Morning-after hangover...
I woke up this morning with my alarm, said to myself, "Bush is going to be president for another four years, isn't he?", and went back to sleep for another hour. *sigh* Dang.
I posted this as a comment to a post by a friend of mine who suggested that Osama bin Laden wanted Kerry to win, which to me (and to every professor I've discussed my opinion with - that is to say, all of them) is a dangerously naive proposition, especially since the deeply flawed argument that arose from it was "Osama likes Kerry, so you should vote for Bush."
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Actually, Osama bin Laden probably wants Bush to win. Because regardless of who wins, American foreign policy really isn't going to change all THAT much (sure, under Kerry, we'd, y'know, invade a few less countries, but we'd still be stuck occupying the ones we're already in). Assuming, then, the foreign policy is going to be in practice (if not in principle) about the same, Bush is a great recruitment tool. The world hates him, and he stands as a symbol of American arrogance and moral superiority. The guy's at the top of the al-Qaeda system are going to hate America one way or another, and no voting is ever gonna change that, but a second Bush Administration means Osama has a much larger supply of the little guys (i.e. the actual suicide bombers) than he would under a Kerry Administration. Even if you accept the argument that Bush is more moral (which I don't, but if you did), you have to recognize that Bush's "morals" are different from Osama's "morals," and therefore, he remains a more viable target within Osama's value-system. Releasing his tape days before the election wasn't a plug for Kerry, it was very much the opposite, a ploy for Bush. Osama is smart enough to realize that by popping up days before the election - not huddled in camo gear in a cave with a Kalashnikov, but dressed in an elegant white gown and tunic, behind a podium, in what looks like a building instead of a cave - is an image that is going to scare the bejeezus out of the American public, and push the swing voters toward who they PERCEIVE as being better on defense: Bush. As my friend and I were saying, the American mentality seems to assume that just because Republicans like guns, they must somehow be better at defense.
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Maybe I'll go back to sleep for another hour. I'm so happy I was drinking alcohol while watching the returns last night, it helped me get through it. I really actually didn't expect to care so much, especially since I didn't even vote for Kerry (go Badnarik...a respectable third in California!), but I guess I did.
So congratulations Vladimir Putin and Osama bin Laden...as I look around the country and around the world, I find that if anybody benefitted from the results of yesterday's election, it's the two of you.
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Election opinion poll question highlights:
- How do you feel about the latest polls indicating that Kerry doesn't have a chance in hell of winning?
- With which candidate would you most like to go on a cross-country crime spree?
- If you knew that John Kerry and Osama bin Laden were actually the same person, would you be more or less likely to vote for Ralph Nader?
- What campaign issue matters most to people like you, who lack the talent or ambition to get the hell out of Wyoming?
- Given a choice between two generic candidates, one who would steal your money and use it to cater gay weddings, and one who was a strong and resolute leader, who would you choose?
- On a scale from 1 to 10, how much pain are you in?
- Who would you rather kill: the unborn or the terrorists?
- Just between us, who are you going to vote for?
I posted this as a comment to a post by a friend of mine who suggested that Osama bin Laden wanted Kerry to win, which to me (and to every professor I've discussed my opinion with - that is to say, all of them) is a dangerously naive proposition, especially since the deeply flawed argument that arose from it was "Osama likes Kerry, so you should vote for Bush."
--------
Actually, Osama bin Laden probably wants Bush to win. Because regardless of who wins, American foreign policy really isn't going to change all THAT much (sure, under Kerry, we'd, y'know, invade a few less countries, but we'd still be stuck occupying the ones we're already in). Assuming, then, the foreign policy is going to be in practice (if not in principle) about the same, Bush is a great recruitment tool. The world hates him, and he stands as a symbol of American arrogance and moral superiority. The guy's at the top of the al-Qaeda system are going to hate America one way or another, and no voting is ever gonna change that, but a second Bush Administration means Osama has a much larger supply of the little guys (i.e. the actual suicide bombers) than he would under a Kerry Administration. Even if you accept the argument that Bush is more moral (which I don't, but if you did), you have to recognize that Bush's "morals" are different from Osama's "morals," and therefore, he remains a more viable target within Osama's value-system. Releasing his tape days before the election wasn't a plug for Kerry, it was very much the opposite, a ploy for Bush. Osama is smart enough to realize that by popping up days before the election - not huddled in camo gear in a cave with a Kalashnikov, but dressed in an elegant white gown and tunic, behind a podium, in what looks like a building instead of a cave - is an image that is going to scare the bejeezus out of the American public, and push the swing voters toward who they PERCEIVE as being better on defense: Bush. As my friend and I were saying, the American mentality seems to assume that just because Republicans like guns, they must somehow be better at defense.
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Maybe I'll go back to sleep for another hour. I'm so happy I was drinking alcohol while watching the returns last night, it helped me get through it. I really actually didn't expect to care so much, especially since I didn't even vote for Kerry (go Badnarik...a respectable third in California!), but I guess I did.
So congratulations Vladimir Putin and Osama bin Laden...as I look around the country and around the world, I find that if anybody benefitted from the results of yesterday's election, it's the two of you.
--------
Election opinion poll question highlights:
- How do you feel about the latest polls indicating that Kerry doesn't have a chance in hell of winning?
- With which candidate would you most like to go on a cross-country crime spree?
- If you knew that John Kerry and Osama bin Laden were actually the same person, would you be more or less likely to vote for Ralph Nader?
- What campaign issue matters most to people like you, who lack the talent or ambition to get the hell out of Wyoming?
- Given a choice between two generic candidates, one who would steal your money and use it to cater gay weddings, and one who was a strong and resolute leader, who would you choose?
- On a scale from 1 to 10, how much pain are you in?
- Who would you rather kill: the unborn or the terrorists?
- Just between us, who are you going to vote for?