Time to Punch Something

I'm glad Kerry conceded, though I'm rather upset at the outcome. I can't say I'm too surprised because the Republicans really had their act together and an amazingly effective attack machine against Kerry. Besides, Bush was an incumbent war president. It was an uphill battle anyway, what with the advantageous position of the Republican National Convention coming after the Democratic one, and Bush getting to close the debates last, and the whole Swift Boat thing (which Bush didn't sponsor, but which helped him). All the big Democratic punches, the convention and Fahrenheit 9/11, happened during the summer and the sentiment dissipated by October.

Fuck the "Anti-Bush." I wish that a pro-Kerry documentary could've been more widely accessible, as opposed to Fahrenheit 9/11, an anti-Bush tract. I saw "Going Upriver," a documentary about Kerry in Vietnam, and it was then that I believed in him. It was only the day before the election, and I saw how courageous and gracious he was as a 27-year old speaking before a Senate Committee. At 27 he made an impact like a meteor, his five minutes of airtime on the national news- five minutes on the news, mind you- riveting the nation, President Nixon, the FBI. 27, hm? What am I going to be doing in eight years? I thought to myself, watching that footage, "There goes the president of the United States."

I wish they'd count the absentee ballots and the provisional ballots. Right now I feel like my vote doesn't really matter, like my vote somehow wasn't "worth" as much as other votes because it was an absentee ballot, because it wasn't in a swing state. I want my vote to be just the same as everyone else's. I know they will count them, but it just seems like an afterthought and a joke right now. And in these four years, with everything that's happened, the states were still pretty much divided the same way as they were in 2000. How many people were actually informed voters, and how many people just voted the party line? The debates didn't seem to matter at all. Young people didn't make a difference after all. After all that we tried, we didn't change a single thing. But I'm glad it was at least a clean election. Thank God for that.

Involvement Fest today. It was fun people watching. Unfortunately, the Political Economics booth I was manning was sandwiched with the Baptist Ministry, the Catholic frats, and the Mormons, so people basically walked by quickly, trying very hard not to make eye contact. If I had wrangled in the Republicans' Club member dressed like a giant flip-flop, I could've made it Conservative Alley or something.

Moved the booth next to the quiet heavily-trafficked College Democrats and Habitat for Humanity tables, and got quite a bit more traffic after that. As a bonus, I now have gimungous John Kerry for President sign which I'm displaying at my dorm room window.

Hey, did you know that there's a group going to Florida to campaign for Kerry? Man, that takes dedication.

Bush Attacks Kerry on Trigun Stance

Yes, this is a real campaign ad. Watch carefully.

Apparent Kerry is an enemy of Nicholas D. Wolfwood.

A Comprehensive Look at Why Bush Sucks

Now, I don't think that Bush is evil, I don't think he has some sort of vast corporate-military-oil conspiracy or anything like that. I just think he's wrong for this country.

a) Iraq. Bush said we were going in because there was a threat to national security because Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. There aren't any. So why are we there? I understand that Saddam Hussein was an evil dictator, violated human rights, etc etc, and I'm glad that we got him out. I don't think we did it the right way. We now have this chaotic mess on our hands. You'd think that if we were to overthrow someone's government we should at least get the clear support of their people first. We rebuilt Germany and Japan after WWII, so it's not like the US is incapable of rebuilding nations, but we have to do it with a willing populace. (Another thing that can be said of Germany and Japan is that they were already Westernized nations, with strong industrial bases and an educated middle class, which helps a lot.) Also, if we were truly so noble-minded, why Iraq? Why not Sudan, or Liberia, or East Timor? If we're trying to be the humanitarian police of the world, it's funny that we only help people when it's expedient.

b) Gay marriage. Ok, with the economy like this, and terrorism, and rising health care costs, our biggest problem is that two people want to get married? Sanctity of marriage what? We'll protect the sanctity of a drunk Britney Spears getting married overnight in Vegas, and Anna Nicole milking an old geezer out of his money? Unless the government has some magic powers to discern whether one marriage is abusing the sacred institution, and another is truly blessed, it should just butt out of the whole "moral authority" business completely. The government marriage license exists to help people planning to live together for life acknowledge their legal realities. Just because gay marriage is banned doesn't mean gay live-in lovers will suddenly stop having to worry about where their property goes when they split up, or how to file a joint tax, etc. The government marriage license exists for pragmatic, not moral purposes. A marriage license doesn't mean that you truly will love each other until death do you part, that God smiles on your union. It's just a piece of paperwork giving you certain legal rights and responsibilites that go with your new position. If your church, synagogue, mosque, temple, coven, cult, or family refuses to marry a gay couple on moral grounds, I respect that decision. But something like that is not the government's job.

I don't see what banning gay marriage is supposed to do, other than look good to religious conservatives. What, will gay people stop being gay because they can't get married? It's silly. Another thing, what about hospital rights? A gay man or woman is denied access to his/her lover in the hospital because he/she isn't technically "family"... now that's just ridiculous! A hospital patient should have the last say in who he/she wants visiting. It's a highly personal decision and the President, the Senate, the House and the Supreme Court can just stick their laws where the sun don't shine, for all I care. It's a free country, and if a dying man in a hospital wants to see, his HAMSTER, for God's sake, then no law, come hell or high water, should keep him from it.

Even if you did oppose homosexuality on a moral ground, which is a personal opinion, I don't see how this justifies amending the Constitution. The Consititution is what prevents presidents from gaining too much power, by setting a groundwork for what, except in dire circumstances, cannot be changed. I don't see the erosion of the Constitution as a good thing.

In conclusion: Bush is dead wrong.

c) Stem cell research: Guh? Suppose you believe that life starts at conception (which I don't). Fine. The embryos are already dead, though! It's not like you're killing them when you extract stem cells. If you are so pro-life, ban the fertility clinics that create and destroy unused embryos in the first place, not the scientists trying to do find ways to alleviate suffering. Besides, not all stem cells are embryonic; there are also bone marrow stem cells, for example. Anyway, I've posted my opinion on fetuses elsewhere.

Conclusion: Kerry rocks.

d) Tax cuts for the rich: In theory, this should work to stimulate the economy. In practice, it doesn't. It's extremely difficult for the government to time economic policies precisely, because first, once the information is available, the situation has likely changed. Then there's the time that it takes to pass legislation, and then there's the time it takes for the legislation to take effect. So by the time fiscal policy enacted, it won't help anymore. Besides, while I'm not a communist and actually like the idea of people who earn their money keeping it, rich people manage to worm out of many taxes anyway. For example, normal people earn a revenue, and then are taxed from that, leaving the remainder to pay their expenses. But if you put all your personal assets in a corporation, you're allowed to use your revenue to pay your expenses first, and then are taxed on the remainder. Also, if your personal assets are in a corporation they can't be confiscated to pay off debt. Or, if you trade a piece of real estate for a piece of real estate worth more, the tax on your gain on the sales of the first piece of real estate is delayed, meaning that if you keep trading for bigger pieces, you can delay paying your real estate taxes indefinitely. Sneaky! Stuff like that!

People who take the brunt of the conflicting 'tax cuts for the rich/ free market' and 'wealth distribution' ideals are the upper middle class. Kerry is going to cut taxes for the middle class, and it's about frickin' time.

e) Bush's policy of abstinence only education: Teens need to learn about safe sex. This is common sense. Teens will not stop having sex because you refuse to acknowledge that they are. They need to learn how to have sex responsibly. If they have it pounded into their heads that they're evil if they have sex before marriage, the ones that have already had sex won't listen to anything else you say, the ones that plan on having sex won't listen to anything else you say, and as adults if they actually do believe that sex is evil, they'll have a hard time surviving in a sexually responsible manner once they have sex. And of course there's the Christian overtones. Many of the abstinence only programs are overtly religious (nothing wrong with that, but not something that should be funded by public schools) and promote tired gender stereotypes, like, "Boys want sex but are less emotionally mature," or "Girls are more vulnerable." Not exact quotes, but you get the idea.

f) Military service:

Kerry won three Purple Hearts, which demonstrates courage, decisiveness and grace under pressure. It doesn't conclusively prove that he has the qualities of a president, but it certainly doesn't hurt. Bush joined the National Guard during the Vietnam War. Nothing wrong with that, but he never did his National Guard duty! Conveniently, the records went missing. Also, his family had an "understanding" with the Army. Bush got out of serving because he was going to business school, which is an excuse that won't appeal to all the men and women who joined the Army because they couldn't afford college. There's a reason most of the people getting shot are working class boys and girls. Using privilege to get out military service is a flagrant display of arrogance and elitism.

Also, if you promote yourself as a wartime president you should have credentials to back it up. If you didn't have military service, fine, but you shouldn't have tried to worm out of it and covered it up. And if you *did* do all that sneaking, you should at the least have the good graces not to criticize a rival who actually served his country the hard way.

g) Accessories:

John Edwards: Born in a working class family, first in his family to go to college, graduated 3rd in his class in college and within the top 10 in his class at graduate school. Great reputation as a trial lawyer in malpractice suits. Smart, ambitious, charismatic, and a fighter for the injured against giant corporations and organizations. (good) Singlehandedly raised health care prices in South (North?) Carolina with the cost of the malpractice verdicts. (bad... I guess? But if there weren't malpractice it wouldn't cost anyone.)

Dick Cheney: Tough as nails, smart as hell (good), CEO of Halliburton, a company which is (quite coincidentally, we're supposed to believe) the one contracted to export oil from Iraq and is making a killing (bad), supports amendment against gay marriage despite having a lesbian daughter who conveniently keeps very very quiet and out of the public eye and a wife who disagrees on that issue (v. bad).

Hmmm.

Teresa Heinz Kerry: Spent her early years in Mozambique and South Africa, would (technically) be the first African-American first lady. Doesn't take @#%$.

Laura Bush: Librarian. Ex-schoolteacher. Wallflower.

h) Dubya: Had an alcohol problem until age 40. Not.. during college or, "in my young days." Until he was 40.

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Kerry is dumb because:

a) What the heck is that, "Keep jobs in America" crap? What are you going to do? Subsidize companies that don't outsource? That hardly seems like good incentive.. oh, and hurray for keeping prices artificially high and most likely causing many companies to go bankrupt because of the cost of labor. Hurray for discouraging investment overseas (creating job opportunities, modernization, training and infrastructure in countries that would otherwise be economic cesspools). Hurray for starting up another brand of "made in America" jingoism that will no doubt cause even more racism towards Indians and other Asians. GOOD FOR YOU, JOHN KERRY! -_-

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I still think Kerry wins.