and then there were two...

It's hard to believe that the fate of the USA will be forever changed by Wednesday. After eight years of Bush, the war on terror, WMD's, Bin Laden and classic sound bites, someone new will be atop the American food chain. I remember following the 2000 election. It seemed that the world was going in a favorable direction. When Bush won I wasn't really mad. I figured he was going to act the same way that everyone I've known whose Dad got him the job does. Slack off, abuse power, kill a hooker or two. We've all worked with that guy that who is unqualified, knows somebody, and is an asshole. No big deal.

Of course we all know the tragic happenings of that day in September. ( I don't say it anymore. It's seems like it lost it's luster ever since Gulianni used it as a marketing tool) Now, I've never had a job as important as "President of the USA", but responsibility is responsibility. Bush had a tough go of things in those early days. I think that most of us understood that. I'm against any oppression or acts of violence no matter what they are, so the idea of a war didn't sit well. However the thought of hunting Osama Bin Laden was okay. I could at least see the message behind it. In fact so did Canada. Many Americans who have blamed Canada for the blackout, immigration and soft borders have conveniently forgotten that our troops have been in Afghanistan from the beginning and many have lost their lives. (97 to date) From there on in, I have been 100% against the US foreign policy in the Middle East. The lying to get to Iraq, the deception against it's own people for support. A president who had been given office due to a supreme court ruling, after a re-count, wants to march democracy around the world? The country that produces the most nuclear weapons wants other countries to stop making them? Oh but those countries might use force against smaller, less armed countries.( you mean like Iraq? )
By the time that 2004 had rolled around the Americans were showing their barbwire tattooed muscles around the world. They told their countrymen not buy anything from France for going against them, they demonized the Canadian government while we were standing next to them in Afghanistan. Bush was running for re-election with the exact same campaign as he ran in 2000. Except this time rather than smear a well decorated veteran, he smeared a well decorated veteran, who was a democrat. A man that had never served a day of his life in a combat situation, was now telling the world why he was a better than someone that had. He'd done the same to McCain four years earlier. For some reason in the US you can buy airtime and say whatever the fuck you want about someone. And the attack ads were on again. That Wednesday morning in November I was shocked that our friends and neighbor had re-elect GWB. What the fuck was wrong with the world? Sometimes it was cool to hang out with the toughest guys in school, however, they ain't the smartest. I'm not sure how long I would want to riding shotgun with old Dubya behind the wheel. Especially with his track record. (with Laura you don't want to be in the other car)

In the years since things have gotten worse. You can hear the soundbites that the world is safer, and maybe it is. But it sure isn't better. But wait.... there's another election.

If I were an American I would most likely be a democrat supporter. I don't have a problem with gay marriage, or stem cell research, or universal healthcare( got it here and two kids) and many of their other platforms. In fact, I see many of their ideas the basic rights to freedom. Kids get to eat, go to school and live. Rich people have to pay more than poor. I believe that freedom of speech should cover an opinion of disappointment with your own government. No matter who says it.
I've always liked John McCain, and how could you not respect his record. Military, not the Keating five shit. What I didn't expect from him, and Sarah Palin, was a campaign based strictly off what the other guy(Obama) is, or isn't. Or taking his platform and twisting it to what scares you. Or suggesting what he is "really" like, or what he "really" thinks. It is an entire campaign built on Obama. But what do they stand for? Every time I hear clip of Palin, she's telling a group of people what Obama had said about something and then a chorus of boos rain down while she smiles. I haven't heard her say why she likes or dislikes a particular policy. She's like an annoying hype man at a rap concert.
It's funny because both parties agree that the country needs to change. Both agree that the past eight years haven't been very good. Both distance themselves from Bush and anything he's got to say. The USA finds it easy to point fingers at other countries for their policies, crimes, politics, laws, and government. I wonder if either one of these to candidates will be able to look inward and solve the problems within. Sometimes they are so stubborn that they will standby anything as long as they can call it the "American Way" (i.e.- the United States customary Units!) We all have problems with our governments, but very rarely does our problems become the rest of the worlds. With the US it is just the opposite. It becomes all of our problem.
All But George W Bush.
He's only got two months left.