Vote Kerry

I've joined the Anybody But Bush (ABB) brigades for three reasons.

1) The Gay Marriage Amendment. Two things about it turn my stomache. First - that it's even been proposed. Second, that President Bush is so ignorant of the constitution that he thinks he has a part to play in the constitutional amendment process. He does not.

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

As you can see, there is no part of that (Article V) that has anything to do with the president. In fact, the responsibility is _specifically_ reserved to the congress ("The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary") and then the states legislatures.

Ignorance of the constitution is not something I want in my President. Seriously. This is bigger, for me, than any of his other transgressions, because the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, over and above the presidency, over the Supreme Court, over everything. Fundamental misunderstanding thereof is simply unacceptable.

2) The Janet Jackson/Howard Stern issue. Glenn Reynolds suggests that this is a tempest in a teapot. I respectfully disagree. If the FCC made its claim of indecency all along, I'd've agreed. I agree, for the record, with Clear Channel's dropping Stern. That's their business, doesn't violate the First Amendment or Equal Protection. But the FCC under Michael Powell does appear to be engaged in a witch hunt, as evidenced by the recent Oprah/Stern flap. Why can Oprah talk about matters more pornographic than Stern, on television, in the middle of the afternoon when children are home without supervision, but Stern, who is on when children are home with their parents and then at school, can not? Simple - an unequal application of the same rules. I don't like that. Frankly, I don't like the indecency rules, but if we've got them, apply them equally. Fine Oprah, and then I'll remove this reason to vote Kerry.

3) Hamfisted foreign policy. I support the Iraq war, and I think our soldiers are doing an amazing job. I support the Afghanistan war, and I think our soldiers are doing an amazing job. I believe that what happened in Libya was a triumph for the Bush doctrine. I also believe that what's going on in Haiti, in our own back yard, is not only partially our fault, but we're making things worse, not better. The "Rebels" were led by a Death Squad thug. Yeah. Death Squad. Bad Thing. The fact that at the same time as this, there is rising anti-american sentiment the world over, at least among the people, drives me a little bat-shit. We're doing something amazing and great in Iraq, and the world hates us because of the way we've done it. I blame Bush for not finding a better way to go about it.

I know Kerry served in Vietnam. I just wish he were more serious about the War on Terror. He was against that one and against this one. I'm for this one. I wish he were too.

But he's not.

However - he's also not Bush.

Here's my thought, stolen whole-hog from someone else. I don't know who the photographer is, I don't know who the man in the picture is, and if you're either of them, let me know if you want this taken down, and I'll take it down.

Hello to the new boss, same as the old boss.

Posted by Swerdloff at March 21, 2004 08:25 PM