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Sat, September 11, 2004
Is it still 1975?
I'm greatly annoyed by the latest hubbub surrounding notes that Bush's superior from the National Guard may or may not have written. In fact, I've been annoyed every time anyone gave much attention to either candidates' history circa 1965-1975.
(Caution: political rant ahead. Turn on head lights next 10 miles.)
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Maybe I'm missing something, but the last time I checked, it was 2004. Assuming that it still is 2004, it's been nearly 30 years since the Vietnam war ended. That's a long time. Hell, 30 years ago, I wasn't even born yet. So what I don't understand is, what the hell does that have anything to do with one's suitability for presidency of the United States in 2005?
So Kerry won some medals and killed someone. Guess what? So did a lot of other soldiers. Kerry came home and opposed the war. Good for him for doing the right thing... but he wasn't the only veteran against the war by any means. Bush seems to have been mysteriously not-there for most of his duty. Well, so were a lot of people. Some weren't even officially in any branch of the military, or even in the country for that matter. He might be lying about his performance in the National Guard. Well, he's a politician. That's what they're paid to do; it's in the job description along with "be gone for long periods of time".
The bottom line is, being a war hero doesn't make someone a good President. Being an AWOL fighter pilot doesn't make someone a bad President. There are plenty of other reasons why one may be a better President than the other. But whatever those reasons may be, I don't think what they did 30-40 years ago should be one.
Okay, I know. I need to qualify that last statement. What the candidates did 30-40 years ago shouldn't make a difference unless you're a stupid American. Many (most?) Americans (and people in general) are stupid (in the sense that they support politicians for entirely wrong reasons -or at all). And I guess that answers my original question.
Bah, I hate politics. The really sad thing is, if that whole thing about Bush being ahead in the polls is any indicator of the outcome (I'm guessing/hoping not, but if), I might actually have to become politically active. That would suck, but I still like this country better than my other country, and I feel like it might be worth trying to save before I abandon ship and watch it sink from afar...
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Ryo Chijiiwa
I'm a biologically Japanese, culturally American, Germany-raised, socially liberal, politically independent, gun-totin', code writin' dude. My life is currently sponsored by Google.
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Posted Sun, September 12, 2004 14:36 by Ginger
You would make a horrible politician (and I mean this in the best possible way). That's just the way politics works - once you become a politician, anything in your past is fair game. I'm just surprised all of this stuff didn't come out in the last election.
[moderate]