Tag Archives: USA

Dubya

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Tomorrow, we’ll see a new President for the United States inaugurated and we’ll see the end of George W. Bush’s presidency. I thought that I should take this opportunity to express my thoughts on his term as president, seeing as how I’ve only mentioned him in passing on my blog. Where should I begin?

How about intellect? No, I’m not going to go for the “lolol bush is dumb”, since I honestly don’t think that’s the case, as much as we’d like for it to be true. He’s no mastermind, but he certainly knew what he was doing. It’s certainly easier for him to get away with crap under the guise of his alleged stupidity. It was easier for him to convince people that he was just a regular guy. He essentially made it bad to be an intellectual. And in office, he continued that war by ignoring and working against the scientific community.

How about civil rights? From the Patriot Act to the domestic spying program to the suspension of habeas corpus for those under suspicion of terrorism, the Bush Administration has seen a number of restrictions on civil rights in the States, both through legislation and illegally. You didn’t think warrant-less wiretapping was legal did you? I don’t care if it was for the security of the nation. Democratic nations have a little something called Rule of Law and that rule should never be compromised for any reason.

How about economics? Remember how Bill Clinton left office with a surplus? Bush decided that would justify some massive tax cuts. Not too long after that, there was 9/11 and a recession, and a bit later, a war to fight. And there was no more surplus to act as a safety net, leading to some fairly large deficits. And let’s not forget massive deregulation of the banks that have landed us in our current financial pile of crap.

How about foreign policy? It’s amazing how quick it took for Bush to squander all of the goodwill that the world had for America just after 9/11. Starting an ethereal war against terror, invading Iraq even though there was no reason to and lying about it, and deliberately antagonizing enemies are all the mistakes that Bush made while he was trying to impress the nation with his bravado. Because of his actions, the world is a much more dangerous place.

How about religion? Somehow, Christianity in America transmogrified into some sort of political entity and an extension of the Republican party over the last decade because of Bush. Seeing my religion used as a political tool that’s used by politicians that I don’t agree with is not something that makes me happy. Much has been made about the fact that Bush is a devout Christian and Christians seem ridiculously quick to forgive him of his faults because of it.

Based on his actions, I find it incredible that any Christian can consider him a shining example of our faith. If he is a Christian, he’s done a poor job of showing that he is one. Sure, he might earnestly appeal to God in his speeches and he might pray for the nation. However, I don’t think that a Christian would subvert Rule of Law, lie to the public, or politicize their faith. This doesn’t really indicate whether a person is saved or not, but it gives insight to their character, and I would find it troubling if someone with poor character were going around calling themselves a follower of Christ.

Ultimately, Bush’s legacy will be overshadowed by all of these problems. He acted against the interests of the nation, so he was a bad president. He knowingly lied and subverted the law, so I’d even say he was a bad person. Unless they address each of these huge problems that he’s wrought, I will be very skeptical of anyone who claims that Bush was good measured against any metric, and I’ll be questioning their judgement pretty hard.

I had a dream

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It was back when I was in Seattle for PAX. It was Saturday night and since our hotel was about half an hour away from the convention centre, we decided to skip out on that night’s concerts. Even though I was looking forward to seeing Anamanaguchi, the Minibosses, MC Frontalot, and the Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, the physically painful experience of attending the Friday night concerts was enough to persuade me from pushing for it. After all, Jonathan Coulton and the OneUps were awesome enough as it were.

Anyhow, we got back to the hotel at about 10 pm and realized that we hadn’t eaten yet, so we ordered some pizza from Pizza Hut, which I was thrilled with since that was during the height of Code Geass R2 mania. Anyhow, while were nom-nom-noming on delicious stuffed crust, we had the TV on. It was only two nights before that Obama gave his nomination acceptance speech in Denver. That night, CNN was running a documentary about Obama’s life from the start all the way up to present day.

The dream that I had when I fell asleep was unique in that I could clearly recount the details. I was at the White House and everyone was in like the garden or something sitting around a bunch of tables like you would at a cafe, and George W. Bush was addressing everyone there. Now, Bush being Bush, he was saying some garbage, the details of which I don’t remember. But, I did think what he said was incredibly stupid, so being the devastatingly sarcastic smartass that I am, I heckled him.

Understandably, Bush was pissed as hell that I was heckling him. He walked over, very angry-like and confrontational and overall had a fairly threatening composure. Of course, as luck would have it, Obama was at my table, and he noticed angry Bush approaching. He decided to step in and try and calm him down, but Bush wasn’t having any of it. So, Obama being the cool guy that he is, decides to swing back with an utterly devastating remark to Bush.

How did I know his remark was devastating? Because immediately, Bush looked absolutely dejected and he turned around and walked back to the stage slowly. And what would be an excellent burn without a high-five? So I gave Obama a high-five and we were very pleased with ourselves and smiling and all.

Congratulations, America and hi5, President Obama.

More on Obama

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Earlier in the US Presidential race, I mentioned briefly that if I were an American, I would definitely support Barack Obama. I’m not going to get into the liberalism versus conservatism thing here, because I will most definitely talk about that later on. But, my belief in the necessity of Obama winning the White House will be what I’m going to be getting into.

At the beginning of the race, I’d believed that as long as the Republicans don’t win, the States should be set. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were very strong candidates and both should have been able to beat McCain. I’d chosen Obama for his commitment to open governance, his goal to unify the nation, and his belief in rising above the same old crapflinging in politics.

My point of view began to change when Obama started overtaking Clinton in the primaries and Clinton’s campaign began becoming increasingly negative. And as Obama began winning more and more and her victory slipped away, in her desperation, she revealed her true nature. In the last few weeks she has definitely differentiated herself with Obama.

The last few weeks of her campaign have been nothing but lying and flinging crap at Obama. This is exactly the kind of politics that Obama has been campaigning against. This is the reason why Hillary Clinton cannot be allowed to win. This is the reason why, at this point, I would not be able to bring myself to support her if she won. While they may be almost identical in policy, their character is obviously completely different.

And the reason why Obama needs to win is because he’s been taking all of this crap and not doing the same in return. He isn’t lying about his experience. He isn’t bringing up Clinton’s slipups. All he has been doing in response to these attacks is refuting them one right after another and demonstrating his ability and commitment to not get entangled in that crap, while trying to focus the contest on the issues.

And at this point, it is impossible for Clinton to win without the Democratic superdelegates overturning the popular vote and pledged delegate count. Should this happen, it would deal two fairly significant blows to democracy in the States. Party officials overturning the will of the people is not something that is a good sign, and in doing so, it would signal a rejection of change in the way American politics is conducted. I’m sure that after eight years of George W. Bush, more of the same is the last thing the United States needs.

Mr President

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This is a post that I really should have written a few weeks ago, but time did not really allow, and I didn’t feel that much of a need to. After spending a bit of today following what’s been going on, however, I felt compelled to finally get to this. This is a post about politics, so be warned, lest you be swept away by my tide of opinion.

As you all know, there’s a little contest being held right now by our neighbours to the south. It’ll be a while before it’s finished, but it seems like things are moving at right about this moment. Yes, I know I’m a Canadian and don’t have a say in this, but I feel the need to echo what many people I respect are saying. And ultimately, the outcome of this fight will affect us up here.

There’s a ridiculous difference in the atmosphere of this presidential race from the one we had in 2004. Back then, all we cared about was getting the Republicans and Bush out. The choice was basically Bush vs. not Bush, and that sort of race doesn’t exactly inspire people. Not so, this time.

I should mention that I am very, very liberal. Many times, people confuse that for being Liberal. That is not so, as I am so liberal that I am not Liberal, but New Democrat. It’s taken me a while to come to terms with this, but I’ve fully embraced this fact during the last election.

Anyhow, essentially, I’ve decided to throw my worthless, non-US-citizen support behind Barack Obama.

So why did I feel a need to go ahead and voice my support for him? Everything that I’ve read about him leads me to believe that he really gets it. For me, the largest issues in politics pretty much revolves around civil liberties, democracy, accountability, and technology. He pretty much hits the nail on the head with respect to these things.

There are many people that have some fame and notoriety on the Internet who are smart and share my sentiments. Randall Munroe and Lawrence Lessig are among several who’ve written about their support for Obama. These are people whose opinions I trust, for their work in the area of the above issues.

Specifically, it’s his positions on network neutrality and his plan to keep the government accountable through the use of technology, making government data open by using standard machine-readable formats. And it’s this smart combination of technology and democratic governance that appeals to me and, evidently, many notables who have the same concerns.

I highly suggest that those of you who also share my choice of election issues to read the endorsements by Randall and especially Lawrence Lessig’s. Lessig’s posts really describe Obama’s character well and the stark difference that the other candidates sort of emit. It’s really been a long while since I’ve felt excited at the prospect of how the Presidential elections can change the States.