I find myself in shock this morning. Not because the country is once again waiting to hear who our next president will be, but because it looks as thought that president will once again be George W. Bush. I knew it was going to be close, but not only has Bush taken the lead in the electoral college but he also got a lead in the popular election.
Have I lost touch with the pulse of the nation I call home? I wrote yesterday of the chance of Bush winning and pressing on without a mandate, but if everything plays out to his favor he actually will have that mandate, slim in margin but a mandate regardless. That thought makes my head spin, almost as though I followed through on my rum-binge threat from yesterday. Half of me thinks that a hangover would be easier to deal with than entertaining this thought.
About the only good I can possibly see coming from a Bush-slanted result is the fact that he would be gone four years from now and that Cheney has claimed to have no desire to jump up to the highest office. Of course, why should I start believing Cheney now after swimming through his lies for four years?
Now in both the far and no-too-distant past I’ve joked that I’d move out of country before dealing with another four Bush led years, and that may still come to pass. But truth be told it won’t be Bush driving me out. If I decide to go Canadian for a while or hop to some other part of the globe, it will be for more tangible, personal reasons. Ditching Bush would just be a nice benefit of any said move.
The count in Ohio is ongoing, provisional ballots are the new hanging chads and the sense of deja vu is thick and heady. When we’ll actually have a winner is up in the air. It could be five minutes from now, or five weeks…wait a sec. Well, as I’m writing the news has started to trickle in that Kerry is conceding the race. Sigh…so much for hoping against hope.
Well, comedians and corporations will have another four fruitful years. The masses have spoken and it looks as if it’s more of the same. Will this mean more wars? The no-volunteer army? A deficit that my great-grandchildren will be chipping in to pay? Multiple ultra-conservative appointments to the supreme court? Further alienation of our allies and the cultivation of more enemies of our nation? Only time will tell, but I feel less safe today than I did yesterday.
Politics: same as it ever was.
never in my life did i think i’d be actually living in the hickass state that has decided the fate of our nation… and to a point the fate of the world….
my hopes for kerry taking ohizzle were high with the large amount support that’s been rallied here over the last year… but maybe because my world is based in liberal academic that was just a false hope…
oh well… outside of cleveland, colomubus, and a couple individuals i know from around cincinatti… ohio is just another backwoods state what reflects the majority of bush supporters running rampant in this country and too many are rednecks that still refer to soda as pop……
with that said at least Kerry took NJ… so at least i have faith in my home state, and can look fwd to a different mind set when i move back next year……
my .02
~Joanna
No kidding Joanna! Being down here in Florida, and being surrounded by Kerry supporters, I thought Florida was going to pull through for Kerry. Alas, when you leave Tallahassee, the state turns a strong shade of red. I really feel for the US at this time. I only hope the people who voted for Bush will be forgiven by their children and grandchildren for the downfall of the US as the best place in the world to live in. It truly is a sad, sad day.
Jon… with both of us being anthropologists… I can totally relate to your sentiment… i’m sure your department at FSU strongly rallied behind Kerry as mine up here at Kent….
Most did, quietly, but believe it or not, there are a few staunch Foliage supporters in my department (who are now gloating to no end). I do not understand how anthropologists can support Bush, but you have to admit, it has the making of an interesting ethnography. Ugh it makes me sick
So far I’ve been lucky to avoid hearing much of the gloating, even with a (very) few staunch right-wingers here in the office. That’s the part I dread the most, mainly because that’s when I feel most like punching someone’s lights out. Gloating is fine in sports, but keep it out of politics. I mean what ever happened to grace in victory? Maybe I’m just expecting far too much from my fellow man (and woman), but then again I’ve been pegged as an eternal optimist and idealist.
Thank god bush won, let the gloating begin!
Mike, unless you make over 200K a year, take pride in striping the environment in the name of corporate gain and kickbacks, and are a jingoist, you have nothing to gain. The media (which is owned by about 5 companies in the state, all beholding to government) and the administration gave you a super-sized fear sandwich with a side of lies and you eat it up and asked for more.
Bush is an idoit and we will all pay for it.
I’m not looking to gain anything. I make less than $200,000 per year yet I got a check from the government. I think the rich should get a break anyway, the top 1% moneymakers pay 80% of our taxes. So why should be penalize them more. I don’t know what you are talking about with the environment, I’m pretty sure he has made the biggest move towards duel fuel cars. I also think he will better protect our country from terrorism than Kerry would have. Thank god Gore wasn’t in office when 911 happened, he would have lobbed a couple of missles at bagdad and called it a day. The media? With the exception of Fox news, the media is full of left wing socialist idiots, so I don’t listen to them anyway. Can you say “Dan Rather”?
Mikey, mikey, mikey. Hate to have to go through this, but….
1.) It has been proven many, many time that there was no connection between 9/11 and Iraq, so even if Gore was in office during the event I doubt Bagdad would have been the first target. It should not have been a target in the first place, or in any case thereafter. Read up on the 9/11 Commission Report.
2.) Regarding 9/11, Gore, Kerry and the duties of leadership: whoever was sitting in that office would have been able to do what it took to get the country on its feet and respond properly to any threats. That’s my opinion of course.
3.) Bush’s environmental record is quite suspect. Dual fuel aside (which point 4 covers), I can give you three examples: bowing out of the Kyoto accords against greenhouse emissions, his fascination with cracking open ANWR (which got voted down the first time he tried to do so) just to feed our oil obsession and his continued attempt to weaken air quality controls, which even has a vocal church group in in arms to fight him.
4.) I must have missed the dual fuel announcement the first time around, but a little Google search brings up this little tidbit that the fuel economy plan that came attached to will actually increase net fuel use!
And yes, Bush did dole out $1.2 billion for hydrogen powered cars in the ’03 State of the Union, but that’s a mere drop in the pan. The costs of switching production and delivery infrastructure will balloon well above that. Hell, GM has spent a billion of their own on R&D, and I’m sure the other car manufactures are also up there in their own research costs.
5.) For all the negative press Rather and CBS got for their mishandling of the National Guard memos about Bush’s (questionable) service, he still managed to do something at the end of it all that Bush and his administration never seem to be able to do: Appologize and admit he was wrong.
And for the record, the only real left wing broadcast media outlet would be Air America. Everyone else besides Fox is more or less a right-leaning sound chamber out of necessity to be able to get anything from the White House at all. As for Fox, they’re a neo-consiervative lie factory. I highly suggest thumbing through a few chapters of “Lies and the Lying Liars…” as Mr. Franken does a good job of pointing out just how they corrupt their facts.
I think that covers most of it.
Percentage breakdown of corporations vs. individuals who pay the nation’s taxes:
individuals – 96%
corporations – 4%
Used to be 75/25 back in the Great Society days, but the shift is obvious. More taxes to corporations = less jobs in the economy. Less jobs in the economy = unhappy Americans. Unhappy Americans = heavy losses during election time.
Fox News – proper noun (focks nooz)
1. Propaganda machine of the neo-con movement
2. Faultily advertised “fair & balanced” news coverage
3. Genre of people who watch and partake in their 24 hour nationalist marathons and swallow whole
In defense of Fox News … “oh no … not another Al Franken quote!”
Why are we bitching about government freebees for hydrogen cars and increased gasoline use? Could we please let the market that we love and trust so dearly take care of this one, for once? Please? Just once? If there is a demand for them or a supply shortage, all be ironed out in the end. Really it will.
As for Kerry, the DNC spent enough of its resources keeping Nader off the balot in 15 states than using that money to try and defeat Bush. So quite frankly, fuck you John Kerry and fuck you DNC. You are all dangerous, fascist sumbags who defy the very notions of “freedom” that you keep complaining your opposition opposes. You deserved to lose, as far as I’m concerned.
Marty McFischler
1) It didn’t matter if there was no connection between Bin Laden and Hussein (I’ve heard reports that there were). Resoloution ’1441′ that passed through the UN with no problem (17th resoloution in 12 years), said that if Saddam did not prove that he has destroyed all of his long range weapons, chemical weapons, etc…, that it would give us enough reason to take necissary action to remove those weapons (carry-over from first iraq war). So, we were justified.
2) Do you remember all of the bombings that took place durring the Clinton presidency? The first trade center bombing, plus several bombings of US embassies oversees. What did Clinton do? NOTHING! That is the basis for my comment that Gore and/or Kerry would have done nothing.
2.1) Does anyone remeber that Clinton gave the N. Korean’s the technology to create nuclear power – which is part of the reason we have the problem with N. Korea today.
3,4) I’m not sure I know enough about this topic to have an informed debat, however I notice more dual fuel cars on the road now than before.
5) I disagree about the network news broadcasts, I notice when I watch them, they lean left if anything. As for ‘Al Frankin’. I listened to him on ‘Stern’ and wanted to throw my radio out the window, I’m sure I would have the same reaction with his book. I think you left wing tree huggers need to read a book that is right down the middle of the road. Any book by Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity should do
Buckle up kids, this ones gonna be bumpy. First let me start off by saying I tried to post the other day, but it got erased. I was discouraged and decided not to try to recall what I had typed. Now that I have read more, I can no longer hold my thoughts. I will try to make my points in a clear and concise fasion. I intend to make my points in the same order they have been posted above. Thay having been said I would also like to make the disclaimer that i will probably start ranting and raving and at no point do I wish to insult anybody on a personal level, I am simply enjoying my right to free speac. God Bless America!!
1. You do indeed live in the state that helped decide the fate of our nation. Believe it. The reason this comes as such a shock to you is “because my world is based in liberal academic” These are the same kids who booed our vets upon returning from Vietnam. The same people who’s biggest concern was which color to tye dye thier shirts while 19 year old kids were watching their buddies be blown to pieces by Viet Cong kids loaded up with grenades. Lucky for us the saw the big picture and were so kind as to point out “the real enemy”. Meawhile, the rest of that state represents the pulse of the nation. Also, hate to rain on your parade again, but, Bush won the 4th congresional district where we live.
2. Don’t feel sorry for the kids. I have kids falling out of my ass, and that was a STRONG factor when casting my vote. The will not need to forgive me becasse they will thank me. They will because they will be able to. All things being equal, I would vote on a sinlge issue every time when that one issue is homeland security and I can go to sleep at night knowing my kids will enjoy they way of life that our forefathers gave thier lives to protect. The very same way of life that so many of us take for granted. Albeit flawed, this is the greatest country on earth.
3 + 4. As anthropologists you should be doing cartwheels Kerry did not win. How do you think the Taliban would take to his more sensitive approach to fighting terrorism… “Mr. Bin Laden, do you know how it makes me feel as a person when you destroy artifacts that have existed since the begining of civilization?” Right, that will help.
5. I am sorry to say but when a party talks as much shit as the Democrats have, they have gloating comin thier way.
6. Shit Yeah Mikey!!!!!
7. Jingoist? Somebody is gettin there money worth out of the word a day callender. Upon looking that one up, I could see why you would say that. If planted my lillie white ass on the left I would think that a strong foreign policy that put kickin ass above takin shit was belligerent in nature.
8. I have to dissagree with you here Mike. I do not think Gore would have had the balls to lob a missle anywhere. I think he would have gave some hot air about looking into the matter and that would have been it.
9. While I agree that Iraq was not directly connected to the attacks on 9/11, there is no doubt that there was a strong terrorisn network throughout the entire region. As for you next point… you have got to be shittin me!! I think that Clintons response to the bombing of the USS Cole should show us what we could expect from Gore and the like. In regards to the enviornment, I got nothin. You go on to name Al Franken as a credible source. Says who? I bet if you look hard enough you can find a guy that will tell you Elmer Fudd will be a good President if we can just get BUgs Bunny out of office.
10. YO!! I gotta love Igor! He comes out, says some shit that I do not like. Follows that with some shit the other side don’t like, then drops his drawers and moons the whole dog and pony show. He is right, it is ALL bullshit. But, hey, its the only bullshit we got.
11. Not only did Clinton give N. Korea shit, he Gave China shit to keep them quiet about Monica Lewinsky. It is a little spooky that they knew about this before we did!
In closing I would like to say that I find it ironic that the liberals are so against everything that protect thier way of life and freedoms to do and say the things they do. On the contrary i wish the conservatives did not feel the need to control everything. Why don’t we all meet somewhere in the middle and have a latte?
God Bless America, the greatest place in the world!!!!
Dear Intellectually Lazy Dumb People Brainwashed by the News,
I’m in shock at the lack of understanding and analysis you dimwitted republican voting minions possess. You are a bunch of unknowing toadies (look that one up too) who shouldn’t be allowed to vote, never mind speak your minute little minds. Sound un-American? Check out the Patriot Act. That my simple thinking friends, is un-American. “If you say I’m a bad guy, I’ll put you in jail with no legal council.”
Proud to be American? No. Happy to be American is more like it, and how happy I am is being weighted heavily. I’m not the only one like this you igits. And before you tell me to “love it or leave it”, go eph off. Eph off is a witty way of saying fuck off. Read on cognitive challenged children of the right wing. If you don’t like that I’m not jumping for joy to be American at the moment because the leader of this country has united all the insane extreme Muslims making the world a more dangerous place because he wants to supply his corporate buds with oil money why don’t you move to a nice, red state where you can really see what kind of people you share views with. I’ll move to Canada when you move to North Dakota. How’s that sound?
It’s sad you know so little and you still vote. Your view of the world is as thorough as watching a baseball game through a quarter sized hole in the 3rd base fence. Mike, take some time to think about that one, then come back. Maybe get a cookie.
I’ll leave you kids with a few quotes…Don’t read this Mike, your head my spontaneously combust.
“The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.” – Winston Churchill. Thank you all for proving a Churchill correct once again you very average voters.
And who you voted for, “here’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once — shame on — shame on you. You fool me, you can’t get fooled again.”
Dear Jim,
I normally do not address one person so directly here, but I feel if i do not address this directly to you, your paste eating binge may take center stage over my attempt to make sense to your simple little mind. First and foremost you call us out as “Intellectually Lazy Dumb People Brainwashed by the News”. I for one do not fit into this category. I can say this because i make an effort not only to get information from international news but people who have been in the areas in question. Secondly I have no need to look up the word toadies. I am, much to your dissapointment, a very intelligrnt person. What criteria do you propose to qualify to vote? Perhaps anyone that falls perfectly in line with your personal beliefs? Sorry to burst your bubble, but our forefathers founded this country on the belief that we should all have a voice, even if it is in contrast to the popular opinion. Thirdly, you yourself ask how happy you are to be here. When presented with the simple choice of love it or leave it, you come back with the self dubbed “witty” eff off. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but, that is witty on par with “No, you are”. It is in fact an adaptation of a basic evolutionary credo: Move, Adapt, or Die. This is rocket science, if you cant cope you need to pick one of the afformentioned three. I, for one, would like to know where you get your uber-enlightened view of the world? In closing you go on to site some famous quotes. I thin it only fair to reciprocate the gesture.
“Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.”
“One ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.”
“There are a terrible lot of lies going around the world, and the worst of it is half of them are true.”
“Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
All by Sir Winston Churchill
“Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.”
“We have learned that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength; they are invited by the perception of weakness. And the surest way to avoid attacks on our own people is to engage the enemy where he lives and plans. We are fighting that enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan today so that we do not meet him again on our own streets, in our own cities.”
“We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.”
All by George W. Bush
“I am so happy to live in this country, I want to punch myself in the junk”
By Donald A. Donahue III
Dear All,
I apologize for making the previous post personal, specifically to Mike. It was malicious and uncalled for. I like cookies too.
I got heated and focused my negative energy in the wrong direction and in the wrong venue among friends and friends of friends. My bad.
Now wouldn’t it be nice to have a president who apologized and took responsibility when he/she was wrong?
Dear Jim,
I commend you on being a man. In addition, I applaud you for appologizing when it would have been far easier to not reply or simply be nasty. I can understand your dissapointment that our P resident has nt appologized for things he has done wrong. Perhaps the reason this appology has not manifested is because he feels he is in the right. That is the tricky part of having a difference of opinion. It ia easy for two people to look at the same situation and have different views. In turn it is easy to say “what the hell is wrong with {fill in the blank } that the do not see this the way I do?” Alas, a conundrum for the ages… However, I truly feel that is one of the greatest thngs about living in this country, we are free to think and more importantly express opinions that differ from our fellow countrymen. If we do not like it, we can change it by voting. You, no doubt, tried to do just that. Unfourtunatly for you, the majority of people casting thier ballots did not agee with you. It is frustrating to feel so strongly and be defeated. On the plus side, in four years you get to make you opinion known again. As flawed as our government is, they were smart enough to impose term limits. You can look foward to getting rid of W on Jan.1, 2009. Well that’s about it for now. Thank you and have a pleasant tomorrow.
Dear Don,
I’d figure I’d address you since at least you are reading the post and maybe everyone else has given up at this point…
You stated, “I truly feel that is one of the greatest thngs about living in this country, we are free to think and more importantly express opinions that differ from our fellow countrymen. If we do not like it, we can change it by voting. You, no doubt, tried to do just that. Unfourtunatly for you, the majority of people casting thier ballots did not agee with you.“
I’m with you up until the “unfortunately for you” portion of the post. Below are a list of reasons why W being in office is unfortunate for everyone…And while opinions vary on how big of a numbskull Bush is, it’s tough to dispute evidence…
Bush and the environment. He really has accomplished much in 4 years. Weakening 30 years of environmental progress. But what’s wrong with killing every living thing on the earth?
http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/
The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.60 billion per day since September 30, 2003. No worries, your share is only about 25k. And let’s not use a war based on false pretenses as the excuse here.
And let’s go bury the value of the dollar, shall we? Senate votes to let US borrow up to $8.18 trillion. 8 TRILLION dollars. This couldn’t be the same Georgie as the one who bankrupted daddy’s companies. He’s an economical genius. Referring to Rep senators…”They had refused to bring the bill to a vote before the elections.” Go Georgie go! You only have 4 more years to completely destroy the economy.
But he is noble, really he is and he keeps his promises. Well, maybe not all of them…Frustrated Veterans Accuse Bush of Breaking Promise. I have an idea, let’s send kids off to a war based on lies and then take away their medical. Some one already did. His name is George.
But he is against abortion. Thank God for that Christians. He values life, can I get an amen? What? No! George Bush has the record for executions as a Gov? I’m shocked. Let’s turn the other cheek to turning the other cheek.
And if this behavior isn’t presidential, what could be? And it’s very christian. What morals and ethics. Cut from the cloth Jesus himself was burried in…George W. Bush
‘Please,’ Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, `don’t kill me,’
And how has this misguided war (I am a war president – W) kept us safe? It hasn’t but don’t believe me. And have you noticed? No more Terror alerts. Wow, W being re-elected has really made a difference. To what is fed to the media that is.
A group of 26 former senior diplomats and military officials, several appointed to key positions by Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, plans to issue a joint statement this week arguing that President George W. Bush has damaged America’s national security and should be defeated in Novembe.
Bush on Education and his No Child Left Behind initiative
Almost all of the legislators on the panel characterized the federal law as onerous and arbitrary. Overriding those sentiments, however, was concern that a rebellion could jeopardize $340 million or more of annual federal education money that flows into Virginia
And lastly. Congrats to all of those wealthy Americans, who now can make even more thanks to George. Maybe, if W can be president for a 3rd term, we can all owe a million dollars a piece, not the little tiny sum of 25K that we own now. Wealthy Win Tax Break with Congressional Approval of Bush Millionaire Tax Cut
I could do this for close to forever, but really what’s the point. WW3 will make all these issues seem like child’s play. Enjoy the reading.
Once again, my post was lost into a black hole of bandwidth. I will sum up quickly what I said before. It is sad to me that the election has become a lesser of two evils contest. I am not, contrary to what you might believe, some ultra conservitive right wing died in the wool republican. I consider my self to be a middle of the road, independant. With that being said, I like what I am hearing from the Republicans alot better that there counterparts. I am in no way saying that I agree with everything that they do and say. I am simply saying that I feel they are best where we really need them. I am big on keeping our country safe. I feel that the Republicans can do a better job that the Democrats right now. I know that you, along with alot of other people do not like tis war. I feel that it is important to show the world we are not affraid of bustin some ass when we need to. It sure looks like we inspired Momar Qudafi. I guess what I am sayin is that I think this is the greatest place in the world to be, and I am glad I am here.
PS I think you are right Jim, we seem to be the only two here. If I am wrong then I am calling everybody out to speak thier collective minds!!! If I am right then I look foward to our next exchange.
I am what I consider a conservative moderate. I think our people and enviroment are extremely important. We need better schools, we need cleaner air. However, before all of that we need to be safe. If we are not safe, our people and enviroment can and will be destroyed. I think Bush could do a better job with our people and enviroment, but my safety isn’t an issue. Hopefully Bush will appoint the correct leaders to take care of these issues. If not, I think Rudy & Condi will do a fine job in 2008.