tomarctus: To some of you who post in this thread and plan to vote for GWB:
I hope you get G.W.Bush's next war to insure he will be re-elected. And, of course Bin-Laden will be trotted out to prove how good GW is at fighting terrorism. Forget that Afghanistan has been levelled and their "president" is a Cheny crony. Forget that Chalabi in Iraq is a CIA friend, and Karzai is also a puppet. Don't even get me started about the kidnapping of Aristide from Haiti and the shenanigans WashDC is playing there.
The economy is not great for anyone but the rich. Jobs, good and bad are leaving the country to Mexico, India, China and all over. There are soon to be no food products grown in the USA, no products manufactured here, no clothing, no tradition passed down parent to child, no fine arts at all, no anything. The USA will have to depend on Chile or food until their next military coup. Or Mexico until the next listeria outbreak. Or the mid-east for oil until the next embargo. No one will make ships, boats, planes, furniture, clothing, musical instruments, electronics, or anything of real value. Everyone in the US will work for 50cents an hour to support CEO salaries but will not be able to buy the products they make or sell.
There is no, I repeat NO safety net for the disabled, poor, retired or poor. The President and the California Governor have made sure of that. I am still trying to get my Social Security Disability benefits. I applied four months ago and they can take five more months to do nothing. Then, when and if they do approve my claim I will finally get a retroactive check. In the meantime there is absolutely no safety net to help me pay for my rent, food, medication and utilities while the so-called Federal Government is deciding whether or not my AIDS complications meet their definition of disability .
I worked non stop for 24 years while being hiv positive. I didn't ask for any hand outs that you Republicans so despise. I contributed about $100K into my own disability benefits not to mention the compound interest the government has earned on my contributions. But do I get any help? Hell no! I have to spend myself into poverty while waiting. After I'm broke I have to go into debt. After that I have to file for bankruptcy. That is how our government helps those in need. What absolute crap. The USA is not a civilized country. Maybe it never was. It is puritanical, judgemental, xenophobic, punitive and cruel. Unless, of course you are one of the upper 1% who has the cash wealth to weather any storm. Those wealthy folk even have their cash off shore to avoid sharing the tax burden.
Believe it or not, I am patriotic, I have loved my home country all my life. Right now, as a gay man who is being villified by politicians on the right-wing, as a man who needs a safety net, as a man is being forced into destitution after 30 hard years of work and contributing to the system, as a man who has voted in every election, I am furious and feel disenfranchised. Not since the protests against the VietNam War in the late '60's early '70's have I felt this much animosity toward my own government.
When the superior, holier-than-you Republicans and fundamentalists on this site gloat in their opinions I have no choice but to fight back. Their position not superior to mine.
The next 8 months promise to be contentious and repulsive politically to all of us. There will probably be so much nastiness none of us can stand it. The mainstream TV and newspaper and radio media will, as usual, misrepresnt the truth and most citizens will go along with the popular ads. Even the non-citizens that Bush wants to allow to vote will skew the results.
I hope the USA and the world will endure this mess.
