Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Presidents I have never known

So I mentioned that none of my preferred individuals have been elected president. If I really cared I would do some research, but this is all from memory.

1968 - Pat Paulsen.

1972 - George McGovern - I was too young to vote by 6 months, not that it would have made a difference. Now THAT was a mandate for the other guy!

1976 - I don't remember who I would have preferred over Jimmy Carter. The conventional wisdom in certain circles is that he was a lousy president, but that he's a great ex-president.

1980 - John Anderson never had a chance.

1984 - Not Mondale. Was Jerry Brown in the primaries?

1988 - Well, Dukakis was from Massachusetts and that (sadly) was good enough for me. I don't remember who I really wanted initially.

1992 - Was this the year Bill Bradley was running? I was not happy that Clinton agreed to send the Arkansas National Guard to Central America, as I recall.

1996 - ?

2000 - Not happy with Gore, voted safe Nader protest vote (NY).

2004 - Kerry is the first candidate among these about whom I knew something significant before the media/campaign spin came into play, going back to the '70s.

Kerry Wins!

Ah, disappointment, my old friend. When has the candidate I wanted ever actually won the presidency?

As I see it, the difference between republicans and democrats is the difference between majority rule and governing by consensus.

So we get at least two more years of one-party rule, crony capitalist trending to theocracy.

At least we got Barack Obama.


Monday, November 01, 2004

Optimism tempered with cynicism

By the rising of the moon,
the shredders will be a-shredding,
by the rising of the moon,
November 3.

One Fingered Victory Salute

The God Squad guys suggest that some Kerry supporters may judge President Bush "harshly because he's a believing Christian." On the contrary, I judge him harshly because he is a hypocrite and a dangerous man. He has fooled many people by claiming that he has found his God. I am not one to judge what is in a man's heart, but I have eyes and can see a man's deeds.

I don't wish to waste time with a litany of complaints, but I will share with you one example of George W. Bush's actions that I believe is emblematic of his over-grown frat-boy attitude towards the world.

In Mr. Bush's own words, I give you his "One fingered victory salute."

http://static.vidvote.com/movies/bushuncensored.mov

A word of warning - if you are easily offended, I suggest that you not view the video clip, which is of Mr. Bush himself preparing for a television presentation. I am sure you can imagine what a "one fingered victory salute" is.

I know this is not a big deal in and of itself, but it is probably the purest distillation of his attitude to be found.

Update: The vidvote website is off-line, but the video is out there somewhere.