11/1/2004
Soapbox
[Update: I think I fixed the comment problem. Comment away and drop me an email if it isn’t working for you. Thanks!]
I temporarily broke JesusH commenting by turning on some filtering, since we started getting hammered by jackasses trying to pimp their online casinos yesterday. I’m sorry I did because this post will probably inspire more comments than our normal content.
Please vote for John Kerry tomorrow.
I know, I know, he’s a flip-flopper and he said some irritating things about Vietnam. He’s in no way the perfect candidate. But I can’t imagine your being impressed with the last year or so of GWB’s presidency. Iraq has turned into something of a disaster, and the United States’ abject failure to take responsibility for any of it–Abu Ghraib in particular–is just a ridiculous failure of international relations. As someone who initially supported the mission, and who was heartened by the ease of the campaign at first, I’ve got to say–it looks like a giant clusterfuck now. If this is the best we can do, we as a country are certainly not ready to forcibly help the democratic process along in other nations. And yet we still hear garbage from the Administration about Saddam’s tangible ties to terrorists, years after pretty much every piece of “evidence” of such a link has been shredded. Brent, I still think the war and subsequent occupation, if handled competently, could have been a net positive, but the way it’s gone down–you were right and I was wrong.
There are other problems worth considering. The number of ways the PATRIOT Act could be used to infringe on the rights of and harass Americans is a little scary. The Bush Administration is wasting your time and money with talk of a constitutional amendment defining marriage. Like many misguided conservatives, Bush is an enthusiastic War on Drugs guy, wasting billions of dollars yearly that the federal government could use to do something like, oh, I dunno, actually fund No Child Left Behind? In the term of the next President, it’ll be pretty surprising if at least one Supreme Court justice isn’t replaced, and I’d much rather see anyone Kerry would consider on the bench than some Ashcroft-style screwball.
Having read a lot of material on human genetics in a class I took pretty recently, there are just a ton of interesting and radically useful possibilites associated with stem cell research. This is important stuff, especially as my friends and family continue to age along with me–and Bush’s stance on the subject (”yeah, you can continue doing what you’re doing with the strains that people started messing with before we got around to looking at this, but no new ones”) is both inconsistent and intensely irritating. As a society, this is an issue where we’ve got the opportunity to fund some fairly inexpensive research that could drastically improve the quality of life for not just Americans, but people all over the world. Kerry’s not exactly a revelation on this subject, but he’s certainly more friendly to the issue than Bush.
I usually hate to be so preachy on this stuff, but I think this election is important enough that I’ll go out on a limb here. I hope I haven’t given any offense or materially misinterpreted any of the issues I’ve touched on. Thanks for reading.
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Well Dave, thanks for the acknowledgement there. I’d rather that I’d have been wrong and you’d have been right, or better yet, that the whole thing had never been forced to a head. But that’s what we’re stuck with, thanks to Bush, and that’s what we’re going to be stuck with again for another four years if people don’t listen to what you’re saying here. Good thoughts and I hope that the devoted JesusH readership pays attention.
I’m glad someone’s speaking up here… I think I may return myself here soon.
Comment by Brent — 11/1/2004 @ 1:40 pm
hi, i’m testing the spammerproofing
Comment by Dave — 11/1/2004 @ 2:24 pm
Just a little fun fact. Did you know that the outcome of the Washington Redskins home football games has correctly predicted the winner of every U.S. presidential election since 1936? Yesterday, the Green Bay Packers triumped over the Redskins, indicating that John Kerry will win. Here’s hoping.
Comment by Phet — 11/1/2004 @ 5:54 pm
It’s a shame that Bush had to take something as beautiful as the War in Iraq and turn it into something… dirty.
The reasons I’m voting for Kerry have all been pretty well covered by Dave, so I’ll just throw them out here: the stem cells thing, the keeping church and state separate thing, the Supreme Court thing, the Jeff-is-pissed-because-he-can’t-afford-a-house thing (not really sure how that’s Bush’s fault, but still), the inability to speak actual English thing, and above all: “My opponent is a flip-flopper” does not constitute an cohesive exit strategy in Iraq.
Comment by Jeff — 11/1/2004 @ 8:41 pm
His Vietnam exit strategy was much more cohesive.
I’m annoyed that the dems couldn’t get their act together to beat this guy. He’s not exactly Schwarzzegerian in his popular support.
I heard that the Kerry campaign held back $52 million of the campaign warchest for potential legal battles. Seems like that money could have been put to better use ferrying Ohio and Florida dems to the polls.
Comment by Andres — 11/3/2004 @ 9:02 am