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30 July, 2004 :: 10:33 a.m.
I've been ranting about Bush in here quite a bit lately...does this mean that I'm a huge Kerry supporter? Not really. I don't think any drastic changes will sweep the nation erasing all of our problems if Kerry is president; I do think that he's a better choice than Bush if for no other reason than Edwards would make a far better VP than Cheney. Kerry himself may have trouble picking a position and sticking to it, but I'm not going to criticize someone for that when I can't keep myself thinking the same thing for more than a couple of days in a row...I mean, yeah, if you're a leader you need to stick to a course moreso than some schmuck like me in my personal life, but you have to be willing to see when things aren't working and stay open to options...I don't want a president who every other day has some new plan for the path of the country, but I don't want Bush who sticks to his guns when it's clear he's wrong just because he doesn't want to admit he fucked up.
So I will vote for Kerry just as I did for Gore in 2000--not because I think he's super, but because I think he's the better choice between the two options. Yes, I could always have voted third party, but realistically we know that there is no third party that's going to win a national election. Local elections? Possibly and that's truly great, but national elections are something most third parties will never ever be able to compete for on a serious level.
But that's where the problem and the answer lie...we need a third party...we need to elect Kerry for now and focus on building a real third party...I honestly have no idea how to go about starting a third party, but we need one that unites people on a basic level; one that refuses to be bankrolled by corporations the way the Republican and Democratic parties both are now... The power still lies with the people and if you stand for truly changing things to improve the lives of the poor and the various levels of middle class Americans, how can you not win against the elitists? Who, if given a real third choice, is going to vote for a candidate that in reality wouldn't think twice about squashing your rights if it meant gaining more power/money for him or herself?
I can't understand why we let the media and the candidates decide what's important and I can't believe that most people seem content with accepting the lies that are fed to them... The election is important: if Gore was president now as he rightfully should be, I honestly don't believe that we'd be waging this bullshit war in Iraq. Would 9/11 still have happened? Yes. Would the economy have taken a nosedive? Almost certainly. I don't believe a Patriot Act would have been passed and I don't believe Americans would be giving their lives in Iraq so that US companies could make a profit. So while most of the issues are bullshit whether it's health care or economic recovery or whatever, the president is important. Bush has shown us how dangerous the wrong man leading the nation can be. The rest of the issues will get bogged down in Congress and the Senate and anything that gets through will be watered down to the point it doesn't help the average citizen or it will be something that helps big business...
I think freedom from the government investigating us without our knowledge and without real reason is important enough to get Bush and his cabinet out of office; I think soldiers only being asked to risk their lives when there is a clear and undeniable threat to our citizens is worth getting Bush out of office.
Kerry is just a stepping stone in the direction America needs to head...