I got my absentee ballot today…
…Peroutka & Baldwin in ’04! I like that Peroutka fella — he’s got guff, and his favorite food is pepperoni pizza (just like me!). I like a president that I can relate to.
This presidential race, this very important American presidential race, appears to be in a dead heat. Rather than be surprised at the fact that so many people still apparently support and intend to vote for George Bush, I am disappointed (and a bit embarassed) by it. I try to understand, but the only way I am able to understand is by accepting the fact that many Americans are ignorant and politically uninformed, and thus cast their vote for the candidate who talks tough and walks with a swagger, or who shares their religious beliefs, or who has folksy charm. I generalize, yes, but I have spoken and emailed many Bush supporters over the last few months and none of them have been able to explain in a convincing way why they are voting the way they are.
At this point I could go into a discussion of issues, but there are no issues anymore, there is just spin spin spin. The mainstream American media — the CNN, the MSNBC, the FoxNews, the CBSNBCABC — have failed, have become vehicles for this increasingly oligarchical system to promote and sustain itself.
Democracy is a wonderful idea — a government for the people, by the people. The problem is that capitalism and democracy don’t mix, capitalism slowly and silently destroys democracy. The realization, if it comes at all, comes too late, the damage is already done, and we are left with a system run for the powerful corporations, by the powerful corporations. Open your eyes, look at America (or at Korea, for that matter), and tell me that this isn’t true. Remember how Bush campaigned in the Enron jet?
Bush is a hard-core capitalist, and his record clearly reflects this — the environment, the Iraq reconstruction contracts, the tax cuts, the energy policy… he is not representing the people who (sorta) elected him, he is representing the companies that funded his campaign. While I understand that this is typical behavior for many on the right and the left, the extent to which Bush has taken it is frightening.
I find it embarassing and inexcusable that the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world still has citizens who can’t afford to buy food, who live in the streets, and who don’t have access to medical care. Meanwhile, the Bush administration is spending $200 billion in Iraq, $30 billion on missile defense, and $6.5 billion on nuclear weapons. When did our priorities get so skewed? Where is the voice of the underprivledged in our “democracy?”
I vote for Kerry because (among other things) I think that he will slow the capitalist consumption of the world, I vote against Bush because in four years he has sped it up significantly. The unfortunate nature of the American system is that the choice we are left with is between “eh” and “ugh” — I’m voting for “eh,” but I really wish there was an “ahh.” (Nader was an “ahh” in 2000, but he has turned into a “what the fuck are you doing?”)
Thus, Land of the Anxious Dog firmly endorses John Kerry for President of the United States, and I urge my readers to vote for him as many times as possible. Please. Thank you.
