My secret hopes....

Here's what I hope will come out of this election:

• A moritorium on the use of "liberal" to define any stance not embraced by the rabid right. Dissagreeing with the war in Iraq does not make you a liberal. Hating George Bush does not make you a liberal. Opposing warrentless wiretaps does not make you a liberal. It's time to quit this kind of discussion-destoying rhetoric and return to the rational debate of issues. If everyone that opposed the neocons is a liberal, as they say, then the United States just voted in favor of every left-wing evil you can imagine... and that is PATENTLY not what happened.


• A temporary reprieve from the AM talk radio crowd and their insistance that they speak for mainstream america. I like listening to people talk about the issues, but the venomous voices of the right need a little humility. Their voices may be right on many issues, but they are not the mandate of god. There is room in their rhetoric for a little self-exploration, and this is a perfect excuse for them to begin. Dear Boortz, if democrats are as malevolently evil as you say then it's this nation's choice to accept this LESSER of two evils. Dear Rush, your knee-jerk reactions to issues reeks like those of the bleeding-hearts... it's uninformed, it's self-eggrandizing, and it's hurting our nation. Dear Sean, you are wrong about almost everything. Grow up.


• A real effort will be made to address our national debt. Tax breaks are great, and I support them. But we can't keep running up our credit cards to keep our way of life. Credit cards are for emergencies, not to push the Dow up. I listen to too much Dave Ramsey to think that we're doing anything positive. We have work to do, people. I'm not sure how anyone can feel like a good person when we lay our debt burden on our children. "Tax and Spend" democrats have been replaced by "Spend" republicans. What's wrong with this picture.


• Foreign policy will get revamped to recognise that military might does not imply moral superiority. Yes, we can kick ass... YES, we are a comparitively moral nation with comparitively benevolent goals. But we can't force the world to believe us! I have no modern historical references that demonstrate how a military power can force a people to behave constructively. We have a finite amount of national power that we can exert at any given time to shape the world. Let's begin using that constructively in arenas with clear goals that are winnable. I respected Bush when he said our troops weren't for nation-building... but I also warned everyone he was a hypocrite from moment one.


• The debate on our economy will cease being focussed on the largest of companies and return to the realm of average americans. The Dow is a good figure for demonstrating how investors are getting richer, but the majority of americans are not investing in the stock market. It is a scientific reality that in adjusted dollars the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. There is no historical reference that puts this behavior anywhere close to being good for a nation. I absolutely worship capitalism and adore its ability to take a little and turn it into a lot... but modern markets are not demonstrations of free-market capitalism. We cannot base our perceptions of economic success on the profitability of oil companies and goverment contractors. We must begin looking at how our trade deficit is hurting our people... we must begin looking at how the poor are an important national resource and cannot be disenfranchised.... we much begin pondering that extreme wealth does NOT imply extreme virtue. Wanting these things does not imply contempt for a free market... in my case, it implies respect.

Ok... enough ranting.... Happy Wednesday, everyone. Here's hoping our future is brighter than today.

Bush's Response

I am so astoundingly motivated today by the things I've been watching on the news. It seems like a whole new world has opened up... and I know I'll get shot back down in the next few weeks, but at least a few steps are being taken in the right direction. I'd like to cover a few of these that Bush discussed in his speech today.

First off, Rumsfeld is stepping down as Secretary of Defense. I'm perhaps putting a little too much into the political analysis on MSNBC, but I do agree that this appears, superficially, to be a rejection of the Neo-Conservative regime that has kept us in international denial for so long. By going against Cheney and pulling in a classic conservative, it APPEARS that our president is recognising that this finger-crossing and mantra-chanting is intellectually bankrupt and counterproductive. It honestly looks like a fresh start for out foreign policy. I am sufficiently convinced that we might get less idealism in our defense department.

Secondly, I was surprised to see a flicker of humility come from the Bushman today. It was amazing! Rather than his laughable swagger and reprehensible talking points repeated ad-infinitum, he spoke of real recognition that things weren't going the way he predicted. In response to the democratic win he said, "That shows what I know!" In response to his dogmatic Stay The Course attitude, he responded, "I need to do a better job of explaining that we are constantly adjusting strategy." He also said, "I should not try punditry." I actually paused the TIVO and got paper to write this shit down! I felt relief... premature, I'm sure... but deep relief that there might actually be a split from all the denial and oblivious grandstanding... and a switch to a discussion of issues. Have we really elected a new president as well as changing the houses?

This is not to say that Bush didn't do a lot of flip-flopping now that he's behind the 8-ball. Last week, he campaigned around the country on the grounds that votes for democratic leadership was a vote to let the terrorist win. Today he said, "No leader in Washington is going to walk away from trying to protect this country... their spirit is such that they want to protect America. That is what I believe." He also commented, "Democrats are going to support our troops just like republicans will." This is what grosses me out about partisan bullshit... if it isn't true, don't fucking say it. Don't broadcast that democrats are the devil one week if you don't honestly believe it. There are millions of americans who listen to talk radio and are under the kind of neoconservative voodoo that this ridiculous rhetoric casts. It's time to end this and talk seriously.... without exaggerations and straw men.

I also found it a bit strange to hear No Child Left Behind and tax cuts being referred to as bipartisan issues. Yes, we all believe in the items, but I don't think that making token votes of acceptance to a bill that is going to pass regardless could be construed as bipartisan support. Were I in the senate, it would be politically foolish of me to vote AGAINST those token tax cut packages that Bush pushed through. It was political suicide. I'm not saying it's RIGHT... but I'm certainly not going to believe that voting in favor of those issues was an acceptance of their rightousness. I'm sure the NSA wiretapping bill and the vote to go to authorize the president to use force had similar baggage associated with voting against them. If you want real bipartisanship, you need to remove social and political penalties for disagreeing. Period.

Is enlistment really high? Is re-enlistment really up?

And lastly, I finally found an argument in support of those faith-based initiatives that doesn't sound like crap. "There are just some problems that require something other than goverment help." He commented that he saw no reason not to bid these services out with tax breaks to those who wish to do them. But are they actually BID? Good argument, I'll have to look into the way things have been run.