Elections...

I know I'm a couple days late in saying anything about this, but I do have to say that they bring out the worst in people. It disgusts me that, as a democratic nation, those who do not support the president that was voted in (by a narrow margin, I must add, if you look at it on a state by state basis) are immediately jumped upon for not being "American." Isn't being "American" being a person who is able to have free thought and express that thought with the gift of free speech, thanks to the bill of rights? Or will that portion of the bill of rights be subject to some modification this term? I have the right to disagree with the winner of the election. I don't agree with his politics or his methods. He may be a good person, but he is not a good leader for this country, in my opinion. I have problems with all the civil liberties we have lost since he came into power 4 years ago, and fear for how many more will go by the wayside in the next 4 years.

• I don't agree with his removal from protection areas of land for personal gain (logging and oil) - we only have so much land, and we have an obligation to protect what's left of it, especially what is in those designated areas. They were put aside for a reason, and it certainly wasn't for the purpose they were removed recently.


• I feel we are in an unjustified war. The war on terrorism was supposed to be to "get the guys" behind the 9/11 attacks. Last I knew, that was the Al Qaida and Bin Laden, not Saddam Hussein. To run off half cocked to start a war with a nation that was not involved in the attacks, while leaving Bin Laden and his group running free in Afghanistan, is entirely absurd. It also leaves much to be wondered about the motives when you have an oil baron as the "leader" of your nation. (I won't even get started on how I believe that the 9/11 attacks could have been prevented, but someone wanted to make a statement and be able to go to war, since Republicans historically are big on scare tactics as a tool and war to make their points...)


• I also feel there is too much mixing of church and state. There is a separation of the two for a reason. The government should not be involved in determining who can get married and who can't. I don't care what your personal beliefs are - this is overstepping the boundaries of the federal government (and, to be honest, any state that gets involved in this idiocy isn't much better). I think far too many times, "God" was brought into the picture when "He" should not be a part of the laws governing our country. That's fine if that is your personal belief, and you have every right to practice that belief, but to mandate on one person's belief system is ridiculous when there are so many Americans from so many different religious and cultural backgrounds in this nation.


• I'm also a staunch opposer of censorship, something the current "leader" strongly supports. I can decide for myself what is and isn't appropriate - I don't need, nor do I want, big government getting involved in that decision.

So you see, it's not a situation of Kerry not winning so I'm a sore loser - to be honest, I don't really agree entirely with Kerry, either. It's more that I did not agree with W and did not want to see what harm could be done with another term of unchecked politics (because, let's face it - since he doesn't have to worry about a re-election now, there isn't a whole lot to stop him - especially with Republican majorities now, too).

Many have told me to suck it up and support the President, that we need to be unified as a nation. I am not a lemming. I will not support a person who narrowly won because he's the "leader" - he has to earn that right, something he has not done so far. I support Americans, I support the poor troops who are stuck overseas fighting an oil war, but I do not, nor do I have to, support W. It is my right as an American. I hope I am proven wrong, but considering how the last four years went, I am not optimistic about it...