An entry in which I talk about politics some more, but there's a special prize at the end, so if you get bored and decide not to read this you're missing out bucko. Also, this is my second entry today.
Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 x 2 - 22:31

Other news sources have already named who they're endorsing for president, and so now everyone's waiting for me. Well wait no more! because tonight I am pleased to annouce that this diary is endorsing John F. Kerry for President of the United States of America.

And here's why: well, obviously, there's the fact that a vote for Kerry is an unvote for Bush, and maybe I haven't made it clear in the past, or actually I probably have but maybe you haven't read those posts because they're very boring and what do you really care what I think anyway?, but I think the war in Iraq is such an egregious error that even if I agreed with Bush on everything else I wouldn't vote for him just for that.

But also I think that a vote for Kerry is a vote for something rather than just against something. It's a vote for more understanding and acceptance, a view of the world that respects the autonomy of other nations and isn't completely U.S.-centric, respect for people regardless of how brown or gay they might be, and a respect for the earth that isn't eclipsed by a hunger for money. When you vote for a president, you're not just voting for one guy, or even two. It's a whole cabinet, a whole troupe of people, an administration. And Supreme Court justices, who could potentially be around long after the administration is gone, who could be deciding on issues that are important to you, or that will be important to you someday.

Last time, I voted for Ralph Nader because 1. I saw him speak and I agreed with everything he said, 2. I wasn't going to vote for George W., and I refused to vote for Al Gore because he had a bald spot on his head but pretended he didn't and I refuse to support such fakery (ah, those happy days of ficklery!), 3. I didn't think it mattered, really, because, I thought, what does a president do, anyway? He's just a patsy, really, a puppet. A straw man, or something, you know, just for looks, just for show, but not really functional.

This time I'm not going to vote for Nader or for the Green Party candidate (and, why lie?, I don't even know who the Green Party candidate is) because, when I vote, I'm actually going to vote for John Kerry, and I'm actually excited about it. And yeah, my state's electoral votes won't go for him, and that's lame, and why can't we have a direct election?, but oh well. We can start working on reforming the electoral college next month.

Go here for some mp3s, especially the Le Tigre one. Actually, that's the only one I've listened to, besides the Sleater-Kinney one, which I didn't download but rather have on CD. That one's good too. No no, I'm listening to Lola Stars and Stripes right now. The first 8 seconds have sounded good.

Peace, now.