That's right. A journal entry. Watcha going to do about it?
I received my absentee ballot yesterday. I filled it out while watching the presidential debate on tv, switching between listening to the droning of Dubya and Kerry and reading the voter's pamphlet. This naturally got me thoughtful on whom I would vote for, for President of the United States. Odlly enough, not many could be absolutely positive of whom I'm in favor of. Some think of me as a fairly conservative person. Some think of me as a very liberal person. I guess that means I'm doing something right, as I think of myself as a moderate independant. However, for this election, the choice was fairly easy.
That means, I voted for Kerry. Not that I like Kerry all that much. He does seem a bit inconsistent, and the fact he's been in the system so long doesn't gain him much favor considering my opinion of professional politicians (they suck). In this election, my vote was based more on my dislike of Bush.
I can understand the reasons for invading Iraq. Sadaam was an asshole that would invariably work to screw the US over if he had the opportunity. However, the mess that Bush created by invading Iraq wasn't worth the reward, in my opinion. Invading it like he did while thumbing his nose at a goodly portion of the nations in the world and not having a realistic view of what would happen once the Iraqi army was defeated were bad moves. Iraq is now a quagmire that is going to cost a lot of lives, both Iraqi and American to sort out. We now have no choice but to stay there since we created the mess. Oddly enough, this isn't my main reason for not liking Bush.
My main reasons come from several of his social beliefs.
1. Bush supports a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. I am against this for two reasons. The first is that I don't care if homosexuals get married or not. That's their business not mine. I think the 50% divorce rate is a far bigger threat to marriage than two committed homosexuals will ever be. If your belief in marriage is shook to its core by gay people getting married, your belief was pretty weak in the first place. Secondly, banning it with a constitutional amendment is wayyy overkill. Amendments to the constitution should be for very, very important changes, not something as seemingly petty as gay marriage. Let the states deal with it as they will.
2. Bush is for banning abortions. My personal belief on it is that as long as the baby cannot live without the direct assistance of the mother in the womb, that baby is not alive. As soon as that baby can live outside of the mother's body, no abortion should be permitted, unless the gestation of the baby is threatening the mother's life. Until then, it's up to the woman.
3. Bush has cut off all Federal support for stem cell research. This one is related to number 2. His reasoning is that life begins at conception and that stem cells are murder. I believe that life begins when that baby's body can physically support it. Stem cell therapy is too valuable to not research. It could save or improve the lives of so many that we should be developing it like mad.
4. Bush's choice of cabinet has not impressed me at all. Starting with Cheney, Bush's choices on the Executive branch have been awful, excepting Colin Powell (I feel sorry for the guy). Ashcroft is the worst in my opinion. The guy is a radical right winger who lost an election to a dead man. Is this the guy we want in charge of our law enforcement? No it isn't. Is Rumsfeld the right man for running our military? No he isn't. You get the idea.
5. I may be incorrect in this, but Bush seems to pander a bit much to large corporations in my opinion. I don't believe that corporations are evil. I think they can do a lot of good for this country. However, they can do a lot of bad when profits is all they care about. The government should keep them in check a bit, don't let them get too crazy going after the almighty dollar. Bush seems to want to let them do just about whatever they want. This could really hurt the United States as a whole.
While I did vote for a few Republicans in this election, Bush was definitely not one of them. I don't view the entire party as a bunch of right-wing crusaders out to send this country back to the fifties. I am more socially liberal than the party will ever be, but I can see some wisdom in fiscal conservativity (Oddly enough, Bush has thrown this aside to go chasing his Great White Whale). The Democratic party isn't all that great either. I don't agree with a lot of their views on the environment and social issues such as welfare and health care, among other things. Maybe this entry will give you some idea as to how I voted and why. For many who read this, they will have the opportunity to vote in the election and make their own decisions. I hope that you all really take a look at the candidates, read your voter's pamphlet, and make an educated and wise choice.