OUT OF MY HEAD: Everything to Live For '04

Carolinian ^ | 09/14/04 | Joe Killian

[COURAGE]

Carolinian - Opinions
Issue: 9/14/04

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OUT OF MY HEAD: Everything to Live For '04

By Joe Killian

I have friends who refused to watch, listen to or even read Bush's speech to the RNC last week -but I just had to see it. I was working that night, so I set my VCR and came home to the tape at around 1 a.m.

It's hard to describe the mixture of nausea and fear that gripped me as I watched this speech. I was offended at the use of the tragedy of 9/11 as political leverage - but, in a strange way, it was almost a relief. The Republicans have finally fully embraced the position they've been hinting at for months: "A vote for Kerry is a vote to dig up 9/11's victims, spit in their hearts and stomp on their brains."

This all turns my stomach - but what scares me is how effective this tact has been. Who would have dreamed that attacking the war record of a Vietnam hero who protested upon his return, trotting out the most moderate members of your party while adopting a right wing platform and all but ignoring the country's economic crisis would actually work? But - here we are, running neck and neck with a little less than two months left to go.

If I were Bill Clinton, I'd take to a hospital bed and recover for a month too.

Of course, the greatest strength of the Bush campaign is the weakness of the Kerry campaign. Yesterday I watched Kerry stumping on C-Span and noticed the dead silence when he came to an obvious laugh line. He can't seem to communicate to the audience when they're supposed to laugh, and though he's trying his damnedest to be charming his every smile looks exhausted, shy and desperate. The consequence: though he's making good arguments, calling the president on his record and presenting his own plan for the country, we're still made to feel as though he's not quite sure of himself, even not quite behind his own campaign.

Bush on the other hand is ignoring the economy, embracing his arrogance, spouting ideological catchphrases without anything to back it all up - but he does it in that charming, rakish frat boy sort of way. You almost want to pinch his cheeks and say, "You scamp! I want to boot your sorry ass out of office for dividing this country, costing us 1,000 lives in Iraq and trying to make us all march lockstep in your parade of Born Again Christians - but you're just so cute!"

I feel this way about our College Republicans sometimes. Even when they say things that disgust me, I can't quite believe they're serious. Recently one of them said to me, when I asked if he hated the moderates dominating the convention: "Well, they may not pass all the acid tests of being a republican, but they all agree on the most important thing: they don't mind the sight of dead Arabs."

This is the kind of awful, racist joke that you can imagine Bush sharing with Cheney as they watch Arnold and Rudy take the stage. But the awful truth is that it isn't a joke - it's the darkest and most awful part of this man reaching out to the darkest, most awful part of America. It's a campaign built on fear and hatred disguised as patriotism and piety - and I'm scared to death it's going to work.

I read recently that more than million people the world over take their lives every year - more than are murdered or killed in wars. The latest World Health Organization figures suggest a suicide takes place every forty seconds, somewhere in the world.

And so it's not hard to imagine that on November 3rd, if the election can be called by then, there might be a sort of grim mass exodus from this sad planet should Bush pull this election out. My generation may be particularly vulnerable to the urge to lay back in a warm bath and open up their veins as chants of "Four More Years" echo horribly from every 24 hour cable news station.

I remember the awful, kee-capped feeling on the day Al Gore finally conceded in 2000. What else could he do? Still - there was a feeling that we'd all, as a generation, had our first turn at bat and struck out. Or, rather, that a bad call had sent us back to the bench for four long years. We couldn't have imagined, then, how badly the game would go - or how much would be at stake when we next stepped to the plate.

But, though I finally have my own bathroom this year, you won't find me dead in my tub on November 3rd, no matter what happens. I'm casting my vote for Kerry, whether or not he makes me go weak at the knees. I'm praying to God, Jesus, the Holy Mother and whoever and whatever else is out there that it goes our way this time. But, if it doesn't, I'm going to stick around until we finally oust these bastards. And I'm going to dance in the street, drink till I'm sick and sleep for three days afterward. The thought alone will be enough to keep me going.

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[AmericanVictory]

This deserved a barf alert.

[bpjam]

And this guy thinks College Republicans aren't right in the head? Oh boy... Good news for him that he just got his first bathroom, because he will need it being as full of sh(t as he is.

[Ciexyz]

The writer needs an exercise therapy program. I suggest an hour on the machines, a half hour in the pool.

[GeorgiaMike]

Even when they were giddy, the anti-Bush crowd has been driven by hate. Depression is just the flipside, now that reality has set in.

A note to the depressed author: you don't need a shrink, you need a core set of values that doesn't shift. If you believe Vietnam was an immoral war, then you can't believe in Vietnam war heroes - even when it suits your cause.

[Stultis]

I feel -- AND RELISH -- his pain...

[frankenMonkey]

I don't know what "generation" this kool-aid drinker is from, but my observations tell me that the entire "liberal/progressive/democrat" movement is dying as the baby-boomers age. The younger generations have rebelled against thier parents (kids will be kids) and surprise! are intellectual and conservative. I guess what goes around, comes around:

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'

[mountaineer]

Kids say the darndest things - and leftist, brainwashed college kids say the most moronic things.

[badbass]

Still - there was a feeling that we'd all, as a generation, had our first turn at bat and struck out.

I think he's on to something here. The hippy generation has struck out, a long time ago. Serious times require serious leadership, not a bunch of hippie crap /Cartman voice off.

[Stultis]

I'm going to stick around until we finally oust these bastards. And I'm going to dance in the street, drink till I'm sick and sleep for three days afterward.

Huh? I thought this is what leftists/libs do anyway?

[bfree]

But, if it doesn't, I'm going to stick around until we finally oust these bastards. And I'm going to dance in the street, drink till I'm sick and sleep for three days afterward.

A true Teddy Kennedy democrap!!!

[Snardius]

"Well, they may not pass all the acid tests of being a republican, but they all agree on the most important thing: they don't mind the sight of dead Arabs."
This is the kind of awful, racist joke that you can imagine Bush sharing with Cheney as they watch Arnold and Rudy take the stage.

I wonder how this dolt felt while watching the "arab street" dancing with glee at the deaths of 3000 innocent "infidels" on 9/11? Arabs most certainly don't mind the sight of dead americans.

[IonInsights]

I'm going to dance in the street

Never going to happen. Its over.

[fortunecookie]

I can't decide whether Mr. Killian needs to start breaking the pill in half or stop breaking it in half. In light of today's warnings on depression drugs' possible side effect in children (yes, he's childish) of suicidal thoughts, perhaps he needs to stop the dosage altogether.

[jwpjr]

Isn't this the same name as the TANG commander who supposedly badmouthed George Bush? In fact, was the son who spoke up and said the memos were bogus named Joe?

[ModelBreaker]

This all turns my stomach - but what scares me is how effective this tact has been.

Yes, Republicans are tactful, are they not?

[Brett66]

I'm praying to God, Jesus, the Holy Mother and whoever and whatever else is out there

I wonder if "whoever is out there" would answer such a devout follower? LOL!

[Petronski]

This is a duplicate.

Original here.

[Chemist_Geek]

Recently one of them said to me, when I asked if he hated the moderates dominating the convention: "Well, they may not pass all the acid tests of being a republican, but they all agree on the most important thing: they don't mind the sight of dead Arabs."

Here's something to warm the cockles of your heart.

[dead]

I remember the awful, kee-capped feeling on the day Al Gore finally conceded in 2000.

[geopyg]

"Hey Joe - where ya goin' with that gun in your hand?"

I have to agree with him though - Bush's RNC speech was over the top when Bush said "A vote for Kerry is a vote to dig up 9/11's victims, spit in their hearts and stomp on their brains." /sarcasm

Now who is disnonoring the victims of 9/11? People that me and my kids still pray for every night "...and for the people that died in the buildings...". Never Forget.