/dev/null/kevin

Ah, the Church Sign Generator. It still makes me laugh. It's been around forever, but they have a second design you can choose from now. However, the real gems are the real signs. Not only is the truth stranger than fiction, it's funnier.

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September 15, 2004 05:59 PM PDT Permalink | Comments [2] |

To quote my dad, "The Democrats want to make the poor richer, and the Republicans want to make the rich richer. Both want to do it by making me poorer, and I'm supposed to choose?"
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September 15, 2004 03:34 PM PDT Permalink | |

Reading watt's blog (and the comments) on George W. Bush got me thinking. I used to watch the SciFi show Babylon 5 and some of the stuff Bush does gives me flashbacks to one of the long story arcs in the show.

In the story, Earth's evil president is looking to maintain power, so he demonizes a group of people, creating an enemy that people will fear. He uses that fear to create programs that "protect" the people, but also remove their rights. There is even a government organization called "Home Guard" which is just too similar to "Homeland Defense" for me. And while Babylon 5 is, of course, fiction, the ideas are all based on historical happenings such as the rise of the Nazi party and the McCarthy hearings.

So, while I'm not saying that Bush is this bad, I do feel like he and the Republicans are manipulating the American people, using fear tactics to stay in power. It's also scary to see dissenting opinions labeled as "un-American" or "unpatriotic." For the record, I support a war on terror, but a smart war. It seems like we're fighting a dumb war at the moment.

Would John Kerry do any better? I can't really say. However, if weren't talking about things we fear, mine is how much the rest of the world hates us. I don't think Bush can, or even wants to, repair that damage. Kerry at least says he does.

For those who think I'm just another Democrat, I'm not. Technically, I'm registered Republican because (1) I believe in the concept of smaller government, and (2) because I can vote in republican primaries. Almost all Democrats are the same since the really "out there" liberals are all in the smaller parties like Green, Peace and Freedom, etc. However, There is no Green Party equivalent for conservatives, so the Republican party has everything from moderates (like me) to really scary, wacko, religious right psychos. Thus, my objective is to keep the more reasonable Republicans in the final elections.
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September 15, 2004 03:30 PM PDT Permalink | Comments [4] |