I am finding this political discussion very interesting because it has been
something I have been thinking about a lot lately. I used to be a major fan
of Gore but have been constantly disappointed by his waffling and the
compromising of what I thought were his values because he wants to be pres.
so damn bad. I flirted briefly with Nader because he has some great ideas
as does the Green Party (they both also have some awful ideas, I mean
disbanding the Congress? The most stable governing body in history,
c'mon!), however, the President of The U.S. is not an ideal it is a reality
and it takes more than great ideas and values to be a good President. Nader
is very stubborn and has no idea of compromise (his way or the highway),
these make great qualities in a consumer advocate but poor qualities in a
president whose party does not control Congress. His presidency would only
end up creating alliances against him and endless gridlock. He would sort
of be like a Jimmy Carter with a chip on his shoulder.
Of course, in reality, Nader would never be president. It will be Gore or
Bush. And I agree with the sentiment of people who feel that voting against
someone rather than voting for someone is a poor way to involve yourself in
the democratic process. However, again reality, and we need to remember
that things in this country can get worse rather than get better. While
Gore may mean more of the same, Bush can very well mean getting to the
worse. Abortion Rights, the pitiful amount of environmental protection
legislature we do have, and countless other social issues WILL be threatened
by a Bush Presidency. The scariest thing is that 2 maybe 3 Supreme Court
Justice positions will be opening up in the next 4 years. Think about
those 2 or 3 justices being pro-life and pick up your banners and prepare to
march on Washington because a women's right to choose will be severely
threatened.
I am probably going to vote for Gore in the Fall. I just hope that if he
wins he can find his way back to the truly inspiring politician he once was.
The one who wrote "Earth in the Balance", one who had some really great
liberal yet realistic ideas and values and who was an effective enough
legislator to be able to carry them out.
Justin
"Eat from the Tree of Life and throw away the Verbal Ham""
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