Politics

Posted 00:07 PST Sat Mar 27, 2004 in

My friend Linkmeister shared a link yesterday afternoon. I went over there and read what was said, then read some of the comments.

I hate politics — that’s just all there is to it. The rabidity of some people really turns me off. It doesn’t matter if the person is a Bush supporter or a Kerry supporter, or supports someone else.

Case in point: In an article (link lost) in the Washington Post:

Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt responded, “John Kerry’s campaign seems to be summed up this way: I went to Vietnam, yadda, yadda, yadda, I want to be president. He would have the American people ignore his 19-year record in the United States Senate… In the case of John Kerry, the truth hurts.” [emphasis mine]

From this, Billmon extrapolates that ...it revealed the degree to which the Republicans no longer feel it necessary to pander to (or even show much respect for) those who served in Vietnam. In my opinion, that’s a logical stretch from the quote in the article, regardless of whether it’s true or not.

In counterpoint, I did not like President Clinton. He had no character, and I think that’s important. But I didn’t hate President Clinton. I disagreed with a lot of his actions and his policies, but I didn’t hate him. He was my president, just as he was the president of everyone else in America. He deserved the respect of the office if nothing else.

I feel the same way about President Bush. I would like to see more attention directed to domestic policy. The old issues of healthcare, the economy, and social security still remain. (Although many might find my opinions there much too conservative.) But President Bush is my president and deserves the respect of the office, if nothing else.

I do hate politics, though. I hate the villainization of opponents. John Kerry and George Bush are just men, after all. They have strengths and they have weaknesses. At the very least, they deserve the respect of their offices, and probably much more.

That’s my opinion.