check out http://democrat.meetup.com). For anybody involved or interested in EAB Australia, I suggest also getting in touch with Greg through those sites, as I see an opportunity for us to combine efforts in our unified cause. Best place to probably contact Greg is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DA-Australia/ .

I'll have more soon but in the meantime, please get in contact with me here or via the comments on this page.

Lets's Hear From Any Expats in Oz!

If you are a U.S. expat living in Australia, lets hear from you. Its time for us to build the community Down Under and spread the word to other fellow expats.

Here are a couple notable quotes that I found recently from two of the greatest Presidents in American history... Very interesting indeed:

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else" -- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States

“Trusting to escape scrutiny by fixing the public gaze upon the exceeding brightness of military glory, that attractive rainbow that rises in showers of blood —that serpent’s eye, that charms to destroy,
he plunged into war.” --Abraham Lincoln, speaking of James Polk.

Welcome To EAB Australia

Greetings... My name is Chad Thiesen and I am excited to be starting the Australian chapter of EAB. I think that this is a great forum for U.S. citizens living abroad who share some of the same views about the direction of our homeland under the current Bush administration.

I don't think that its a coincidence that I have yet to meet a single American expat who is in favor of the Bush administration. I am sure they are out there, but I think they are very much in a minority. As expats, we have a very unique perspective on both the U.S. and the world at large. When you are brought up in the U.S. which is such an insular culture and society and then get a chance to see it on the outside-looking-in for a period of time, it enables you to see things from a new and important perspective.

Historically, I have not been a politically active person. In fact, I have never even voted. I took an apathetic philosophy at a younger age that my vote or actions simply wouldn't make a difference, so why bother. With everything that has occurred in the last three years, starting from the tainted election to the most recent deaths of soldiers and civilians in Iraq, I can no longer remain inactive in the face of such turmoil, corruption, and incompetence.

The Bush administration has taken the highest level of collective goodwill from the global community since at least WWII, if ever, and completely inversed it to probably the lowest ever in the space of about a year. It is truly remarkable... and truly frightening. There are a multitude of other issues to highlight, but I think seeing some former Repbulican voters getting involved in this site, as well as other related forums, is a true sign that this whole issue goes beyond Republican vs. Democrat and left vs. right arguments.

For all of those getting involved in this movement, I look forward to working with you all collectively over the next year. We can.... and must... make a difference.