A vote for Bush...? #Life #politics
The Omaha World-Herald's top story today, reprinted from the Denver Post, was about Bush's acceptance speech for his Republican nomination. (Damn. I was hoping they'd wise up at the last second and nominate somebody else. Hey, hope springs eternal.)
In a speech laced with biblical and patriotic imagery, Bush said Americans have a divine mission to spread freedom and liberty upon the Earth."Divine mission". That's right, Bush can't read his own Bible. Excuse me, Mr. President, but America is not God's chosen nation, and we do not have any divinely-sanctioned mission. If there's any chosen nation at all, then we ain't it. News flash, Texas: the Bible was not written in America.
"By encouraging liberty at home, we will build a more hopeful America," the president said.Liberty at home? This from the guy behind the Patriot Act, which gives him the right to arrest anyone without probable cause, and hold them without access to a lawyer, without the right to a speedy trial or in fact any trial at all, without telling their family whether they're even alive or dead, indefinitely, without a shred of evidence? This is liberty?
If you're interested in liberty at home, then dump Bush.
"Because a caring society will value its weakest members, we must make a place for the unborn child."Cool. He's alienating the entire pro-choice population of the country.
"Because religious charities provide a safety net of mercy and compassion, our government must never discriminate against them."Cool. He's alienating everyone who ever donated to a non-religious charity.
"Because the union of a man and woman deserves an honored place in our society, I support the protection of marriage against activist judges," said the president.Cool. He's already alienated, and is continuing to work very hard to alienate, everyone who's not a bigot. Including his own vice president.
But here's the best one:
"[B]ecause we acted to defend our country, the murderous regimes of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban are history..."Hmm. Yes, the Taliban apparently supported al-Qaeda. No, Saddam did not. Was the entire Republican party on vacation when the 9/11 commission gave their report? Sure, Saddam was an asshole, but come on, "defending"? Iraq never posed a threat to us. What, exactly, did we piss off the entire civilized world, and set a precedent of unprovoked U.S. aggression, to "defend"?
Actually, that's easy to answer. We were defending Bush's God-given right to declare war against anybody he wants (including and especially U.S. citizens), any time he pleases. We were defending Bush's ego.
You know, I was going to end this post with my usual jab, "A vote for Bush is a vote for bigot pride." (I need to make bumper stickers.)
But with everything else he touched on in his speech... I think I'll rephrase it this time:
"A vote for Bush is just stupid."
This store pretty much sums it up: Anyone else in 2004.