Books and Politics

Get America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction by Jon Stewart et al.
It's satire and comedy at it's greatest. It's all the jokes you've ever wanted to make about this wonderful system that we hold so dear. Excellent book.

Also, read Microserfs. If you are computer inclined or just want to read about philosophy of life through the use of techno/modern computer jargon.

Let's see. Watch the movie Saved! It may be a bit dicey for some as it is a satire on fundamentalist Christianity kind of like how Dogma was a satire on Catholocism. I liked this one better though even though I understood more of the Catholic "inside jokes." I thought it was a great mix of humor with a serious message. Basically fits into my view that everything in this world isn't black and white. Shades of grey abound! So yeah if you can not be offended by the subject matter (ie have a sense of humor) then check it out.....

Anyways.... I know I havn't been able to update in a while... sorry bout that. Things are pretty hectic and busy around here. My new job is going pretty well. It's fairly easy so it doesn't add any unneeded stress. My course load is still pretty hard. I feel like they're still trying to weed out the ones who can't cut it as an engineer. Hopefully that's not me.

//Begin Rant
The Election is getting pretty freakin close. I wish there was something more I could do to help Kerry win. He'll bring a fresh perspective and a balanced and thoughtful view to foreign policy. At first I really wasn't too sure about Kerry. I was in the anyone but Bush camp, but I think he's truly shown that he will be a good leader and that he's not the person that the Repubs have tried to paint him to be.

And yes, he is a very good contrast Bush and his administration's policies. Kerry brings reason to the table, thought before action. Some see this as weakness, but it's definately a strength. The right decision later is always better than the wrong decision now. I'm also ready for a new administration. One without John Ashcroft and his rampage against civil liberties. One without Donald Rumsfeld and his Abu Garab torture chambers and Geneva Convention violating policies. How are we supposed to be the leader of the free world when we sink to such levels.

I have no doubt in my mind that these people (and their supporters) truly in their hearts and minds believe that they are doing the right thing for America. In fact, they believe in themselves so blindly that any criticism fails them. They are moving America and the world in the wrong direction. I don't want a world where everyone hates America because we have the holier than thou mentality that we are perfectly and truly infallible. I love America, but I know that we are not perfect.

The "war on terrorism" through actual war has bred more terrorists than I can imagine. I believe in the spread of liberty, that democracy does reign supreme over fascism and oppressive oligarchies, but where do we draw the line? Sure, Iraq may be better off 100 years from now, but we have no way of knowing. Were all other means of diplomacy exhausted? Was there an immenent threat to us as Americans. We know now of course that there wasn't. So what's to justify the thousands of both Iraqis and Americans that have died? There had to have been some other way. But we're there now and it is a mess. We cannot just pick up and leave and we definately shouldn't.

So people talk of exit strategy. There is no exit strategy for this type of war because there is no end. This is why the Bush Admin. didn't have an exit strategy, they couldn't. We know however that wars should not be faught unless there is an exit strategy. Well, maybe they did have one. They thought that America could completely and utterly destroy the old Iraq then rebuild from the ground up. It didn't work as planned. Kerry and the rest of the Senate authorized war as a last resort, one with a plan, with a clear exit strategy. The Bush administration did not pass these criteria.

We are fighting a war on a noun, on an ideology, on terrorism. You can't wage a war on an ideology like you wage a war on a sovereign nation. Brute force is wasted. There has to be tact. There has to be diplomacy. There has to be cooperation. People got all up in arms about Kerry's "global test" line, as if he was saying that he would only protect America if others said it was ok. What he was really saying was that America should be able to pass a truth test with the world.

We do need a new leader who is open to these ideas. The Bush Administration has ruined our international reputation. Everyone knows for sure what our foreign policy is. Either your one of us or your one of them. A world divided when things are never as black and white. I know if Kerry is elected that this doesn't mean that Germany and France will magically jump into the coalition, but what will happen is that there will again exist relations which can be built upon.

So what's our exit strategy. There is no exit strategy for this type of war because there is no end. We are fighting a war on a noun, on terrorism. You can't fight a war on a noun like you fight a sovereign nation. We learned from Vietnam that brute force has nothing on the will of people to protect their country (middle east = holy land) from what they see as an overthrow by infidels. Pounding our values with force can not be a good strategy. You can kill terrorist after terrorist, but it's naive to think that terrorism will go away unless the underlying problems that create terrorists are addressed. But boy it sure is easier just to kill them all (or feel like we are). Now this isn't to say that terrorists should not be hunted and brought to justice, but we have to also have a long term plan. Bush's long term plan involves killing more terrorists. We need a new direction and a new strategy. The Bush doctrine is critically flawed. We must however finish what we started in Iraq. We must try our best to create democracy. The Bush Administration does not have the correct strategy for doing this. We are at war with terrorists not the Iraqi people as a whole. Prison abuse and geneva convention violations sure would make the Iraqis think otherwise.

So I've obviously shot from point to point to point and probably could have gone into greater detail about many things, but alas I can't cover everything (shoot I forgot domestic issues! But Kerry seems to at least be popular already with these). I could read it over again and again, trying to clarify points and understand and concede some to the opposing viewpoint, but then I'd just end up writing a book. I believe that my arguments are fair and reasoned and I believe that my thought process is sound. I am confident that I presented an educated stance and not just regurgitated "liberal rhetoric," rather these are my beliefs after much thought, research, news reading, discussion, and debate. I would truly respect anyone who could provide such an equally thorough argument in support of Bush for I, of course, believe that everyone is entitled to their opinion. That is not to say that I can't help sway it with reasoned argument. So with that I officially endorse John Kerry for President of the United States. Check out his web site. It does a good job of telling you what you could expect from him in the next four years.

//End Rant (and congratulations if you actually read the whole thing)