Political Stuff
I don't do this very often.
I'll be honest with you guys: I don't want Bush to get impeached. So far, yes, he's made mistakes, but he hasn't been involved in any Watergate (and even that was really shitty, Nixon was a great president in terms of foreign relations, but that's a whole 'nother topic altogether.). However, I would like VERY much for him to grow a brain. Here's why:
A) Social Security. I don't pretend to know a lot about the details and subtleties of social security, but from what I've read, it sounds like the "Bush plan" is rough-shod, at best. Basically, he proposes to make parts of individual social security accounts "private," -- that is, people would pay the social security tax and part of that money would be invested in a highly-diversified mutual fund of sorts. Yes, this is all fine and dandy (ignore the risk of the stock market for a minute) but I don't think that you can go halfway with something like this. What would be the point of the other half of the program? Also, this change will cost the U.S. government, which has already racked up $1.4 trillion in external debt an additional $1-2 trillion. Now, I could be wrong, but we simply can't afford it.
B) Foreign Policy. This has been, arguably, the Bush administration's most greivous failure. When Clinton left office in 2000, we were on very good terms with the vast majority of the world. We had strong alliances with most of the First World countries and were definitely making progress in China. Then, bam, 9/11 happens, the United States goes on the warpath (rightfully so), and suddenly we find ourselves in the throes of war. They've supported us thus far. Then, we "find evidence" that there "might be WMDs" in Iraq. Essentially, Colin Powell got up in front of a huge council of UN ambassadors and lied. He has since apologized for this. What I wonder is, why, oh why, couldn't the United States have waited a few months and let the UN inspectors finish inspecting? That way, the rest of the world would have its ultimatum, and if nothing else, the European powers would have been appeased. What Saddam Hussein was doing in Iraq wasn't good for anyone (France included), and so most countries probably would have backed a truthful initiative to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Instead, we rushed, essentially blindly, into a war zone with a foggy plan and even foggier planners. As a result, we've lost the vast majority of our most powerful and valuable supports, we've trivialized the power of the UN, and we've alienated the world as a whole.
C) The Environment. Have any of you ever seen the movie, "The Day After Tomorrow"? I know Aaron has. My initial reaction was, "Wow, what a stupid movie." And then I found out that the major environmental catastrophes that happened in that movie were based on tangible scientific research and predictions. In fact, that movie could happen to us within the next 10 years. No joke. And while Bush and Congress have voted to open ANWR to "reduce our dependence on foreign oil," we continue to produce the largest vehicles in the world, and we continue to be the second largest producer of fossile-fuel related pollution (China is the first-largest... and their population is about 4.5 times the size of our's) and we continue to ignore the Kyoto treaty. This might be the liberal in me talking, but I have a hunch that one way to cut down on our dependence on foreign oil would be to 1) pass legislation that bans the production of the huge-ass SUVs that NOBODY needs; 2) set a benchmark for the miles-per-gallon on every car; and 3) take the money that we're using to get the operation in ANWR moving and instead invest it in companies that are researching alternative, clean, and renewable energy sources. Did you know that one windmill company wanted to build a bunch of windmills off the coast of Cape Cod, which would produce a ton of renewable energy, but because people with summer houses on Cape Cod would have to look at the windmills, the company wasn't able to build it there? Like it or not, we're destroying our planet, and it's the only planet that we've got (for now, anyway). I guess we could all just live under water, since after the polar ice caps melt, there will be plenty of that (bye bye, Boston).
D) Miscellaneous. Education, gay marriage. He protests judicial activism when liberal judges are on the bench, but what will he do when the judges that he places in the Supreme Court decide to make prayer in public schools mandatory, keep "under God" in the pledge of allegiance, ban gay marriage, and make abortion illegal? He will praise them. And yet all of those things can be construed as judicial activism. Trivializing the media. Being an incompetent public speaker. Just being incompetent in general. Professing strong American values after having himself been an alcoholic, a slacker in school, and having avoided going to war in Vietnam. Excuse me, but those aren't MY values, and I think that I'm a pretty good American, all things said and done. Medicare/medicaid. A woman's right to choose. Stem cell research. Imposing his Christianity on the general public.
I could go into detail about many of those, but I won't because I'm tired and not done with my homework.
No, I don't want Bush to be impeached. But the American public better do a goddamn better job of picking their president next time around. That means YOU by the way. We'll all be old enough to vote by then. There are no excuses for not voting, and I'll hate you forever if you don't vote. Goodnight.
I'll be honest with you guys: I don't want Bush to get impeached. So far, yes, he's made mistakes, but he hasn't been involved in any Watergate (and even that was really shitty, Nixon was a great president in terms of foreign relations, but that's a whole 'nother topic altogether.). However, I would like VERY much for him to grow a brain. Here's why:
A) Social Security. I don't pretend to know a lot about the details and subtleties of social security, but from what I've read, it sounds like the "Bush plan" is rough-shod, at best. Basically, he proposes to make parts of individual social security accounts "private," -- that is, people would pay the social security tax and part of that money would be invested in a highly-diversified mutual fund of sorts. Yes, this is all fine and dandy (ignore the risk of the stock market for a minute) but I don't think that you can go halfway with something like this. What would be the point of the other half of the program? Also, this change will cost the U.S. government, which has already racked up $1.4 trillion in external debt an additional $1-2 trillion. Now, I could be wrong, but we simply can't afford it.
B) Foreign Policy. This has been, arguably, the Bush administration's most greivous failure. When Clinton left office in 2000, we were on very good terms with the vast majority of the world. We had strong alliances with most of the First World countries and were definitely making progress in China. Then, bam, 9/11 happens, the United States goes on the warpath (rightfully so), and suddenly we find ourselves in the throes of war. They've supported us thus far. Then, we "find evidence" that there "might be WMDs" in Iraq. Essentially, Colin Powell got up in front of a huge council of UN ambassadors and lied. He has since apologized for this. What I wonder is, why, oh why, couldn't the United States have waited a few months and let the UN inspectors finish inspecting? That way, the rest of the world would have its ultimatum, and if nothing else, the European powers would have been appeased. What Saddam Hussein was doing in Iraq wasn't good for anyone (France included), and so most countries probably would have backed a truthful initiative to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Instead, we rushed, essentially blindly, into a war zone with a foggy plan and even foggier planners. As a result, we've lost the vast majority of our most powerful and valuable supports, we've trivialized the power of the UN, and we've alienated the world as a whole.
C) The Environment. Have any of you ever seen the movie, "The Day After Tomorrow"? I know Aaron has. My initial reaction was, "Wow, what a stupid movie." And then I found out that the major environmental catastrophes that happened in that movie were based on tangible scientific research and predictions. In fact, that movie could happen to us within the next 10 years. No joke. And while Bush and Congress have voted to open ANWR to "reduce our dependence on foreign oil," we continue to produce the largest vehicles in the world, and we continue to be the second largest producer of fossile-fuel related pollution (China is the first-largest... and their population is about 4.5 times the size of our's) and we continue to ignore the Kyoto treaty. This might be the liberal in me talking, but I have a hunch that one way to cut down on our dependence on foreign oil would be to 1) pass legislation that bans the production of the huge-ass SUVs that NOBODY needs; 2) set a benchmark for the miles-per-gallon on every car; and 3) take the money that we're using to get the operation in ANWR moving and instead invest it in companies that are researching alternative, clean, and renewable energy sources. Did you know that one windmill company wanted to build a bunch of windmills off the coast of Cape Cod, which would produce a ton of renewable energy, but because people with summer houses on Cape Cod would have to look at the windmills, the company wasn't able to build it there? Like it or not, we're destroying our planet, and it's the only planet that we've got (for now, anyway). I guess we could all just live under water, since after the polar ice caps melt, there will be plenty of that (bye bye, Boston).
D) Miscellaneous. Education, gay marriage. He protests judicial activism when liberal judges are on the bench, but what will he do when the judges that he places in the Supreme Court decide to make prayer in public schools mandatory, keep "under God" in the pledge of allegiance, ban gay marriage, and make abortion illegal? He will praise them. And yet all of those things can be construed as judicial activism. Trivializing the media. Being an incompetent public speaker. Just being incompetent in general. Professing strong American values after having himself been an alcoholic, a slacker in school, and having avoided going to war in Vietnam. Excuse me, but those aren't MY values, and I think that I'm a pretty good American, all things said and done. Medicare/medicaid. A woman's right to choose. Stem cell research. Imposing his Christianity on the general public.
I could go into detail about many of those, but I won't because I'm tired and not done with my homework.
No, I don't want Bush to be impeached. But the American public better do a goddamn better job of picking their president next time around. That means YOU by the way. We'll all be old enough to vote by then. There are no excuses for not voting, and I'll hate you forever if you don't vote. Goodnight.