WHY PROGRESSIVES NEED TO BACK THE KERRY/EDWARDS TICKET
Listen folks, it would be funny, if it werent for the reality we find ourselves in, today.
Tonight, I grieve. Not only for the thousand American lives who were cut short so brutally in the sands of a foreign land, but also for the tens of thousands of Iraqis who have also died. I grieve for my country, and for the dreams of what could have been.
Some of you may remember- I started this site, protesting this war, before it even began. I've spent every day since then, following every aspect of the war, and in that time, I have discovered a conscience within myself I never knew I had. While some might consider this to be a matter of personal growth, it is a part of myself that I wish I had never encountered. Every day, with every death, I've felt a part of myself die.
Above all- that's what has led to my burnout- I never considered myself a frail person- but I could only take so much, before my brain just refused to take any more.
And the most horrific aspect of it all, is turning on the controlled corporate media everyday, and seeing the endless carnage being ignored, glossed over, and flat-out DENIED, by not only the Bush crime family, but also their press lapdogs.
You go out, and speak with the people on the streets, and with few exceptions, the majority of the people around you are blithely and willingly ignorant of what's really going on. You find yourself living in a nation that purports itself to be the greatest force for good in the world- yet it turns out to be a nation without a conscience.
And that's the most frightening thing- we have the greatest military might of any nation on earth- the greatest ability to guide the the economic, environmental, and social development of the world, and yet- we lack a national conscience. The current leadership in washington claims a moral stewardship of this country, but they simply use a crackpot fundamentalist christian ideology to cover up an agenda of rapacious greed, moral bankruptcy, and callous disregard for the most fundamental tenets of the agreements between a citizenry and its government.
What has happened to our country?
Poverty has risen, average pay is down, unemployment remains at historically high levels, tens of thousands are dead in a war that was based upon lies, 4 million have lost their health insurance, our police and firefighters are unable to do their jobs, simply because of the budget cutbacks that came about of Bush's tax cuts- seniors are paying more and more for their medications- children are being denied basic education- my god- the list goes on and on.
And yet:
close to 50% of the american people think that this gaggle of murderers and thieves are doing a good job. The current electoral count is in favor of this cadre of vipers.
How can ANYONE want four more years of this? Four more years of death- four more years of poverty- four more years of a political extremism that would nmake an ayatollah blush- four more years of unemployment- four more years of no healthcare- four more years of rising crime rates, uncertainty at home, and war abroad....
What has happened to our country?
But I digress...
Yesterday, I began work, in earnest, on a new animation, commemorating the 1000 dead americans who have died for Bush's lies. I have put off doing a new animation for far too long. I might have to put off a freelance project, in order to complete it, and I might have to deal with a few weeks of even more dire poverty, as a result, but I have to do this. Their lives cannot pass into the darkness, without being remembered.
I might have to stay away from the chatroom, so I can get this done, but such is life. Please bear with me- this is no hollow promise- A NEW ANIMATION, WITHIN THE WEEK.
I'd say something about the RNC coverage on c-span, but I'm tuckered out after mopping up all the blood I vomited.
I expected them to shamelessly use 9/11 as a prop, but I never thought they'd take it as far as they did. I'm sure I'll get some e-mail, suggesting a drinking game in which the players are instructed to take a drink, every time some slimeball pundit, or scuzzball at the podium mentions 9/11- but I would advise anyone to shy away from such a game- all participants would be dead of alcohol poisoning, after 10 minutes (5 minutes, if Bob Dole's on the air.)
The endless collective urinating on the memories of those who died on 9/11 didn't let up- all night. Every second of watching it, was like having someone shove a glass needle into my eyeball. How can any american look at this shameless, collective urination on the memories of 3,000 dead, and not lose control of at least three integral parts of his or her digestive systems, in disgust?
The next three days, I'm gonna try to shy away from c-span, but like the moth oddly drawn to the ultimate danger that a flame presents, I remain a political junkie, and will end up watching more than I should...
Now, in the wake of this post, one person (he knows who he is), objected to the language and vehemence of what I wrote.
In deference to this, I will amend my comments...
In their disgraceful display, last night, not only did the republicans open their flies, and collectively urinate on the memories of those who died on 9/11, but they also dropped their pants, and collectively dropped a log on the victims of 9/11, and their families. Not only did they wipe their collective brown-eyes on the victims' death certificates, they set a new precedent in american politics by exploiting the deaths of their fellow countrymen for political gain.
The only thing that would have been worse, is if they had marched en-masse to ground zero, and erected a golden idol of George Bush on the site of the World Trade Centers.
Today, I have recieved e-mails from all over the world- saying how shocked and revolted they are at how the republicans crassly exploited the blood of innocents for political gain. One of them, from a veteran who had just returned from Iraq, who had lost family on 9/11, said it was a "shame upon our country- How can we as americans hold our heads high, when such blatant disregard for human life, is expolited for political purposes?"
Ya wanna show the REAL 9/11, republicans? Show the footage of Bush, sitting on his posterior, looking like a lobotomized vegetable, while the planes hit the WTC and Pentagon. Play the recording of the flight attendant on the first plane that hit the WTC, who was on the phone with ground control for twenty minutes, while no action was taken. Explain the systematic blind eye Bush gave to reports of imminent attack. Explain why Cheney never atended ONE SINGLE MEETING of his own antiterrorism taskforce, prior to 9/11, and of course, how Bush did everything in his power to block the independent 9/11 report. But I know you'll never do so. You're gonna have your grand old party, in NYC, and smile into the camera while you lie, lie, and lie again.
Some people may be willing to sit by and let you get away with such things, but I certainly will not.
And- to the guy who objected to my wording- remember when Rush Limbaugh and Fox "news" called folks like me "traitors", "communists" and "Un-American"...
Maybe it's payback time- don'tcha think?
WHY PROGRESSIVES NEED TO BACK THE KERRY/EDWARDS TICKET:
I'll be straight up with ya'll:
there a few other candidates who I would have liked to see get the nomination, before Kerry- but I am backing his candidacy 100%.
He is the best hope for a progressive agenda in this country.
Now- a lot of you may balk at that- and I understand why. Naderites, Cobb Supporters, and quite a few others will, most certainly, in the days to come, send me page after page of Kerry's questionable votes in the past. I'm not gonna read a single one of them- I don't have the time.
I am well aware of his postu
ring on certain issues, such as the military, Israel, certain free-trade agreements runs counter to the sensibilities of a lot on the progressive end of things.
But let me put it in black and white, up front:
Under Kerry the progressive agenda has a chance to survive
Under Bush, the progressive agenda hasn't a chance in hell. The details:
Kerry supports a woman's right to choose- Bush signs executive orders outlawing choice procedures. Kerry would overturn Bush's executive order banning US support of women's health organizations in the third world who offer planned parenthood services.
Dig this- because of the bush crime family's puritanical anti-abortion agenda- hundreds of thousands of women have been denied access to healthcare, because these health organizations dare to distribute condoms, or (gasp) offer a woman in danger of suffering a miscarriage a safe termination of her pregnancy...
I ask progressive voters- are you going to turn your back on these women's lives, simply because Kerry isn't pure enough for your tastes? If you do- their blood is on your hands. I hope you can sleep well, at night...
Kerry supports raising the minimum wage- Bush opposes it- he figures that millions of workers can live on less than subsistence wages.
I dunno if any of ya'll have ever lived in small-town america, and had no other employment opportunies, other than the local greaseburger joint, or the ubiquitous wal-mart- but I have...
Lemme tell you- there are MILLIONS in this country, living on a wage that the average american would laugh at, living in a state of poverty that would astound you. If you doubt me, write to me, and we'll take a road trip down to appalachia, and the mississippi delta- I'll show you stuff you never though could have existed in this great, rich, and powerful country.
Children are growing up malnourished, without health care- they even lack the educational services that we in the blue states take for granted.
So- I ask again: Progressive voters- are you going to turn your back on these poor kids, and their families, who are living on less than a subsistance wage? Go right ahead- I hope you sleep well, at night.
Bush still seeks to privatise social security- Kerry opposes this.
Ask your elderly relatives if they'd like their safety net taken over by the same folks who brought you Enron, Tyco, and Halliburton- I have a hard time thinking they'd think this is a very good idea...
A vote against Kerry is a vote to hand our greatest generation's trust fund into the hands of corporate predators.
Bush wants organized, christian prayer in public school- Kerry opposes it. Remember that arcane document, called the "Bill of Rights?" Read the first one- maybe that will fill you in a tad.
If progressives turn their backs on that, they turn their backs on our constitution- hope they can live with that- because I certainly couldn't.
And when it comes to the Bill of Rights- Dig this:
Bush wants to amend our constitution- our founding and most precious document- to exclude millions of our fellow citizens from equal recognition under the law. this would be the first time, since the birth of our republic, that our founding document would be amended to TAKE AWAY RIGHTS from our fellow citizens- If you haven't guessed, I'm talking about his "defense of marriage act", that would prevent states from allowing the issuance of marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
Kerry opposes this- when progressives turn their backs on Kerry, they turn their backs on these people.
Bush wants to go further than this- not satisfied with denying these fellow citizens the rights of marriage, he wants to deny them the legal rights granted by civil ceremony. Thus- it just ain't a religious issue- this is the systematic legal disenfranchisement of american citizens.
On the other hand, Kerry is in favor of letting gay and lesbian couples the right to enjoy the rights and benefits of civil unions.
Bush wants our tax dollars to go to religious organizations- Kerry doesn't. Again, I refer you to that pesky first amendment.
Now- I could go on and on, folks. You CANNOT TELL ME that there is NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BUSH AND KERRY, when it comes to issues that MATTER. I haven't even TOUCHED on bush's mishandling of stem-cell research, national security, the economy, his insane tax cut that has bankrupted the states, and the other virtiginous horrors that have issued forth from this white house.
Now- still- some out there will sweep these differences aside, and say that Kerry STILL isn't lilly-white for them.
Well- to them, I say this: If you're gonna wait around for Jesus Christ, the Dalai Lama, or Nelson Mandella to get the Democratic Nomination, you're gonna have a LONG wait. Progressives have a VESTED INTEREST in backing Kerry.
In the last election in 2000, a lot of us showed our strength by going to the ballot box and voting for Nader. The democratic party stood up and took notice of us, for the first time, in a while.
If, this time around, we put out efforts behind the Kerry/Edwards ticket, they will again stand up and take notice. We will be able to go to the Kerry White house and say: "You owe us one."
again, it needs to be said:
Under Kerry the progressive agenda has a chance to survive
Under Bush, the progressive agenda hasn't a chance in hell.
I keep repeating to people: we progressives need to take over the Democratic party, instead of shunning it out of moral absolutism that would make the taliban blush.
The Christian right was able to take over the Republican party, despite their moral absolutism- and now, they run the show, and their morals are becoming national policy.
True- the christian right has two advantages over the progressive movement:
For one- well- forgive the Star Trek reference- but they're like the 'Borg- they enjoy a collective groupthink that allows them to act like a single organism.
Progressives, on the other hand, think for themselves- they like to argue, think, and come to an intelligent conclusion, when considering issues. Religious conservatives don't suffer from this- they already know all the answers...
Secondly, Religious conservatives took over the party with such ease, because they did it under the radar- silently, and away from the prying eyes of c-span. Most republicans aren't even aware of how deeply the religious right has infiltrated their party.
Progressives, on the other hand, are activists by nature- we agitate, hand out petitions, march in demonstrations- we keep ourselves as visible as possible.
Somehow, we need to make our presence and issues visible within the democratic party- and the best way to do this, now, is to use the energy that brought us out on the streets on February 15th, 2003, the energy that kept us fighting for Kucinich, the energy that no other political force can muster, to help elect John Kerry as the next president of the United States.