I which we delve (sort of) into politics

[framlingem]

Politics - from the Greek Polis, meaning the people, and tic, meaning blood-sucking parasite.

As much as I have never been what you might call fond of Mr. Bush, today's thing with the Constitution and the events leading up to it have made me even less so.

He is implying that people I care about very much are less than human, and that is unforgiveable.

He is implying that there is a group of people more deserving of respect than another group of people, and that is unforgiveable.

He is implying that it is all right to mix personal religious beliefs with state decisions which affect people who do not hold those same beliefs, and that is unforgiveable.

He is saying that something can be considered right for the sole reason that it has been considered right for a long time, and that is unforgiveable.

He is demonstrating to children that it is all right to hate someone for something which is an intrinsic part of them, and that is unforgiveable.

He is demonstrating that the most powerful man in the world does not care about the rights of people on the periphery, and that is unforgiveable.

However, he has caused me to wish I was an American citizen - so that I might vote for someone else.

I believe that he believes he is a good man and a good Christian. So did Hitler. The only reason the latter might frighten me more is because Hitler was a very bright, charismatic man. However, Bush's particular brand of idiocy leads to blindness. Hitler believed he was right because of a burning passion. Bush believes he is right because he cannot conceive of any other way.

If I could speak to him, I would tell him that he will be remembered in History as an influential American President... but listed next to Nixon, not Woodrow Wilson or Roosevelt.

Comments

[anigo.livejournal.com]

Excuse me? I missed this. Is this recent? (I mean, other than the recent past couple of weeks)

What I don't understand is, for pete's sake, if you're not hurting anybody else, then what's the freekin' problem. So what if you believe that a person is going to rot in hell for, say, painting their toenails a particular shade of purple. If you feel strongly about it, tell the person of your believe, then back the feck off. I have a right to tell you how I feel, and then you have the right to listen to me or not. I do not have the right to get in your face about it. This goes for many things. Religion, politics, sexuality. My beliefs are X, so there. I have the right to believe them. I have the right to want to share them, and gosh darn it, you have the right not to give a fig about my beliefs, ignore me completely (because i do NOT have the right to harrass you with my beliefs) and then go off and believe whatever the heck you want.

Damn, can't we all just get along and leave what is not actually hurting YOU alone?

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

Not recent, it's just that usually I keep my mouth shut about what I think of him in my own journal. The latest thing was the proverbial straw.

I'm going to hope that the YOU in the last sentence doesn't actually refer to me :p

[anigo.livejournal.com]

Good lord, no, the YOU is not you. Far from it.

:D

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

I hoped not.

Whew.

I didn't think I was being that bad.

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it does make me feel better. Thanks.

I'm tempted to write a letter to him consisting solely of 'Dear Sir; your actions regarding Iraq and the right of homosexuals to marry make me wish I was an American, that I might have the inestimable joy of voting you out of office.
Sincerely,
A Happy Canadian'

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

Me too :) I don't know if his secretary automatically shreds any Canadian mail, though.

I particularly like the 'inflate his ego, then cruelly pop it' aspect. Although I'm not sure he'll understand big words like 'inestimable'.

[annathepiper]

That is a thing of beauty. Thank you.

[ex-dead-man403.livejournal.com]

Brilliant! I'm far more afraid of him than any terrorist.

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

Do you know, I'm not sure he isn't. A terrorist, that is. If the definition of 'terrorist' is 'one who inflicts terror', then he certainly qualifies.

-'The Muslim fundamentalists are coming to get you!'
-'Everyone hates us!'
-The whole not-signing-the-Kyoto-treaty thing, which caused other influential nations to pull out for fear of repercussions.
-'Show us those weapons of destruction we aren't sure you have, or we'll blow you up on a pretext while we ignore the weapons of mass destruction we know our trading partner North Korea has!'

On the other hand, we must not overlook the great deeds this Nobel Peace Prize nominee has accomplished in his humanitarian efforts, such as -

hm... um... nevermind.

[ex-dead-man403.livejournal.com]

Well, he has defined terror...no, wait, he hasn't, despite waging a war on it!

[anneheart.livejournal.com]

On behalf of America, I apologise for that.

I didn't vote for him and shall not the next time around.

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

It is not your fault, and I realise that the vast majority of Americans are probably intelligent, educated, perfectly reasonable people.

What makes my mind boggle is that the majority of your government seems to be composed of the exceptions to the above. I think the flaw lies in the two-party system. It always reminds me of that brilliant Simpsons episode in which the Presidential candidates (Clinton and Gore, if I recall correctly) were replaced with brutal alien taskmasters. After the election, everyone is slaving away under Kang, and someone says 'don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.' There is often not a better choice. From what I've heard of Kerry, this seems to be true in this case as well. You have my sympathies.

(We Canadians are not particularly enamored of Paul Martin at the moment, either. But I'm less disgusted with him than I am with Bush.)

[dracole.livejournal.com]

Good points, though I'm not sure about the Hitler thingy. I see the comparison you're trying to make, but while denying gay people's rights is horrible, its not quite as bad as trying to slaughter all of them. Besides, he did make an effort after 9/11 to publicly state that no American should hold Muslims responsible, which was not the case with Japanese in America when we were at bad terms with Japan several decades earlier. I don't know, maybe I like to see some good in everyone.

Anywho, I totally agree that gay people should have the right to marry. Here's a link ( http://www.livejournal.com/users/dracole/3771.html ) to a rant I did on this about ten days ago.

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

I may have been unclear about the Hitler thing - I do not believe that Bush has commited atrocities similar to Hitler's - the point was that both men are/were denying human rights while firmly believing that they are justified in doing so. :p

[quiva.livejournal.com]

I had an lj discussion going on with someone else that began with the realization that NOT ONCE since I turned 18 and began to vote have I ever voted _for_ a candidate. I have always been forced to take the "Well I definitely don't want X in office so my only other choice is Y" voting approach. It's very sad. Not a single candidate on any level of government have I felt good about backing and voting "for."

And I was _involved_ in politics for cripes sake!

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

Bites, doesn't it? I made another comment to someone else in this thread with regards to a Simpsons episode... sometimes there seems to be no better choice.

[quiva.livejournal.com]

Makes me _almost_ consider throwing my hat into the ring.


Then I realize that I couldn't schedule my life around GBS concerts if I were in politics so the idea is completly nixed ;-)

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

LOL!

[http://users.livejournal.com/__enigma__/]

I just read a couple of Michael Moore books and he has some very interesting points to make.

I found it particularly amusing that Bush's tax cuts have just given Michael a load of money, so he has set up www.spendmikestaxcut.com

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link - I haven't seen it before :)