Afternoon scoop
Started: Tuesday, December 9, 2003 14:50
Finished: Tuesday, December 9, 2003 15:27
The snow fell hard last night. After brushing off the snow, and Tobias on a little trek slipping and sliding around the block, I canceled by plan to drive to Boulder to attend meditation class. Not worth trying to navigate the roads in those conditions.
I'm sure just about everyone following the news has heard by now that Al Gore has endorsed Howard Dean's candidacy.
Long time readers will remember that I did not like Al Gore in 2000. He, like Bush, was a corporate puppet candidate, and appeared to care very little about the things I valued: Internet freedom, civil liberties, and reform from abuses of power by the government. It didn't help that Lieberman was his running mate.
Seeing little substantive difference between Bush and Gore, I didn't particularly care which of them won or lost. I voted for Harry Browne instead.
Since then, I have come to believe that if Gore had become president, though he wouldn't have been perfect, the country would be far better off than it is today. In 2000, how could any of us have imagined what a destructive path the Bush administration would take? At the very least, Bush and those under his command are responsible for the mess in Iraq, and for the mass erosion of our own civil liberties under the Patriot Act.
Recently, when I read what Al Gore has said about civil liberties, I wonder, "Why wasn't he saying this stuff back in 2000? I might have even voted for him if he had."
Well, obviously, back then, our freedoms were not under assault to the degree that they are now. The Patriot Act was still just a gleam in John Ashcroft's eye.
Of course, I would have prefered it if Gore had stood up against some of the bad stuff that was happening at the time, such as the DMCA, but I can understand why he didn't. Heck, not even Dean has gone there.
So anyway, I hereby endorse Al Gore's endorsement of Howard Dean. Hip hip hooray. Now let's take back the Whitehouse.
...
We're wrapping up the final changes to our silly little client's website today. Getting that one in the bag is good. That money might just allow me to a) pay my bills this month, b) buy X-mas presents for family members, c) maybe feed my dvd habit just a little bit.
Life ain't so bad.
by Bitscape (2003-12-09 15:42)
I know it's silly to reply to myself right after I posted, but I just had a few more thoughts.
In one regard, I think that Bush has done a good thing for this country. By giving us a nasty bloody nose, he has taught us that if we want to keep our representative democracy, we had better learn to work together. Otherwise, people like him will take it from us.
It is my optimistic belief that in the 2004 election, the moderate, liberal, and libertarian contingents will, for a short time, shed their differences and unite long enough to bring somebody into office who is able to better represent the country as a whole.
Howard Dean may or may not share my views on intellectual property reform, and he may not be the #1 choice of many progressives, but if he (or one of the other democrats, should one of them win) is able to steer the country back on a course closer to sanity, then it will be worth it.
That's all. :)