(Note to literalists: the Watched column presently contains only a smattering of 'warblogs' because the facilitator of the template-change--Dr. Menlo--is not very familiar with them, and will be adding more as they are sent to him. Also, this blog may contain areas of allusion, satire, subtext, context and possibly even a dash of the surreal: wannabe lit-crits beware.)
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[Watch this space for: Pentagon and Petroleum, The Media is only as Liberal as the Corporations Who Own Them, Wash Down With, and Recalcify]
WARBLOGGER WATCH
Monday, November 01, 2004
This hasn't been a time of writing for me. I've worked the last seven months at America Coming Together and my pithy web entries have slowed to a crawl, probably from exhaustion. I have personally knocked on over several thousand doors, talked to several hundred voters and registered over 300 of them to vote. I led the Pittsburgh office actually. And I'm tired. But hopefully, we'll get some good news later tonight despite some of the very evil yet predictable tactics of the Republicans.
By the way, here's two things I wrote about Kerry.
First up, an endorsement from my Better Humans column Red Hour Orgy:
Here in the US, you'll soon have a chance to get involved. I try not to even think what a George Bush victory means in terms of science policy. But it certainly can't be good, unless the tech emerges under the radar or concern of the government, much as the Internet has arisen. (For more info on the horrible tech record of the Bush administration, go see this Sterling essay, or this Scientific American article—they both mention Lysenko, serendipitously enough—or this Science article, or this Henry Waxmen Website or these Nobel Prize winners.) In a nutshell, a Bush future means a more top-down and regulated science, where the Little People never get an Internet or, if they do, it costs several thousand a month.
I'm not saying that Kerry would bring about tech Nirvana. I don't trust him on trade, or with having the balls to punish American multinationals for profiting from Third World slave labor. And whenever there's talk of him picking a Republican VP (reward the very evil and silly party with the number two position?) I gnash my teeth so loudly that it can be heard from 10 meters away. I'm a former Dean supporter, so I don't worship at the alter of Kerry. But it would be nice to see an American president on an international stage and have absolute confidence that the French or Soviet leader doesn't have a superior grasp of the English language. Call me a wild-eyed utopian.
And I think that any progressive person would find Kerry's science policy favorable. It's full of good ideas such as investing in long-term research and development, and working away from fossil fuels—as opposed to profiting from them and stealing another country's oil. There's even a graph or two about software defined radio and encouraging a world class broadband system in the US. Kerry's also wholeheartedly in favor of stem cell research.
I just think that the equation for any decent future requires Bush to be written out of the calculations. It's beyond my grasp why any sane person who believes in a worthwhile future would fail to understand this. I'm not just a transhumanist who thinks that, I'm willing to work for my dream future, one door at a time.
And just for the record, while I know Kerry is way way better than Bush (watch those debates and guess who the bumbling idiot is...hint: he's wiring a wire and he's still losing...) I won't be some Instapundit lapdog calling white black and then slurring the reputation of anyone who can't see the blackness. In fact: If Kerry prosecutes the war like Bush is, he'll lose the war in Iraq, just like Bush, and he'll earn my contempt. We need a different policy because the current policy--kill them damn swarthy fur eh ners and steal their oil--doesn't work. And we need a new president who understands that we need a newer and smarter policy. My only choice here is Kerry. I'll take it. And at worst, at least he'll run a bad policy with some measure of professionalism which would lower the death toll on all sides, just like George Bush senior did. I said as much in the comments section of the aforementioned column here:
I just wanted to say something about the wage slavery deal: Actually, I don't have much of a choice. Or to quote this great line from C-Span: Democracy in America means choosing which fascist I get to work for. I wasn't born rich and I really don't have the lobes (warning: star trek Ferengi reference) for capitalism, most of the time. So I have to work at wages that, well, aren't very fulfilling. Perhaps I should find some suckers who are willing to work for me and get rich off of their labor. Sounds so American.
As for as this counter slavery that Socialist John Kerry would bring about, please. I mean, really, please. You might want to check out what a real socialist thinks about Kerry. His name is Ken MacLeod. You might find it interesting (Editor's note: Actually, Ken was quoting a Socialist publication but it reflected his own opinions):
'Fellow Americans, Senator Kerry and I agree on our vision for Iraq and are determined to carry through the mission, no matter what the cost in Iraqi and American blood. Iraq has the second largest proven oil reserves in the world. Our principal vision is for these vast natural resources to be taken from the Iraqis and placed under the control of ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco. This will simultaneously advance our strategy of asserting US global hegemony by means of military force, and further enrich the financial oligarchy that we both represent.
'We cannot abandon Iraq. If we are defeated by the masses in that country, it will only embolden people in other parts of the world to rise up against the rule of the banks and transnational corporations, and fatally undermine the myth that its military might makes US imperialism invincible.
'Finally, such a debacle would expose before the American people the complete rot of the political system in this country. We are deeply concerned that many of you would demand that we be held accountable for dragging the country into a war that is criminal in every sense of the word. The viability of our two-party system, which ensures the interests of the wealthy at the expense of the vast majority of you, my fellow Americans, would be called into question.'Senator Kerry and I agree that the draft must be reinstated. We are calling upon you to sacrifice your children and support the slaughter of the Iraqis to further the interests of the banks, the oil conglomerates and the super-rich.'
For the record, I'm hoping that Kerry will pull us out the Israeli death spiral that is Iraq, but I wouldn't be shocked if he didn't...I still think he would be a better president even if all those horrible aforestated things are true...
