A lot of good things have already been said today on the subject of John Kerry's defeat in the run for presidency, so I won't beat a dead horse here. Just want to say a little something, to get it off my chest.
I'm disappointed that so many of my countrymen bought into the lies and scare tactics, voting in many cases on a single issue (homophobia, gun control, tax cuts they'll never see a hundred dollars of, etc.) rather than an objective look at where we've been these last four years (and where we stand to go). I think George Bush has been an awful president, certainly one of our worst ever. He's done more harm to our country and our reputation as Americans than many of us would've thought imaginable, yet a very slight majority is giving him the chance to have four more years of social regression, hate-mongering, scary religious overtones to our laws and impositions on our freedoms (a word he throws around a lot in doublespeak while making great efforts to restrict them).
While I'm astounded and sad that he won, I'm almost as astounded at the Democratic Party for choosing John Kerry as their man. If you'd asked just about anyone a year ago which of the contenders they thought was best for the job, I'm sure he would've been the last choice for many. Yet somehow he was shoved into our laps, the lesser of two evils (again, remember 2000?) instead of someone capable of inspiring awe and commanding our respect. I would so much have rather had Clark, Kucinich (vegan, for fuck's sake!), Dean or Edwards as my president, but we got a monotonous, half-assed tediot instead.
Don't get me wrong, I'd take Kerry a million times over Bush, but you can't tell me that these two were the best our country could do out of a populace of 250 million plus. They don't represent the top 1/125,000% of our culture. Not even close. They're a couple of priviledged smooth-talkers; one intelligent but afraid to really say much of anything, with the personality of a cinderblock, and the other a barely-literate, smirking buffoon who knows how to talk like a cowboy and thinks he's got "God" on his side, and should therefore lead us all into Christianity's Book of Revelations.
I voted for Nader in 2000, and I'm proud of that. Don't worry, Gore still won my state (as well as the popular vote), so don't blame me for "costing him the election." He cost himself the election, as did Kerry, for being so uninspiring to so many people. Bush doesn't have a fucking clue, but at least he puts on a good show, and that counts for more than half the battle in our sad TV culture.
A lot of people were duped...of two people I know that voted for Bush, one, my 85-year old aunt did because she thinks that the American continent is on the verge of being overrun by bloodthirsty terrorists who will rape her, kill you and I both, and stop at nothing to destroy it all. The other was an older gentlemen who made some reference to Vietnam bullshit (another non-issue that Bush turned into an issue, despite the fact that Kerry clearly had a superior and more honorable record). Anyone who clings to an unjust war and defends it is questionable in my book, and my aunt is just too old and far-removed from the world to know much better. With TV news (i.e. White House Press Releases) as her source of information, most people would (and apparently have) come to similar conclusions.
Anyway, here's to making the most of the next four years, it'll be a real uphill battle. At least I'm in a blue state with a kickass new Senator. Yay Illinois! Go Michigan! Go Wisconsin! Go Minnesota! etc. Wake me up in about 4 years, show me a real candidate, and we'll talk.
Posted by pj at November 3, 2004 08:28 PMBig Disappointment here too.... it was really a sad day. (although i am still being optimistic!) but i have been really frustrated about this whole election thing, because i cannot vote in this country. so least i can do is to support, and i was volunteering myself to kerry's local office here, and it's been good to be with all the supporters.
and yes, minnesota did win for kerry, and you are quite right about kerry might not be the best one we could offer from democrat, but i just do not get that there are so many people out there who have been brainwashed by Bush, by TV, by Newspaper, and would "blindly" believe in him. and also most of them are just so much concerned about or scared of "terrorists attack" "war" even though they live in where most likely they are not gonna get attacked anyway, but it is also TV which does that to people. and they cannot think about other issues in normal everyday life.
and those young people, who will probably get drafted and sent to iraq (even though, bush said in the debates that there will be no draft. well, we'll see..... right?) and get hurt, killed, a lot of them didn't even go vote!!!!!!!! because.... they just don't know what's really going on as much as they don't care... and there, there are something wrong with education in this country. (although i cannot say much, 'cause i don't know much, but i assume so.) don't they talk about these issues in school?
anyway, it's really disappointing and frustrating. and i was very upset, but now i am little more calm. i guess we must carry on what we believe in, and be strong! (but man, what a day it was.... just cannot believe this.....)
Posted by: kiyo at November 3, 2004 09:46 PMIn spite of the fact that John Kerry would not have been my first choice for Democratic candidate, I think that your criticism of him is, in a lot of ways, unfounded. As the proud son of a Viet Nam veteran, I have the strongest admiration for Kerry's service record, and his courageous, sincere, and heartfelt struggle to expose the evils and faults of the war upon his return. His 1971 testimony to congress is probaly THE most articulate, well-composed, and thought-provoking arguments against the war, and a testiment to the lives of the soldiers involved in the conflict. I agree, to a certain degree, with the perception of Kerry as uncharismatic and dry - but do not tend to trust "fun" and "personable" politicians (ala Bill Clinton) - particularly in a political landscape that is as intense as ours today. I think the national reaction to Howard Dean's rally-cry intensity clearly defined the reality that America is not able to accept that kind of "leftism." Had Dean won the Democratic nomination, I think we'd be staring at a much redder map of the US, with common-man blue-collar states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan falling hard to Bush, much like in the landslide Regan/Mondale election. (Not to compare Mondale's populist agenda to the percievably "radical" notions of Howad Dean, however.). Kucinich is much more problematic, in this regard. Even to an exteme liberal like myself, he is way too New-Agey and politically unrealistic. Edwards would have been slaughtered on account of his "inexperience." To me, Wes Clark is the best man for the job, but has spent a career so far out of the public eye (and is, frankly, less personally dynamic than even John Kerry) that his nomination was clearly never to be.
Any intelligent person who watched the debates could very clearly see Kerry's professionalism, his clarity, and his focus. I was extremely discouraged by his insistance on proclaiming his desire to "kill" the terrorists, and his stated agenda to maintain the "security of (trouble making, war-mongering, 12-year-old-kid-shooting) Israel," but was overjoyed to hear his insistance on energy independence, on avoiding (as George Washington defined it) foreign entanglements, and his assertiveness in stating that he did not "wear his religious beliefs on his sleeve." I find it hard to swallow that any honest, hard-working, juke-box plugging American 9-to-5er who sat and watched those debates could see anything but a couple of organized, smart, saavy, and intelligent men in a battle of wits with a couple of stubborn, reactionary, defensive, and ass-headed pricks.
It pains me to think of the guys who I most respect and most look up to in this country going to the polls and casting that vote for Bush/Cheney based on nothing but a pile of fabricated fear of the unknown and strange. It breaks my heart to think that hard working, blue-collar guys in my home state of Iowa, and great places like Missouri, Texas, Tennessee, and Montana have been manipulated into being more worried about having Sand Niggers and Faggots and Welfare Abortion Whores overrunning America than they are about funding education and keeping our rivers free of toxic waste and keeping our young people from getting their fucking heads blown off so that Halliburton shareholders can make a killing.
I'm sad for america. I'm embarrassed for america. But at the same time, I have to look at the situation realistically and recognize that it's going to take a candidate that's moderate enough for the "common man" relate to on some level for any change to occur in this country. Hell, if it were up to me, I'd elect Fidel Castro president, nationalize all the fucking banks and all the fucking hospitals and all the fucking insurance companies and all the fucking sports teams; and take all the fucking wealth away from the hoarders and re-distribute it to the real people. But that's never going to happen... and most of my countrymen are never going to see things that way. So we need to stay aggresive, and educate people, and fight for change...
But throwing a radical into the ring and thinking that John Stevenson of 1472 Willshire Avenue, Jamestown, South Dakota is going to vote for him is absolutely unrealistic.
Jimmy Carter '08.
Posted by: Horribly Depressed Ryno at November 3, 2004 10:48 PMNicely-stated Ryan, points well-taken about Average Joe not buying into an agenda as radical as my own pinko fantasies. Kerry is certainly a war hero and gets my utmost respect for speaking out against the war upon his return. Charisma shouldn't be the deciding factor, but I'd like to imagine that there's someone out there with a set of beliefs and a "plan" even better than Kerry's, who could engage the people, win back the middle-america vote with bold ideas instead of watering-down in an attempt to be as conservative a democrat as possible, and steer the country in a new direction. We've obviously got some obstacles to overcome (electoral vote system, 2-party system spinning its wheels and veering ever-right, etc).
Posted by: No Freedom Left Behind Chmiel at November 3, 2004 11:13 PMFor just a little bit more about my feelings regarding John Kerry: check out these sources:
http://movies.internetvetsfortruth.org/upriver/upriver-justpeace.mov
http://movies.internetvetsfortruth.org/upriver/upriver-congress.mov
If I knew for sure how to turn those into links, I'd do it. Sorry if you have to cut-and-paste.
Kiyo and rest of board- you will be sad to know of my experiences teaching college in Michigan (a state that did go for Kerry). When I started here 2 years ago, I did give an art project to produce a propaganda piece for or against the war. Take a stand and defend the views. This was when the war was new.
About HALF those seniors were in support :(
Although I do think the issue was clouded. I support the troops too...so bring them home NOW I say. Protesting a war does not have to equate protesting the soldiers.
Now I see the most Bush/republican support coming from...the college sophomores! My students hate one line Bush jabs I have thrown in has met with very angry disagreement. Ah well, I have told them as a weeny free speech liberal they can voice opinions and not worry about grade retaliation.
But I admit to having upped the number of Bush comments, criticisms, and jokes. Hopefully it will make them think. I never get great replies to my criticism...just a lot of "your guy is a flip flopper" and other Fox news generated sound bites. Never any real answers of substance when I have asked people "based on his job performance, why should I vote for George Bush? And "he's not Kerry/Clinton" is not an acceptable answer." At least with people like Reagan, people could sit there and name certain things the president did ... even if you disagreed with them... I don't see that with many Bush supporters I encounter, and that scares me.
wow, i just checked the link you "cut-and-paste" up there, ryan. thank you for doing that. he loooks great with confidence, and sounds strong!!! which when i saw him here in minneapolis 2, 3 weeks ago for the ralley, he was like that. and it made all of us feel really good, and great to support him. and now i think of the debates, i wish he could have been like that there too. he did a wonderful job at debates, or at least i felt it. but he might have not been agressive enough? he was little calm? (i don't know.... 'cause in these video clips, he was already very calm back then, yet really confident... which at his age, 27? i found myself quite fascinated by.) so that was 30 some years ago... and here we are again, same thing all over.... we can only learn from mistake? or what?
p.s. listening to marvin gaye's "what's going on" album now...
Posted by: kiyo at November 4, 2004 02:05 PMHi PJ!
I know I should be commenting about the election, but I'm tired of the arguments and being sad. We're just going to have to deal with what we have and hope for the best. All I can do now is try and live my life to the fullest and go from there. Four years will go by so fast. Before you, it's 2008. Yeah, there will be a lot of mess to clean up, but I'm praying we really get our heads straight and put the right guy in office.
I had a co-worker not vote for Kerry because he was not pro-life. My argument was: Is Bush pro-life for sending innocent people to die in Iraq? Obviously, he's not. We can go on and on here, but I got tired of listening to people's reasons for picking Bush. Kerry was not my first choice, but at least he is way better than Bush.
Thanks again, for the Tofutti info. I LOVE TOFUTTI!!!!!!!!! I'm also going to try the place you listed Dharma Garden, this weekend. I love mock meat asian dishes. If you know other restaurants, please let me know!!!!!
Bye,
Abi
Posted by: Abi at November 4, 2004 02:47 PMJimmy Carter '08?
He's a born again Christian. You OK With that? Cool with me.
Jimmy Carter is not a "born-again" Christian. He is and always has been a Christ-like Christian man.
Posted by: Ryno Peanutfarmer at November 4, 2004 05:10 PMYou're right. "Born-again" is such a backwater, old fashioned catch phrase. We'll just stick with "Christian". Thanks for clearing that up.
Posted by: Chris at November 5, 2004 10:33 AMI agree with the Kucinich comment PJ made-I voted for him in the CA primary because I thought he was much more articulate then any of the other bafoons saying whatever they thought would get them elected in the debate here (Kerry included). Anyone that actually answers a question-rather than regurgitating scripted positions on issues-really stands out to me these days. By that point, Dean had dropped out of the running so their was no point in voting for him. Clark? I think he would have had a fighting chance. Remember, he won Tennessee and Oklahoma in the primaries. If Edwards could have delivered a couple of Southern states like the ones Clark was popular in Kerry could have won the election. But alas, he turned out to be a complete lightweight -too inexperienced to do much more then stand around and look pretty.
Posted by: Bradford at November 6, 2004 12:59 PMComments could go for days on how lame all of this is. I voted and my vote didn't count. What is the point of voting absentee if it literally just gets thrown in the garbage? My brother came home this week from Iraq. I hope he gets to stay.
Posted by: Jedi Kim at November 6, 2004 10:57 PM