Election Blog
By H.G. Miller
For a brief while, I turned the "Starting Off" section of the home page into a political blog. Here is what I wrote.
10/26/04
The new Rolling Stone has a really good
interview with John Kerry,
and an even better
article by Hunter S. Thompson.
Some of the better quotes from the good doctor:
"Did you see Bush on TV, trying to debate? . . . It was pitiful. I almost felt sorry for him, until I heard someone call him 'Mister President,' and then I felt ashamed."
"All we have to do is get out and vote, while it's still legal, and we will wash those crooked warmongers out of the White House."
He's also got a quote from Nixon I hadn't heard before:
"War is an option whose time has passed. Peace is the only option for the future. At present we occupy a treacherous no-man's-land between peace and war, a time of growing fear that our military might has expanded beyond our capacity to control it and our political differences widened beyond our ability to bridge them. . . .
"Short of changing human nature, the only way to achieve a practical, livable peace in a world of competing nations is to take the profit out of war."
10/18/04
So, a friend the other day told me she wasn't sure about Kerry because he seemed to just change his opinion based on whatever is popular.
Two comments:
1.) The President works for us. He should consider popular opinion when making decisions.
2.) I don't want to call out my friend, but this is the kind of thing I'm talking about. She was repeating a soundbite. Something that a pundit said a couple hundred times and it somehow became 'true.'
This is why I'm asking everybody to get educated.
Find the truth at
Factcheck.org
Read the whole story on
CNN
Get it from a
corporate giant,
or check out the
indie press.
Just get the information. Lots of information from different places. It is your responsibility to know why you want to vote for somebody, not why somebody else thinks you should vote for them.
10/12/04
Wow...
I just got home from watching the Vote for Change concert finale, featuring Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, John Mellencamp, James Taylor, and a bevy of other musicians who are putting these concerts on to get people out to vote.
I dare say it was a religious experience. A house full of progressive-minded people, jamming to the music, talking polotics and just sending off good vibes. I feel optimistic for the first time in a while. There's just so much more passion on the Democratic side. Every Republican interview I see, or conservative I talk too... they all seem so robotic with their answers. Must... support... president...
There's a real drive for change from the blue side. I think there are a lot of disatisfied people who aren't getting contacted by polsters. I think they're the difference makers.
James Taylor had the best line on the night. "If you're undecided, look at the two candidates, and choose the smart one."
10/8/04
Second Bush/Kerry debate tonight. I thought the two came out pretty even. The Iraq stuff in the beginning is starting to be old hat by now. You're either smart enough to get what Kerry's saying, or you love America (Freedom Fries!) too much to let facts get in the way of good television.
The rest of the debate centered on national policy issues, which are way too complex to get across in 90 seconds. I'm not a master economist, but I didn't want the first tax cut, and I don't see how more of them really help anything. Wasn't there some report that said most consumers used their tax cuts to pay off credit cards?
Anyway, the economy is affected by a great many things and I don't think either party has the master key.
The final issues were about stem cell research and abortion. I'm partial to Kerry's statement that personal beliefs shouldn't be legislated on the masses. However, I think these issues are set in stone for most voters, and if they don't agree with you already, then you aren't win them back.
The final opinion, as always: Do your research. You won't find a candidate who agrees with everything you want, so find out who seems to lean in your direction on most issues. Or, run yourself, I guess.
9/30/04
Just finished watching the debates and flipping around to the various news reports.
I am realizing that I could never be a spinster. I don't know how the Republicans can keep a straight face when they say Bush won this debate. Kerry obviously came across as more prepared and did a great job of keeping his answers succinct.
On a related note, the Daily Show interviewed Wesley Clark (Dem.) and Rudy Giuliani (Rep.), and Jon Stewart actually called both of them on misleading statements they made. This didn't happen on any of the other shows I caught. Not CNN, not MSNBC, not even Fox (which I could only stomach for a few minutes, anyway).
Stewart really went after Giuliani for saying that Kerry kept contradicting himself when he didn't. I find it shameful that it takes a fake news show to actually state the facts instead of letting the spinsters just spout off their canned rhetoric unopposed.
The other thing I caught when flipping through was Peter Gammons discussing Randy Johnson's Cy Young chances and making this statement: "If the award went to the best pitcher, he would win, but..." But what? No buts! It
IS
supposed to go to the best pitcher!!! See, sports is just as stupid as politics.
9/21/04
I've been watching a lot of the news lately, so I've been a little too sick to write.
For example, Senator John McCain was on Hardball today and when asked what he thought President Bush's lasting legacy in office would be, he said it was when he stood on top of the World Trade Center rubble and put his arm around a construction worker. I had three immediate reactions to this.
1.) His lasting legacy was a photo op? That's what you're going with?
2.) The worst terrorist attack in our nation's history happend on GW's watch. Why do they keep referring to this like it was a
good
thing?
3.) I threw up in my mouth.
I'll probably keep referencing the upcoming election in my posts. I'll try to have some light-hearted stuff also, but please please please please pleeeeeeeaaaaaaasssssseeeeee do some research, register to vote, and make an INFORMED decision in November.