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Originally Posted by Lebell
This strongly mirrors my own opinion of Bush.
It is unfortunate that I felt it necessary to vote for him to keep Kerry out of the White House, but that is the political reality we live in.
*still searching for that viable third party...*
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Amen, in a non-religious sense. I hope nobody minds if I return to actually discussing rational hatred of George Bush.
I voted for Bush in 2004. Had I been old enough to vote in 2000, I would have done so then as well. In retrospect, I still believe those votes were the correct ones to have made, despite the numerous disagreements I have with Bush's policies.
Although Lebell chooses to phrase my goal in a different way than I would choose to, we share a wanting for a "viable third party". What I would really like to see, though, is the marginalization of the Bush-wing of the Republican Party. Christianity and social conservatism need to be thrown out, as mixing them with the government (in the classic Bush fashion) is contrary to the founding principles of the Republican Party.
The new "Republican Party" that I would create is one that rigorously defends civil/religious liberties (repeals the USA PATRIOT Act, stops using the Oval Office as a Christian-promoting device), supports fiscal responsibility (constitutional amendment against deficit spending, shove "bridge to nowhere" up Ted Stevens' ass), respects the right to privacy (no restrictions on abortions performed before viability, minimal restrictions on late-term abortions, freedom to use marajuana recreationally, freedom to buy whatever sort of firearm you please, freedom to marry whomever you please, regardless of gender), and adopts a consistently reserved, but not isolationist, position in international relations (give enough funding to MI so that we know what the hell rogue regimes are doing, apply sanctions to all countries that fail to respect basic human rights, invade all countries that engage in genocide [that includes Rwanda and Sudan], no more ineffective and excessively indiscriminate bombings a la Kosovo and Iraq 1998).
And that was my roundabout way of criticizing the Bush administration. His policy choices have been unwise in some instances and reasonably disasterous in others. My rational criticism for Bush stems primarily from his systemic abandonment of the conservative values of small government, individual freedom, and peace through strength. And don't even get me started on federalism...