Mind Vomit by the ikss ~ a journal
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Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2004ah, hell...I wasn't even supposed to be discussing politics today
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�Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead�
-Lucille Ball
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
--Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
REGISTER TO VOTE
"The time is always right to do what is right"
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The "seven social sins": Knowledge without character,
Science without humanity,
Wealth without work,
Commerce without morality,
Politics without principles,
Pleasure without conscience,
Worship without self-sacrifice."
--Gandhi
"We have not inherited the world from our forfathers -
We have borrowed it from our children."
--Kashmiri, proverb
What can I say? I�m a dork, remember?
Anyway�I know it�s hardly PC in this post-9/11 world to have anything negative to say about Rudy Guiliani, but�
That man is EVIL.
Of course, my opinion of him is severely colored by that documentary film I saw a few months ago (I'm too lazy to look for the link...maybe later*). But still...he sickens me.
John McCain, however, is someone who has earned my respect in the last several years. Obviously, I don�t agree with everything he says, but at least he seems genuine and as honest as a politician ever can be. Of course, as far as Republicans go, he is by far more appealing than many, simply because his views are more moderate. But I was very impressed with his speech last night. Where Rudy�s seemed like he was preparing for own his run in 2008, John McCain just seemed to speak from the heart. He knew he had a huge audience and he had stuff he wanted to say � that was it.
Very impressive.
Oh and what the fuck was Michael Moore doing in the audience? WHY is he apparently the only representative of the opposing party there? First of all � what a nice punching bag opportunity! I mean, the Repubs. could not have dreamed up a nicer scenario for themselves. More importantly, he does NOT represent MY party, I�ll tell you that.
But then, if you read my diary, you should know that I have very little respect for Michael Moore. Well, anymore. I used to � you know, before he started lying to support his positions and before he became All About Michael. Pre-Oscar, basically (although I even had issues with the film that won him that award).
I received a fantastic email this morning from one of my favorite diarists, who also happens to be a Republican. Basically, she was defending her party and saying (rightfully so) that there are Republicans of all shapes and sizes out there and they have varying beliefs.
I can�t argue with that, of course. I never meant to say anything to the contrary. I know that most Republicans are rather �middle-of-the-road� in their beliefs, as are most Democrats. Most Repubs. are not the ultra-right-wing-religious-conservatives that presently populate our administration. For that matter, the beliefs of most Democrats don�t fall nearly to the left as mine do.
The thing is? That was precisely my point yesterday.
While Arnold (I hate spelling his last name!), John McCain, et al are a more accurate mirror of what normal Americans believe in � they are not representative of what has been happening in this country over the last four years. They are not representative of the beliefs and actions of the Bush Administration.
These guys are making the keynote speeches during prime time precisely because their actions, beliefs and opinions fall more in line with most Americans. They do NOT fall in line with Dubya�s � that�s precisely why John McCain, for example, has been fighting with Bush practically since his inauguration.
I say it is misleading to have them speak because it is � while they may represent a more accurate view of the Republican Party as a whole, they do not represent the Administration you will be voting for. Not at all.
Cast the war aside, even.
This is about an administration who has done MUCH to take away our right to choose. Not only have they outlawed previously legal late-term abortions, they have put several extreme anti-choice judges on various benches. Further, if we elect them to another four years, they will appoint probably FOUR new Supreme Court Justices. What do you think will happen then? Because I smell a return to backroom abortions.
(The most sickening thing I have seen recently? Signs saying �W Stands for Women�. When the FUCK has he EVER stood for women?????? Did I SLEEP through it?)
This is about an Administration who enacted the Patriot Act, which has invaded everyone�s privacy and rights. Remember people getting arrested for wearing anti-war tee-shirts? Remember all of these people being held in prison for indefinite periods of time, without being charged of any crime and without access to a lawyer? I�m not just talking about Iraq and Guantanamo Bay here, people � it�s happening here. If you happen to have skin that�s a shade darker than Dubya�s or for some other reason are deemed a �Threat to National Security�, it can happen to you, just as it has happened to hundreds of people on our soil. Your library records are being checked, without your knowledge. What you buy on the internet is being checked, without your knowledge. You may even be photographed by the CIA for participating in a Peace Rally, even though that is supposed to be illegal. And that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Patriot Act � which, by the way, Dubya plans on extending.
This is about an Administration who has so little respect for basic civil liberties that they want to amend our Constitution � a hallmark document based on civil liberties, which also happens to be the foundation of America - to make sure that gay people never have them.
One of the first things this Administration did was to back out of the Kyoto Treaty. They then proceeded to dramatically reverse environmental progress made over the last twenty years and are making plans to do even more damage. I have pages upon pages of examples in past entries. The environment is not just for people who like to camp and go river rafting, people. For example: I live in California. If Global Warming is allowed to continue as it has been (and with Bush�s policies, it will not only continue it will get far worse), our average temperature will rise by 8 degrees by the end of this century. 8 degrees. No biggy, right? Wrong. 8 degrees means a loss of 60% of our snow pack in the Sierras � you know, where we get all of our water. How much of our countries agricultural products are raised in California? The vast majority of them. How much of an impact is a loss of 60% of our water going to have on that agriculture?
Not to mention, I happen to like having water to drink on a regular basis.
This is about an Administration who refuses to acknowledge the fact that oil is on it�s way out. This planet is running out of oil � there is only so much there, ya know? Even if we open up Alaska to more drilling; even if we allow more drilling off the shores of California and Florida and Texas (to the extreme detriment to our natural resources), it is all for naught. We will have ruined our environment for (as is estimated) only a few more decades of oil. This is about an Administration who would rather cater to their buddies in Big Oil Companies (hey, many of them are working in Dubya's cabinet) than put money and research in to alternate energy sources. Hell, he�s even rolled back gas mileage and emission standards which were already in place, when hey � we all seemed to be doing just fine with them.
This is about an Administration which has made us the most hated country in the world � not because people are jealous or don�t want us to have our freedoms, but because we have a President who is so arrogant as to SAY that�s the reason, rather than climb down off his horse, take off his cowboy hat and recognize that we are not an island here. We can�t just ride in like the Cavalry as if we have the right to take other people�s countries away from them because we don�t like the way they�re running it. We live on a planet, populated with lots of people and we are all in this together. This is about an Administration who does not recognize that fact.
This is about an Administration who not only has asked for the endorsement of the Pope (who wouldn�t give it, reportedly because he believes Dubya to be the Anti-Christ [and hey, I ain�t jokin�. I didn�t hear that from the horses mouth, of course, so take that for what it�s worth]), but has also asked preachers and ministers to tell their congregations to vote for him. Thankfully, most of the ministers saw this for the extreme co-mingling of church and state that it is, but I�m sure some did not (by the way � my sister Barbara saw a bumpersticker recently which read: �Real Christians Vote Republican�). This is about an Administration who firmly believes he is on a Mission from God to rid the world of �Evil doers� i.e. Muslims and pretty much anybody who doesn�t believe the same way he does.
This is also about an Administration which took a strong, healthy economy which was in the black for the first time in a few decades and dismantled it. Tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs and the meager 3,000 regained this year (or whatever the lowly figure is now) do not compensate for that. He may not have started that ball rolling, but he pushed it along and beyond the trajectory on which it was headed. He took a sledgehammer to our economy and each of our futures so that he could give his rich buddies a huge tax break and still try to pay for an unjust, illegal and uncalled for war.
I don�t know about you, but I lost about $150,000 of MY retirement money a couple of years ago. But hey - thanks for that extra $300 you gave me last year, Dubya! Never mind that our police force and fire departments have had to make cut-backs because of what you have done. Never mind that our border patrol has a hiring freeze during a time when we are supposed to be concerned about terrorists coming across the borders. Never mind that hospitals and schools are closing, due to lack of funding. Never mind that our Nuclear facilities have no money to bulk up their security.
Now THAT�S some trickle-down economics, people.
Dubya claims to love this country so much and that if you disagree with him you are not Patriotic. If that�s the case, why is he doing so much to change its very makeup and foundation? This long entry just cracks the surface.
You�d think I was exaggerating, wouldn�t you?
Do I think most Republicans feel this shit should be happening? No, I don�t. However, most of them (most Americans, in general) don�t realize the full extent of what�s going on. And all politicians know it. While the person who wrote to me may make educated decisions before she votes come November, only 30% of us even vote at all. A whole lot of us are ignorant and/or easily manipulated by the media. And hell, when Dubya only allows pre-approved questions to be asked of him by reporters; when the media is under constant threat of being viewed as a �Threat to National Security� when they dare question something he has done (although that seems to be dissipating, finally); when he only allows people who vocally agree with his policies in to his rallies � well, who isn�t going to be easily swayed by all of that, if that�s all you are exposed to? You actually have to work to find out what�s really happening in this world � you can not rely on the 6:00 news. The majority of us are too involved in our own lives and/or are so disgusted with politics we can�t stomach listening, reading and researching matters to find out what�s really happening here. Hell, I don�t even blame people for that; it�s freakin� scary out there.
A great example, though is this stupid �Swift Boat� controversy. Those ads have apparently had an impact, if you believe the polls. A bunch of guys get together and make up a bunch of lies about another guy and people believe it because it�s in a television ad �without doing their homework to find out the truth (which in this case was extremely easy to do).
So politicians know all of this. They put a pretty face on things and they bend the truth into something more palatable�and the GOP puts more moderate Republicans on television during prime time. You may like John McCain and other Republicans of his ilk. You may agree with what he says. But you won�t be voting for John McCain and what he believes � there are few things I have outlined above that John McCain would have done, were he President.
As I said in reply to the diarist who wrote to me his morning: �I just think that is misleading. And kind of a pussy move, really. I mean, if you really support the President, why not make speeches that are accurate representations of him, his views and what he's done? Why focus ONLY on the War on Terror (their one and only trump card and even then only among people who agree with the war), as they did exclusively last night?�
As I have said many times � I am not a huge fan of John Kerry. I am not even so optimistically dense as to think that when he is elected, all of the above-outlined problems will be reversed. Hell, Kerry is even shady about what he will do with the Patriot Act. But he is better than Dubya � hell, I would be better than Dubya. You would be better than Dubya.
I love my country. And I want it back. What Dubya is morphing this country in to is NOT America. He does not stand for freedom. He does not stand for moral strength (much to his stating the contrary). He does not stand for civil liberties. He does not stand for equal protection under the law. He does not stand for freedom of the press. He does not stand for a place free from prejudice, racism and fascism.
Voting for John Kerry is at least a step in the right direction. It will not solve all of our problems and don�t think I don�t know that a year from now I will be complaining about something Kerry has done. I worked on the Kucinich campaign, remember? You couldn�t have two more different candidates running within the same party. I disagree with much of what Kerry has done and will probably do.
All of that said�I never want to come across as attacking people who don�t happen to agree with my views. As I also said in my email to my friend: �I hope that my entries don't make you (or anyone who disagrees with me) feel ashamed of their beliefs. That's never my intention, but I know I am extremely passionate about my views. I'm actually much less vehement when you talk to me in person, or at least I am until I know you agree with me. My journal is a reflection of the internal me, though, and I don't have to worry about offending people...or at least, I choose not to worry about it.�
That�s the thing about these online journals�we tend to forget that people actually read them and may take things more personally than we intend. Just yesterday, I was absolutely appalled by this stupid fight going on in another of my favorite diarists� notes � all because she didn�t have a good JournalCon experience. She wrote an entry about it and the people who loved JournalCon became wickedly defensive about it and it turned in to a huge, notes-driven insult-fest that lasted for days. All because this person had a different opinion of JournalCon than those other people did.
I guess it pays to remind people every once in a while that this is just my Mind Vomit, after all. I am not directing my comments toward anyone in particular unless I so state. I also don�t think I have ever intentionally insulted people who disagree with me, except people in the Bush Administration and only because they totally deserve every insult thrown their way. If I have insulted people and I just don�t remember, I apologize.
Hell � look at gutterpoet. He is one of my absolute favorite people (and I mean that, darlin�). I have the utmost respect and affection for him (although we�ve never actually met) and he disagrees with me on a regular basis. Even my own father is a Republican. I love him dearly and don�t think him at all stupid or wrong just because he views the world from a different position than I do.
In stating my opinions, political or otherwise, well, in the end they are just my opinions. Since I care very deeply about this presidential race, I also post a lot of facts and articles that people may not be exposed to � I do so with the pointed intention of getting you to see the dark underbelly of the Bush Administration, yes. I would assume you would know that, though, and realize that the rest of my political blather is just that.
(psst...go read pandionna's entry from today.
* The film that inspired my Guiliani-hatred is called Justifiable Homicide. I spoke about it in this entry
Hasta!
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