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Sep 13, 2004

I wanted to reply to all of your comments below and I knew Haloscan would limit me like crazy, so here's what I have to say:

To be honest, I'd rather not vote, because you're all right, I don't like any of the candidates. Unfortunately, the gay marriage ban is on the ballot and we need all the votes we can to fight that bastard down.

Admittedly, my statement about Nader was a little unclear. Nader "isn't the other guy" in that he isn't a major party candidate. Thus a vote for Nader is a fuck-you to the state of American politics. At least he thinks we need to shake up the system a little.

Kerry, on the other hand, embodies politics as usual: he's "Diet Bush," if I may be so bold. Sure, he takes every opportunity to blast the GOP on Iraq, but does he plan to do anything differently? Fuck no! He "personally" opposes gay marriage, but supposedly isn't going to do anything about it? News flash: when we elected him, Dubya "personally" opposed Saddam and wasn't going to do anything about it, either.

Now, time for some mythbusting:

MYTH #1: Nick made up his mind about Kerry based on a single appearance on the Daily Show. Verdict: FALSE! I decided to write a blog based on the single appearance on the Daily Show. I never liked Kerry, and I like him less the more I know about him. He deals in electability; he spouts nonsense that hides his real intentions; he is calculating and exploitative; he's inhuman. The Daily Show appearance just demonstrated a lot of what I don't like about the guy.

MYTH #2: Nick is going to vote for Dubya, or prefers Dubya to Kerry. Verdict: FALSE! Bush passes the "would you have a drink with him in a bar" test but fails the "would you hand him the keys to your nukes afterward" follow-up rather badly. Whether Bush was behind his administration's deceit or merely a victim of it, it was nonetheless his responsibility to stop it, and he proved himself unable to. His domestic policy is questionable and his foreign policy is absurd. Kerry represents something more frightening, but Bush still sucks and deserves to get the boot.

MYTH #3: Nick is enamored of Zell Miller. Verdict: FALSE! Although it's understandable that this misconception was made. I simply meant that Zell knew how to work a crowd. And hey, HOPE is paying my tuition, so I can't complain about his run as Governor, either. However, his recent turn to hate politics is distressing and his speech at Republi*Con was apalling. He may be losing his touch. With reality.

MYTH #4: The point of voting is to make your side win; thus, voting for a side that isn't going to win is pointless. Verdict: FALSE! The point of voting is to make your voice heard, and to make your voice powerful. If more of us would vote for what we really want rather than what we think is acceptable, parties would start caring about what we want rather than what we'll accept.

If a significant percentage of people voted third party - not enough to win, mind you, just enough to detract from the D/R power base - the parties would take notice and start working to regain these people's confidence. Obviously, this scenario is not likely to happen in 2004, but I'm willing to work toward it in my own small way because I think it's more important than the next four measly years.

And incidentally, if this last myth were true, anyone living in a conservative state (like Georgia) would be throwing his vote away on Kerry, too. I just think that's worth mentioning.

PS: I should let you know, I've decided that I'll actually vote for Mike Badnarik, the Libertarian candidate. Yes, I changed my mind. I'm allowed to do that, I'm a swing voter. You can give me crap about it all you want, but at least I'm not an intransigent zealot like some people I could name.

And on an altogether more important note, I am quiet right now because I'm busy at school and am working on a pretty slick new blog design.
Nick ::: 6:29 PM ::: 0 comments

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