Jesse Walker with an insightful piece on why we should hate both candidates.
I haven't voted for a major party's presidential candidate since 1988, and I have no plans to revert to the habit this year. The Democrats have nominated a senator who—just sticking to the points listed above—voted for the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act, McCain-Feingold, and the TSA; who endorses the assault on "indecency"; who thinks the government should be spending even more than it is now. I didn't have room in my top ten for the terrible No Child Left Behind Act, which further centralized control of the country's public schools—but for the record, Kerry voted for that one too. It's far from clear that he'd be any less protectionist than Bush is, and he's also got problems that Bush doesn't have, like his support for stricter gun controls. True, Kerry doesn't owe anything to the religious right, and you can't blame him for the torture at Abu Ghraib. Other than that, he's not much of an improvement.
Yet I find myself hoping the guy wins. Not because I'm sure he'll be better than the current executive, but because the incumbent so richly deserves to be punished at the polls. Making me root for a sanctimonious statist blowhard like Kerry isn't the worst thing Bush has done to the country. But it's the offense that I take most personally.
Not so sure. As bad as Bush's world empire is, sadly, it comes down to my version of "the lesser of two eveils" thing, and that is this: in regards to Bush and Kerry, who is going to blankety-blank me over a little bit less in the end?
The Bush or Kerry conundrum clearly needs to be addressed by libertarians. Jesse makes a great start.
However, the neocon cabal is firmly planted where it is, and, Bush or no Bush, it isn't going away, even with John Kerry. Kerry is every bit as interventionist as Bush. The Patriot Act and its various tentacles isn't going away under Kerry. New faces, new names, same stick up butt. Walker's ten points all remain with a John Kerry in office.
Here's what it comes down to: Kerry is going to rape me dry, financially. He'll give it all away, not just most of it. Free college, free Internet, free health care, free Levis jeans for everyone. Kerry will spend from my thinning wallet, with no limits. It'll be a four-year (or more) shopping spree, and the grocery bags will be overloading and falling out of the cart.
And I don't want to hand over the dough to fund this rich bastard's giveaways. I'm tired of the "from my wallet to yours" philosophy of rich, protected, government bureaucrats. And I'm sick and tired of the notion that everyone has a right to what I have, without having had to lift a finger to have it. In the end, Kerry will hit harder where it affects the majority of us first and foremost. I hate the thought of another Bush white house, however, a party of Kerry Democrats will be a Theft-o-Rama of the highest proportion.
