cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

I just read a scathing denunciation of Bush's presidency. It wasn't written for a Madison newspaper (notoriously liberal), nor for a Chicago paper (likewise). It wasn't even published on a Democratic website. No, this article comes to us from The American Conservative.

What exactly do I mean by a "scathing denunciation"? Judge the author's words for yourself:

In Europe and indeed all over the world, [Bush] has made the United States despised by people who used to be its friends, by businessmen and the middle classes, by moderate and sensible liberals. Never before have democratic foreign governments needed to demonstrate disdain for Washington to their own electorates in order to survive in office.

And then, we get a piece written to persuade conservatives why they must not vote for Bush. This includes:

The final conservative redoubt is Bush's admirable personal life. Alas, other characteristics of his seem less well suited to the presidency. By his own admission he doesn't do nuance and doesn't read. He doesn't appear to reflect on his actions and seems unable to concede even the slightest mistake. Nor is he willing to hold anyone else responsible for anything. It is a damning combination. John Kerry may flip-flop, but at least he realizes that circumstances change and sometimes require changed policies. He doesn't cowardly flee at the first mention of accountability.

...

I still don't know if I can vote for Kerry with a clean conscience. I'd really like to vote "None of the Above", but I know that's a cop-out.

With all the rumors floating around today about the fraudulent vote registering-type people, I am currently worried as to whether or not I'm actually registered to vote. I think I am, especially since I got an email today from them asking me to sign up to call every Kerry supporter in my neighborhood and beg, plead, cajole, coax, wheedle, bribe, and threaten them to vote.

I'm currently trying to figure out if I'm actually registered or not. I expect to find out before the end of the afternoon - other concerned friends and the internet are powerful tools for figuring out anything.

I need to make sure that I'm registered because I have to vote. Why? Because Wisconsin's a swing state. Because I don't want another four years of Bush. Because even though I'm just one person, I don't want to act like the neighbors of Kitty Genovese. And because the rule still stands:

If you don't vote, you don't get to complain.
As a citizen, it is your right and responsibility to take part in the pseudo-democracy that we enjoy. True, sometimes it seems more like a kakistocracy, but I just wanted to show off my vocabulary. *grin*

Why am I ranting about this at this precise moment? sargiegirl76 copied this article to her LJ today. Most of what's in it I already knew. Some of it, I'd suspected but wanted to chalk up to leftist propaganda. Truthfully, I don't know how much to believe, though the author makes some good points.

Go, read it. Think about it. Vote.

This news article has some interesting comments made by our current President. Here's the text of the speech from the President's website. I think it's the transcript of what he actually said, though probably with mispronunciation removed.

Allow me to quote a couple of lines:

• When you give me four more years, America will be safer, America will be stronger, and America will be a better country.
  
• Now is the time to make sure we don't ruin this economic growth by running up the taxes on the American people.
  
• ...we need an energy plan. I submitted one to the United States Congress...It calls for the use of alternative sources of energy. It encourages conservation. But we can explore for energy in environmentally friendly ways.
  
• Although we haven't found the stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, we were right to go into Iraq, and America is safer today because we did.
  
• I'm never going to forget that moment. There were workers in hard-hats yelling at me, "Whatever it takes." I remember looking in the eyes of either a policeman or firefighter, and he said, "Do not let me down."
  

So, the take-home lesson from the President's speech is...what, exactly? I'm pretty sure that the US is not a freer, safer, better place because of Dubya. I'm wondering what happened to the budget surplus and the economic growth. Since when has Bush been in favor of conservation and alternative energy sources? How exactly is America safer because we got into a war under false pretenses? Doesn't the phrase "I'm never going to forget" kind of imply that the details of the event won't be forgotten?

After reading these articles and discussing them in our office, we decided that we were glad that Bush's approval rating has fallen.

CC: And here's hoping he can't get it back up.
Me: Do they make Viagra for approval ratings?
CC: *laughing* God, I hope not.

Links of the Moment
poor kitty...
heheheh
Is it just me, or does this article seem like a dare? Oh, how I wish I was a hacker...

Scorpio
Use your powers wisely, as the stars give you some heavy-duty powers. The power colors you love will work best. Go for the black and red. (if I wear my favorite colors, I get amazing cosmic powers? score!)

Daily Fortune
You are indeed a secret genius! (ha! I knew it!)

( Trial of the Moment )

Quotes of the Moment
No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for another.
- Charles Dickens (or Ben Franklin, depending on your source)

I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer to neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
- Mahatma Ghandi

The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not the hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That's the essence of inhumanity.
- George Bernard Shaw

Sweet mother of god... Read this article about our president and the 9/11-Al Qaeda-Hussein link.

*deep breath*

*reasonable tone of voice...like when I'm talking to my 3-year old brother* "Yes, Mr. President, I know that you're better informed than the panel appointed to examine this situation. I also know that you believe you can manipulate the country's faith in your leadership simply by willing it so. Yes, of course you didn't actually come right out and say that you had proof of a link, just that you believed there to be one. What's that, you say that I should become a mindless obedient drone to your whim and vote for you this fall? See, that's where you're wrong."

The Almighty Darwin speaks to me in my dreams. I know what I must do....anyone want to give me a good alibi while I do it? please?

Why don't I believe that our president will actually present his "clear plan" tonight? Maybe I'm being too much of a cynic here to trust that Dubya will follow the teleprompters and give the speech that was written for him. I mean, every time the man gives a formal address, you can see the poor speechwriters holding their heads in their hands when he starts ad libbing...

I use that fairly frequently as a subject. Hm, perhaps I should strive to be more creative...or I could just stick with what works.

I'm not really sure what I think about the new CSI:New York. I'm an addict of the Vegas show, couldn't care less about Miami, but don't really know what to think of this new spin-off. So I say to the networks who, when they find something that works try to flog it to death, "Bah."

It's always a nice surprise to discover that the bottle of sour mix in the fridge has a leak. It's just so much fun to clean cold, sticky, lemony liquid from the fridge interior. So I say to the engineers who created such wasteful packaging, "Bah."

Our most noble president has shown, yet again, just how far up his ass his head is. I wonder if he can see his small intestines yet. Luckily, this is America. Dubya has the right to say that anyone who doesn't agree with him about who gets to call their relationship a marriage will rot in hell, and I have the right to say that I don't really care who fucks whom or what they call their relationship, just so long as I get to do what (and who) I want. To everyone who's too narrow-minded to see that just because you don't like something doesn't mean that you have the right to take it away from those who do, I say, "BAH!!!!" (I feel a little strongly about this.)

I was going to try to be all happy, cheerful, relaxed, and positive this evening. So I say, to all who are going to bitch that I'm just using this space to say how much I hate the world and how I'm just like everyone else, "Bah!"

heh. Goodnight.



bah