And I can smell the bullshit all the way in Las Vegas.

Let's face it, they're politicians, which means they're full of shit. All of them. Except maybe Jesse the Body. He's the only one I might actually trust in office. But beyond the Body, Democrats and Republicans, and everyone in between, are full shit. It's their job to be full of shit. They can't tell the truth about anything because they're not allowed to. It's the nature of politics. Even the things they might WANT to be truthful about, they can't. Because it's all about who is going to get pissed off, and who is going to be afraid. Which leads me into tonight's Bush Bashing session...

Fear. That's it. Fear. In most cases, the government doesn't tell the American people the truth because the truth is scary. I've talked to someone who was over in Iraq as a contractor... One of those people who technically don't exist. And the truth is that our government does some shit outside the law by hiring people to do it for them who are not part of the government. Hell, watch any spy movie, any mercenary movie, you know that much. It's not all just entertainment, folks. The truth is that if you knew exactly what our own government did behind our backs, you'd be pretty scared. So they lie to us. Call me a conspiracy theorist, that's fine. I prefer "skeptic" personally. Or how about someone who just doesn't always believe everything I'm told. And that's where things changed in the last four years...

We all grew up with our parents telling us not to believe everything we hear or read, right? Until we actually grow up, and we're told by the government to believe everything they tell us. In the last four years, it's become terribly apparent that if you question our government, you are unpatriotic, to say the least. In some cases, if you question our government, or our president, you're unAmerican, you might even be called a communist, socialist, anarchist, or even, a terrorist. Just because you don't believe everything you're told, just like Mommy and Daddy told you not to. And if you voice that opinion, watch over your shoulder, because you never know when they're coming to shut you up.

So since 9/11, if you believe everything you're told, you should be pretty damn scared by now. This president has made a career of telling the American public things, not to keep them from being scared, but to scare them into submission. Fear.

Got Fear?

Because if you do, the administration is doing their job. If you're afraid, you don't have much of a choice but to cling to Daddy's leg and hope the bogeymen don't get you. As long as you're afraid, you need your Daddy to be there. America, if you're afraid, you're not giving the terrorists what they want. You're giving the government what they want. You're giving them the power to do all the things they've done in the last three years... Take away our rights, invade other countries, flip the bird to the rest of the world.

You see, they call groups like Al Queda "terrorists" because of how they operate. They spread fear by violence. They terrorize people into becoming submissive. They scare people into doing what they want. That's the most simple and basic definition of a terrorist.

That's not me. I'm just a guy with a keyboard and an idea to share. My goal isn't to scare anyone into doing anything. My goal is simply to spread my ideas and, if I'm lucky, spark conversation. If I'm really lucky, maybe I'll change a few minds, but that's just gravy. People like me aren't terrorists, we're just artists, and writers, and other creative types that found a way to let our voices out of our heads and into the world. But don't ask the faithful what we are. And don't ask our government what we are. You see, while we simply spread ideas, they're spreading fear. While we try to spark conversation, they try to shut it down. While we are simply not afraid, they are angered because of it.

I'm not afraid like they want me to be. I'm more scared of my own government than I am of anyone outside our country.
Do I believe there are terrorists out there, trying to hurt us? Absolutely.
Do I believe they have the capability to hurt us? Yup.
Do I believe they have reason to want to hurt us? Obviously.
But I'm not as afraid of them as I am of the government in place today that would hurt me simply for expressing my belief that they operate in the same vein as the people they say I should fear.
The terrorists failed with me. Taking down the towers was absolutely terrible. Horrific. Enraging. Fucking wrong. But they are who they say they are. They do what they do because they believe that we are horrible, ignorant, materialistic hypocrites. And they're right. We are. We really are. They're still fighting us now because we don't give a shit about anything they believe in, and we proved that by trying to force a Christian-based political system onto a Muslim country with an invasion. We really are as ignorant as they say we are. But worse, is that we are hypocrites. At least, our government is. They're "spreading freedom and democracy" throughout the world, while taking it away here. They tell us not to be afraid of the terrorists, to continue our lives as we were before the attacks, but that we need to be afraid of them and do everything we can to defend ourselves while destroying them. We're making enemies faster than we can kill them. But we're doing it in the name of humanity. That certain inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is deserved by everyone, all over the world... Except here at home... Where it's slipping away from us under our own eyes.

According to the Patriot Act, this Rambling is enough to have the FBI or the CIA kicking down my door, taking me into custody for as long as they want, without being charged or tried for any crime. These words are enough for our government to permanently fuck with my life with extreme prejudice. And that scares me. That scares the crap out of me WAY more than any bombing could. So who's the terrorist?

By now you must be asking... If I'm so afraid, why am I writing this? Because I AM afraid. And as an American, I was raised to believe that I should not have to be afraid of my own country. If I'm this afraid of what my government has become, I HAVE to write this. I have to voice my opinion, and so do you. If I'm this scared of my own government, it means things need to change. Here. Now.

If Saddam Hussein needed to be taken out of power because he ruled his country with fear, what makes George W. Bush any different?

I've delayed writing a Rambling on this election for SO long because I knew that my thoughts on it would change constantly as the situation changes. But, with the changing of the Diary to a blog format, I figured, what the hell, I could do a Rambling the same way, and still link it to the Forum for discussion. Lovely. So this is it. Ready?

Fuck George W. Bush.

Is that too harsh of a way to start this off? Maybe. But hell, I feel like the last 3 years have been pretty damn harsh as well. The first year wasn't really anything. Just a bunch of pissing and moaning about how he stole the election, and not much else. Then came September 11th, and everything changed. And honestly, when he first responded to the attacks I was the first to say it "I voted for Gore, but I'm glad W's in there right now. I don't think Gore would've handled this very well." Yeah, that lasted about a month or two. Then came W's grand plan to invade Iraq who had ZERO to do with the attacks. And it was all downhill from there. And it just got more and more harsh. So yeah, maybe opening this up with "Fuck George W. Bush" is pretty harsh. But I think it's rather appropriate.

See, everything Bush has done since he's been in office has been a big Fuck You to a lot of people.
"Fuck the poor."
"Fuck the sick."
"Fuck the unemployed."
"Fuck non-Christians."
"Fuck the gays."
"Fuck the women."
"Fuck the Iraqis."
"Fuck American liberties."
"Fuck the rest of the world, for that matter."
"And Fuck You if you don't agree with something I'm doing."

That about sums it up doesn't it? Don't believe me? Don't agree with me? That's fine, but do you want to look at his Resume? (Thanks and apologies to Kelley Kramer from whom this was, er... borrowed).

Accomplishments as president:

• Attacked and took over two countries.
• Spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury.
• Shattered record for biggest annual deficit in history.
• Set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.
• Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market.
• First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.
• First president in US history to enter office with a criminal record.
• First year in office set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history.
• After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, presided over the worst security failure in US history.
• Set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips than any other president in US history.
• In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job.
• Cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in US history.
• Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12 month period.
• Appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history.
• Set the record for the least amount of press conferences than any president since the advent of television.
• Signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in US history.
• Presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.
• Presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have.
• Cut healthcare benefits for war veterans.
• Set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.
• Dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.
• My presidency is the most secretive and un-accountable of any in US history.
• Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (the 'poorest' multi-millionaire, Condoleeza Rice has an Chevron oil tanker named after her).
• First president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously go bankrupt.
• Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world.
• First president in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation.
• Created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States.
• Set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in US history.
• First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission.
• First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the elections monitoring board.
• Removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history.
• Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.
• Withdrew from the World Court of Law.
• Refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.
• First president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 US elections).
• All-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.
• My biggest life-time campaign contributor presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).
• Spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.
• First president in US history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation against the will of the United Nations and the world community.
• First president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1)
• First US president to establish a secret shadow government.
• Took the biggest world sympathy for the US after 911, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history).
• With a policy of 'dis-engagement' created the most hostile Israeli-Palestine relations in at least 30 years.
• First US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.
• First US president in history to have the people of South Korea more threatened by the US than their immediate neighbor, North Korea.
• Changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
• Set all-time record for number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts.
• Failed to fulfill my pledge to get Osama Bin Laden 'dead or alive'.
• Failed to capture the anthrax killer who tried to murder the leaders of our country at the United States Capitol building. After 18 months I have no leads and zero suspects.
• In the 18 months following the 911 attacks I have successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in the history of the United States.
• Removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history.
• In a little over two years created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided the US has ever been since the civil war.
• Entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.

Records and References:

• At least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine (Texas driving record has been erased and is not available).
• AWOL from National Guard and Deserted the military during a time of war.
• Refused to take drug test or even answer any questions about drug use.
• All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have been spirited away to my fathers library, sealed in secrecy and un-available for public view.
• All records of any SEC investigations into my insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and un-available for public view.
• All minutes of meetings for any public corporation I served on the board are sealed in secrecy and un-available for public view.
• Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP) attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and un-available for public review.
• For personal references please speak to my daddy or uncle James Baker (They can be reached at their offices of the Carlyle Group for war-profiteering.)

...so now that you've read that (or skimmed past it), I'd like anyone who can debate those statements, or anyone who still thinks W. is the best man for the job to PLEASE respond in the DH Forum.

And soon enough, I'll add more about the election. Don't worry, there's MUCH more for me to say. But this is a pretty good start, eh?