Thursday, October 28, 2004

What, again?

Yeah, it has occurred to me that so far my posts are overwhelmingly about politics. Ah, well, the election season ends next week (although it might be superseded by a judicial season) and then I can get to other topics.

I've been doing a fair amount of reading this week:

How much failure will it take for this country for realize that George W. Bush is a security risk? How many weapons and explosives must slip into the hands of murderers? How many terrorist leaders must slip out of our grasp? How long will Osama Bin Laden sit laughing at Bush for his incompetence? I like to think I understand this country. But this one is beyond me. How can anyone take Bush seriously as Commander in Chief? The man is a coward, personally and professionally. He has done more to undermine the armed forces of this country than any president in American history. We are vulnerable as never before. And for some reason, Bush still gets credit for "leadership." - Siva Vaidhyanathan from today's Altercation.

Haven't you seen enough political ads YET?

The latest video tape of al Qaqaa unearthed by a local ABC affiliate and now picked up nationally seems like pretty much game, set, match.

Then there's the annoying trait of the Bush folks to take whatever his opponent says and twist it into some strange Orwellian version of "spin".

And, of course, here's what George thinks of You:

'Nuff said!

- Kim

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Creating his own reality...

It's nice to know that George W. has complete faith in our soldiers ability to dodge bullets.

- Kim

Another Lie...

Watching the news (MSNBC, BTW), they ran a clip of President Bush from yesterday, saying there are millions of doses of flu vaccine available for elder and at risk citizens.

Interesting. Mainly because Monday I tried to track down a single dose of the vaccine. (Note: while not a senior, I do fall into that "high risk" category, thanks to some ongoing cardiac problems.) Doctors don't have any. Health department doesn't have any. The state health department's emergency hotline says there should be some vaccine in-state within the next several weeks.

Where are they keeping these "millions of doses"? A vault in the White House basement?

- Kim

The Big Lie...

Who am I? Why am I here?

Oh, wait, no. That was James Stockdale.

***

Okay, confession time. I'm a lifelong Republican. The first election where I was eligible to vote was in '76. Ford v. Carter. Not only did I vote (for Gerry Ford), I was a campaign volunteer in Milwaukee. Mostly I worked the phone banks, which will astound anyone who knows of my distaste for telephoning.

Only once in my life have I voted for a Democrat for president. That being said, I do NOT intend, under any circumstances, to vote for George W. Bush in this election.

It's not because his administration is corrupt, incompetent, or even comically inept, although any one of these would be more than sufficient to back someone else. It's not even because of his regressive positions on so many different issues. I live on Social Security, so I have no direct stake in his tax policies; I have neither the desire nor the intention to marry another woman, so I have no stake there, either. I merely find his policies abhorrent.

All that pales, however, before what I'd consider the prime issue. The man and all his surrogates lie. Not just "white" lies that don't really hurt anyone (though even that concept is problematical in an election), but massively and constantly, on a continuing basis. He denies saying things that have been captured on tape, and when confronted by that fact, he continues to deny. (So who DID say them, a really good actor pretending to be Bush?)

When confronted with unpleasant facts he at best denies them and accuses his questioner of lying (or "exaggerating"), never feeling the need to deal with reality. When the buzz about his pattern of lying grew too strong, his tactic was to start accusing the other campaign of "persistent and scurrilous" lying.

Has George W. Bush no shame? Seemingly not.

What he's been doing is something I was taught about in grade school. It was (and is) known as "The Big Lie". Basically what it amounts to is that one tells a lie repeatedly and loudly. Repeat it long enough and a certain proportion of the population will believe it. Another proportion of the public will be unsure, but their faith in the target of the lie will be shaken. In the end, at "worst" the opposing factor will be neutralized, at "best" they will be defeated by the lie.

I won't belabor the point. Many of you are of age to remember (or remember being taught) about the political forces in the past century who honed "The Big Lie" into a singularly effective tool of governance.

I shouldn't even need to draw the other obvious parallels between them and the Bush administration and it's "Homeland Security" excuses for erasing centuries of hard-won liberties.

- Kim

Monday, October 18, 2004

A Message in the Public Interest...

To show our solidarity as Americans, let's all get together and show each other our support for the candidate of our choice. It's time that we all came together, Democrats and Republicans alike.

If you support the policies and character of John Kerry, please drive with your headlights 'ON' during the day.

If you support George W. Bush, please drive with your headlights 'OFF' at night.

- Found on the Internet, 2004

- Kim

Friday, October 15, 2004

Staring at a blank screen...

I've been thinking of this for a while. Years ago I kept an online journal, and it was fun to write, but it was all about **ME** **ME** **ME** . That got a bit old after a while, plus I managed to pick up a stalker somewhere. Yick. So, after a lot of thought and some pithy advice from a friend (read: Ellen Hayes) I let the journal go.
Now, though, many things in my life have changed, and there's things I'd like to "speak out" on. I'm started working on rebuilding my site ( http://www.kimem.net , if anyone cares). As I feel like it, I'll discuss writing, food, politics, movies, and maybe occasionally a tid-bit or two about my life.
- Kim