political and various links.

To state it baldly:

I do not think that Kerry will make a great president.

But I DO think that he'll make a good president. Kerry might be a flip-flopper and he might be as slimy and as slippery as the next politician but, you know what?

Kerry is a doubter, Kerry is a thinker, and as a doubter myself (please refer to my Journal FAQ) I respect that.

I respect a man who is willing to admit that they're wrong, I *respect* a man who is willing to 'ask for directions', in all it's literal and figurative connotations.

Frankly, I also admire men with convictions, who can take a stand and stick to it. HOWEVER, that is provided that the convictions were arrived at, personally, in a logical way. To have convictions which are arrived at haphazardly, or worse, which are GIVEN to you?

No matter if you're liberal, no matter if you're conservative, no matter if you are an *adult*, to have convictions founded on such a shaky base makes you a foolish child.

And Bush might be a good husband, and even might be a good father, and might even be a decent neighbor, but a good president? No. Absolutely no.

Kerry may be a douche bag, but I'm voting for him anyways, (and the website re-iterates it, in so many ways) but World Peace will NOT arrive on a chorus once he's elected. Iraq will still be there, simmering. The Patriot Act will still be there, and fucking with our minds because the Secret Service are following up on LJ posts. And America will still be divided.

Or is it?

I have faith about many things, that there are generally good people, that there are generally good, thoughtful, intelligent people living in America, that America is (for all it's faults) a good country. I love this country for all it's type A feverishness and all it's eccentric quirks and rat-race consumerism and for all it's stupidity and for all it's moments of startling brilliance. This country produced the likes of Johnny Depp. This country produced Eminem. This country opened it's doors to me and my family, and sometimes I hate it but mostly I love it. I have faith in America.

And the way I mean faith, is the the way I mean trust. And I trust on previous experience and past history; in this way, I trust and have faith in America.

In this way, with this meaning, I have faith that four more years of Bush would only mean an escalation of what we have had. Four more years means carte-blanche, it means that Bush can't be re-elected past that anyways, it means that he has juuuuuust enough of America behind him to get away with whatever else he'd had on the back-burner.

The second term of most presidents is when all the plans they had been laying down during the first term come into harvest. Do you realize how scared this makes me?

Now, let's take the other route: what if Kerry gets elected?

That means that both sides would be breathing down his neck and he'd probably nail himself down on whatever train's on the middle track. And that's perfectly fine for me, because hey, that's ~70% of America right there. That's roughly me, right there, about 13% left of center.

In any case, mosh with me. We need to get that child out of office.

---

ps. via Catch.com

Provisional voting:

"you register like normal, but when you go to your polling place you have to ask for a provisional ballot."

"to vote provisionally means that you previously registered to vote, but you don't appear on the rolls at your polling place or you went to the wrong polling place. Your vote only counts once its been proven that you were a previously registered voter."

pps. Good thing to know via jmhm: How to respond to voter intimidation, suppression, and fraud

ppps. Find out where you vote.