Two real quick thoughts... http://www.thekerrymovie.com/ First, I finally got around to seeing Going Upriver, and it's drastically better than I expected. I strongly recommend this movie, regardless of your political perspective. It might just be my all-time favorite documentary about the 1960s. After seeing this movie, I can confidently say: I'm NOT voting against Bush. I am, however, voting enthusiastically FOR John Kerry. Without the slightest doubt. He's simply the best man for the job- not just the best man in the election. Second, to the Kerry voters in the so-called "Red States"... make sure you get out there and VOTE. I really don't believe that all those states are as locked down as they're saying. Consider how many educated people only use cell phones and don't have home phones. Consider how smarter people evade telemarketing calls through any of several popular methods. I just can't believe Bush has a chance. I guess I just don't Americans are mostly COMPLETE assholes. Just can't be. All we have to do is show up and vote and the future is ours. Be there. Take a friend. Do NOT sit home on election day just because some media dudes have written you off as useless. We can do this. Just don't waste your vote on a third-party protest-vote. Too many people are dying EVERY day to let Bush keep his job. It's all gone totally to hell in Iraq, everyone knows it, no one can deny it, and cast your vote for the ONLY hope for change. We can do this, and when we do, there's gonna be spontaneous parties spilling into the streets. Bush is gonna get fired, and his only hope is that his corporate friends convince you to stay home sitting on your hands. Vote. We WILL do this. After all, only our side knows how to celebrate it, so how 'bout some JUSTICE!!
I think Michigan is a blue state, but oh well. I'm voting anyways and dammit, you're right, WE WILL DO THIS. I just hope we're both right and Kerry doesn't fuck the US up in another way, or in the same way. You can never tell with politicians...bastards....
I would say Michigan is definitely a blue state. I don't know many there that plan to vote for Bush. (I grew up in Flint, and have friends and family still there).
I hope to change my state from white to blue...it got too red last election....and I get to vote whether to end this moronic ban on alcohol that this town has had since it led the charge for prohibition...I get to right several wrongs at once.
What state are you in, seamonster? And yeah, Sera, at least in my circle of friends and coworkers, most people support Kerry. However, many of my neighbors are Republicans because they are Catholics (it's a very Catholic area, big (national monument) church down the street 2 blocks away, and they tell everyone to vote Republican on abortion and gay issues. Apparently the Church doesn't care that thousands are dying in Iraq, but just that those gays are gonna ruin the country. Idiots...). So for me, it's amazing to see so many "Kerry" signs on lawns in my neighborhood because it's a pretty Republican area. But yeah, I guess the state as a whole is Blue.
I'm in Ohio trippin...there are a lot of Kerry signs here too, a lot of Bush too, pretty even seeming. I'm glad that Michigan and northern Ohio retain their working class democratic affiliations, that this region didn't turn chronically red like the south.
What's up with the South? Don't they read the news? Don't they care if Bush is leading the country down the crapper? I'm in Texas, but I'm in Austin, and if it were up to us (Austin) Bush would be toast by about 80%. All I can say to the rest of Texas and the south is: wake up & vote Kerry!
I'm in Austin now as well. You're right, if it were up to Austinites, Bush would be toast. Too bad the rest of the state doesn't follow suit.
I'm just outside Raleigh in NC, and Bush signs seem to be dwarfing Kerry's; but a good display of Red Sox signs are keeping things in perspective, somehow... lol
fulmah, is that an especially conservative part of the state...it seems like NC would be kind of diverse as far as voting goes. Doesn't having Edwards help the dems there?
I really liked the Going Upriver film too. I love the Kerry that existed in that time period, I'm hoping and praying (OK, not praying) that that part of him shines through once elected. I think it will, he won't allow this war to go on forever. I'm surprised at how many Kerry signs are popping up here, more than I anticipated. There are Bushler signs, but Kerry's got 'em out-numbered.
So when is Kerry going to bring our boys home from Iraq, Sunlion? Not instantly- but pretty quick. First, he would need to explain it to the public, which would mean digging heavily into all the material that right now is highly classified and unavailable to anyone but the Bush and whoever Bush spills it to while drunk. Once he's reviewed the material in detail, he can say "My previous stance was based on the best information I had, but now that I have the ugly truth that the previous administration hid from the American people, we must act responsibly based on the REAL truth." Still, pulling the troops out instantly would mean massive casualties. They have to travel all the way back across Shiite country, and they're going to be taking heavy fire all the way. I don't see any way of even getting them out of there evacation style without an extra few hundred thousand troops providing support. But having watched the video of the Winter Soldier investigation, his actions when things became highly confrontational in DC, and his testimony before the Senate, I'm very convinced that what he's saying about this war will change drastically once he's actually sworn in and has taken the time to do his homework. He's too smart, too fearless, and has way too much of a moral foundation to pull another Nixon-style withdrawal. I could be wrong- but I'm quite confident that I'm not. My son is draft age, and he's my best pal and we talk about all this stuff every day, and we're both sure enough that we're betting his very life on this. The odds with Bush in office? Dismal beyond belief. As some conservative said, "Kerry could be worse than Bush, but it isn't possible for anyone to be as bad or dangerous as a last-term Bush."
