Tag Archives: politics

Three Fingers

Posted on by
1

A bumper sticker teaches me a new hand signal.

If you’ve been reading these blogs faithfully (I’m impressed and somewhat flattered), you’ll know that I received two Fahrenheit 9/11 bumper stickers in the mail. Partially because I don’t mind stirring up trouble and partially because I thought the colors would look good with my car, I put the sticker on my Honda S2000. The darn thing seems to take up 1/3 of the rear window. (I wasn’t about to put a sticker on the paint.)

Yesterday, I was driving through Wickenburg toward Big O Tires, where Mike was getting an oil change. A white pickup truck pulled up next to me on that two-lane stretch of road and the young man — maybe 25 years old? — in the front held up three spread fingers. I saw him clearly, but had no idea what this meant. He must have thought that I didn’t see it, because he flashed them again. Still no recognition on my part. Then he kind of rolled his eyes and started rolling down his window. I rolled down mine. He yelled out to me, with a big grin on his face, “Bush!”

I laughed hard. I mean really hard. The light bulb had gone on. The three fingers was supposed to be a W. W is the not-so-secret code for George W Bush. I guess most people know this already. But I don’t watch television and I’m not a Republican. So it was completely new to me.

Why flash the W sign at me? Obviously, he’d seen the bumper sticker and wanted to show his support for the other side. I guess he didn’t want to mess up his truck with a Bush/Cheney bumper sticker, which would have been more to the point, and could have shown his support even while he was away from his vehicle, flashing W signs around Arizona on foot.

Whatever.

So now I’m trying to think of a hand signal for the millions of anti-Bush people out there. The people who have lost their jobs, health insurance, or sons over the past four years. The people who remember the days when the U.

S. was a respected world power, not the world’s bully. The people who think the billions of dollars spent in Iraq would do a lot more for us if spent here.

If I come up with one, you’ll learn about it here.

The Arrival of a Bumper Sticker

Posted on by
Comment

Some thoughts on receiving a pair of political bumper stickers from an anonymous sender.

I got a long envelope in the mail yesterday from a company called FahrenheitStuff.com. When I opened it, I found two black, red, and white bumper stickers that said: “Fahrenheit 9/11, See the movie..then decide.”There was no indication of who had sent them.

Bumper StickerI went to the Web site and learned that FahrenheitStuff.com sells bumper stickers and tee shirts with all proceeds going to MoveOnPac.org. MoveOnPac.org, I learned, is dedicated to getting voters to vote George W. Bush out of office. To that end, they have a number of political advertisements that you can view via the Web. I watched all of them. One, “Stranded Republicans,” was very good. Another, “Everyone,” was very moving. The others were so-so. Since I don’t watch much TV, I don’t know if any of these ads have actually aired. FahrenheitStuff.com claims it is not affiliated with or endorsed by Michael Moore or MoveOnPac.org. The bumper stickers were of good quality and quite attractive. The colors went well with my red Honda. So, just to stir up some local emotions in this Arizona Republican stronghold town, I put one on my car. Yes, I put it on the glass back window; after all, I will eventually need to remove it. And if people start throwing eggs, I can always drive around town with the top down so no one sees it.

The shirts were nice, too. 100% cotton Hanes tee shirts with three different Fahrenheit 9/11 slogans on them. They were only $7.99. The bumper stickers were only $1 each. I’m thinking the shirts might make a good collector’s item in about 20 years. I might buy one and store it with my Mac OS 8 tee shirts. Someday, they’ll hit eBay.

Well, while I was surfing to find out about FahrenheitStuff.com and MoveOnPac.org, I visited Michael Moore’s Web site. I read a lot of interesting articles there. He didn’t write them. He just echoed them from other sources. It appears the Michigan Republicans are out to get him because he’s “bribing students to vote.” Frankly, I think it’s admirable that someone is making an effort to get young people involved in the political decision-making process. Of course, his efforts do have an ulterior motive. He obviously believes that the majority of these young people will vote against George W Bush. I think they will, too. And I hope they vote.

I realized, in reading Moore’s Web pages, that he and I have a lot in common. We have the same basic political opinion. Like me, he doesn’t think that Kerry is the best candidate for president. But he also doesn’t think we should give Bush another 4 years. Like me, he believes in exercising his First Amendment rights to speak his mind about the things he feels strongly about. But while he does it in movie theaters, in public speaking gigs (for which is often paid), in interviews, and on his Web site, I do it on my Web site and blogs and in letters to our sorry (and politically unbalanced) little local newspaper. While he’s tackling topics on the national and international level, with well-researched and presented commentary, I’m just presenting my opinion, based on my own intelligence and knowledge of the things going on around me. And like me, he has made a number of enemies due to his outspokenness, although he has millions of them and I only have a handful of people I wouldn’t want as friends anyway.

After surfing Moore’s site, I went to Amazon.com to look up information about his new book, “The Fahrenheit 9/11 Reader.” It sounds like a rehash of the movie, with a bunch of commentary in it. I don’t think it’s worth reading, at least not right now when I have so many other things I want to read. But I also learned that someone wrote a book called “Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man.” Wow. I might have to agree with that sentiment, but remove the word “Stupid.” He certainly isn’t that. But I do think it’s funny that an author (and publisher) would cash in on the fact that so many people hate Michael Moore. Who’s stupid now? It appears that the buyers of this book (and perhaps Moore’s book, to be fair) are being used to generate profits for authors and publishers who are selling to emotions. Perhaps these books look good on coffee tables in homes of Republicans or Democrats. A kind of label to let people know where you stand politically.

While surfing Amazon.com, I found a book that I think I’m going to buy (or at least look for in my local library). It’s called “Seven Floors High” and it appears to be a novel based on fact. (The description is too vague to make it clear whether it’s fact or fiction.) What really struck me is the reviews: every single reviewer gave it 5 stars. Most of them said they “couldn’t put it down.” I need to read something like that. Of course, I found the book through a link to “The Fahrenheit 9/11 Reader,” and it’s quite clear that it doesn’t make George W Bush look very good. I’m looking forward to checking it out.

I also found an enormous number of political books for sale. Some are “patriotic” titles that are obviously written to praise the current president. Others are titles by (or with information from) people in the know, such as John Dean and Paul O’Neill. The summaries of these books make them sound like interesting (but scary) reading. They seem to confirm what I already suspect: that there’s more going on in the White House than what meets the public’s eye.

Anyway, speaking of patriotic, I do have one more comment to make regarding Michael Moore. Moore-haters claim he’s unpatriotic. (By the way, that’s the same claim made by our president and his supporters when we question the removal of our rights to privacy, free speech, and due process.) I don’t think he’s unpatriotic at all. I think he sees the big picture and has formed an opinion about it. The opinion is not favorable to our current president and his party. I think he loves America very much — and that’s why he’s willing to speak out. I think it’s his way of getting other people to see the big picture and make an informed opinion about it. Informed using all of the facts, not the claims made by the republican party and its candidates.

Again, this is a lot like me. People think I hate Wickenburg because I speak out when I see something I think is bad or wrong. But I don’t hate Wickenburg. I don’t want to hate it, either. I want everyone to see what’s going on out there. I want them to make their own opinions and do something about it.

The sad thing about America these days is that the average person would rather watch the latest reality TV show than spend time and effort researching the issues that affect their lives and voting based on their own opinions about those issues.

And there is a postscript to this story: I found out who sent me the bumper stickers when I got a message from the sender in this morning’s e-mail.

The Presidential Debates

Posted on by
Comment

My take on this year’s debates and other semi-related matters.

I don’t want to get too political in these blogs. After all, I know that some people have very strong feelings for or against a specific candidate and I don’t want to completely alienate myself from these people.

I’ve been watching bits and pieces of the debates. I say bits and pieces because, frankly, I don’t like debates in general and these debates are among the worst I’ve ever seen.

Here’s the way I see it. A debate should consist of two people with different opinions and views logically presenting their views in a way to convince the audience that their views are right. It should not consist of two people pointing out the shortcomings of each other, offering false evidence as support of claims, or defending themselves against the other’s comments.

From the bits and pieces I’ve seen, both candidates are spending the majority of their time accusing their opponents of various bad decisions and bad results or defending themselves against these claims. George W Bush is, by far, the worst of the bunch in this respect. Last night’s debate — of which I heard 30 minutes from another room and watched 15 minutes on television — showed him in defensive mode almost the entire time. For example, when John Kerry tried hard to present his plan for balancing the budget. Rather than present his plan, Bush blasted Kerry, saying that he wouldn’t keep his word. I still don’t know what Bush plans to do about the budget and how his plan might differ from Kerry’s. Bush came across as a crybaby and, at one point, I actually felt sorry for him.

I watched a tiny bit of the Cheney vs. Edwards debate the other night. I don’t like Cheney. I think he’s evil. The kind of guy James Bond might go after. But I was extremely impressed at the way Edwards held up against him. In fact, Edwards looked pretty good. And Cheney did make a huge blunder when he referred people to FactCheck.com rather than FactCheck.org. The folks at FactCheck.com, which was bombarded with hits that overwhelmed their server, set up a refresh to GeorgeSoros.com. George Soros is about as anti-Bush/Cheney as they get. So Cheney indirectly referred people to a site that blasted him. And, to make matters worse, FactCheck.org, the correct site, wrote an article saying that their site did not say what Cheney claimed it did. It then presented an objective review of the debate that didn’t make Mr. Cheney look very good at all.

Personally, I wish the debates had more substance. I wish the candidates would stick to the topics and not waste so much time blasting each other or defending themselves. This has got to be the dirtiest campaign I’ve ever witnessed. So much mud-slinging about things that aren’t important.

One more thing, although it really doesn’t have to do with the debates. I heard a story on NPR yesterday about how the Bush campaign is using the Secret Service and local police (which are both paid for with our tax dollars) to keep possible Kerry supporters out of Bush presidential campaign rallies. This is to ensure that when Bush speaks, everyone laughs at his jokes or chants “flip-flop” at the appropriate time or boos the competition when prompted.

I think this is wrong on many levels. First of all, America is supposed to be a free country and our Constitution gives us the right to attend public gatherings, including public appearances of the president. Second, why is the president so afraid of a few possible Kerry supporters in the audience? It is because he can’t handle the possibility of a little heckling? If so, how is he able to handle more difficult matters, including the War he’s dragged us into (under what are not proven to be false pretenses), the huge deficit, the sagging economy, and the health care crisis we face? (My health insurance premiums just went up $200 per quarter!) Third, why should the security services taxpayers fund — the Secret Service and local police — be used to keep taxpayers out of a public gathering when they pose no security threat?

John Kerry doesn’t do anything to keep out Bush supporters. John Kerry can handle the heckling he gets at rallys. Who looks like the better man now?

Election Year Blues

Posted on by
Comment

I am amazed by what some people are saying about the presidential candidates.

I don’t make a habit of using my Web site as a forum for voicing my political views — especially political views on the presidential level — especially during an election year.

But the other day I got a phone call from my sister-in-law, Missy. Missy had heard on the radio that the democratic candidate, John Kerry, was coming to the Grand Canyon on a campaign stop. (I really did have to wonder about that. The vast majority of people at the GC are not registered to vote in the U.S., probably because they don’t live in the U.S. I suspect he just wanted to see the GC and figured he’d make the trip a write-off by doing it on his campaign tour.) I’m not quite sure why Missy brought this to my attention. Perhaps she thought I was at the GC. (She did call me on my cell phone.) But it got us talking about the candidates.

My brother and his wife live in New Jersey. Like many people who live in New Jersey, they’re in tune with reality (as opposed to the current fairy tale about truth, justice, and the American way spun by the republican party and its chief talking head, George Jr.). Like me, they believe that the current president sold the country a bill of goods when he claimed a war in Iraq was necessary to prevent Saddam Hussein from wiping us out with his weapons of mass destruction (WMD). I’m not sure why he really started that war, but I do recall his repeated claims at a press conference that we were going to “change the world.” Perhaps he wanted to go down in history books as the president who changed the world? Or maybe his motives were more basic: a desire to help out his Texas buddies and their friends with lucrative contracts for the rebuilding of Iraq.

Anyway, Missy told me she was really caught up in the election stuff this year. I told her I was looking forward to the debates. I said that Kerry would wipe the floor with George Jr. Although I believe George is an excellent speaker and can read a speech so well that even I can start believing and (heaven help me) agreeing with him, I don’t think he’ll be able to answer the questions in a debate without resorting to pre-rehearsed speeches. I’m just curious to see how much he can memorize in advance, how well he can match those canned responses with live questions, and how much the panel of questioners let him get away with.

Missy also brought up something that I’d noticed and had me concerned. It was the fact that the pro-Bush people were extremely pro-Bush to the extent that they wouldn’t even discuss Bush’s shortcomings or Kerry’s strengths. It was like these people were brainwashed. Very scary. Needless to say, it’s keeping me pretty quiet where I know I’m around Bush supporters.

It reminds me of something that happened when I was a freshman in college. Mind you, I was 17 years old at the time and this has stuck with me since it happened. It was in economics class. The professor had a discussion going and a guy named Mike from Pennsylvania stated “America is the greatest country in the world.” That’s a fine statement, but when the professor asked him why, he couldn’t explain why. He just kept repeating his original statement, as if it were an explanation. Another guy in the class whose name was also Mike, was all over that. Soon a mini war had erupted with PA Mike repeating his statement over and over while the other Mike (let’s call him Commie Mike) kept giving all kinds of examples of why America might not be the greatest country in the world. Poor PA Mike was terribly upset — kind of like a staunch republican having to listen to evidence that Bush may have known all along that Iraq didn’t have WMD. And Commie Mike was getting frustrated, trying to debate an issue with a person who just couldn’t argue his side. The professor just sat back in his chair with a smile on his face. We were getting a lesson — at least I was — and he wasn’t doing a thing.

Anyway, I don’t think much of Bush. I don’t think much of Kerry, either, but he’s got to be better than another four years of Bush. I don’t think we should be in Iraq. I don’t think we should have alienated ourselves from the rest of the western world. I think the U.S. should be a team player; not the bully with the best toys who starts trouble with less fortunate kids. I also think we should work on freeing ourselves from dependence on foreign oil — or any oil. Heck, the world will run out sooner or later. And I think the government should be more concerned with U.S. jobs going overseas and affordable health care than whether Iraq has good roads and sewer systems.

But heck, that’s just me. What do I know?