Re: [Gnu-arch-users] [OT] facism gaining ground in US

[Pierce T . Wetter III]

On Jul 26, 2004, at 3:15 PM, Miles Bader wrote:

> On Mon, Jul 26, 2004 at 12:40:17PM -0700, Pierce T. Wetter III wrote:
> >  Here's one though: In my more cynical moments, IMAO, we don't have a
> > choice between Bush and Kerry, we have a choice between whether we 
> > want
> > someone who makes bad decisions for the _country_ based on good 
> > decisions
> > for his _cronies_ or someone who makes bad decisions for the _country_
> > based on good decisions for his _cronies_. So we really have a choice 
> > of
> > cronies.
> >
> >  Bush's cronies: Energy companies.
> >
> >  Kerry's cronies: Trade Unions.
>
> Oh, bullshit.  You have no idea how Kerry will act, given that he 
> hasn't been
> elected (yet); during an election politicians make google eyes at 
> anyone that
> can breathe.  Most politicians once elected back off a bit and pretend 
> they
> don't know the people they were all lovey with before.


  Actually, I think we're in agreement here. No one has any idea
about Kerry other then "He's not Bush". That's good enough for some
people, its not good enough for me. I'd like to see a detailed statement
about Iraq, not "I voted against it before I voted for it". I'd like to
see a detailed statement about a lot of things. Maybe it will come
out of the convention this week. That would be nice.

 Early in the campaign, he made quite a few pro-labor, protectionist
statements, but he hasn't done so much of that lately, so maybe he's
backed off on that.

> But Bush _has_ been elected and we _have_ seen what he's like, and it's
> _scary_ -- it's not really that he's evil, it's that he apparently 
> thinks the
> whole presidency thing is a fun game, and that his immense power is 
> really
> favors to be given away to those nice men who helped him get elected, 
> and
> those "nice men" have proven to be utterly without regard for the 
> public or
> the nation.

 What favors in particular do you think he's given away?

> > In my case, I worry about Kerry's connections to the teachers unions,
> > because I think school vouchers should be at least partially 
> > implemented.
>
> So you're willing to utterly screw the country

 No, I just want to make a choice, and Kerry hasn't given me one yet.
"I'm not Bush" is not a message. Hindenberg chose Hitler as the "lesser"
evil, and look where that got us. :-)

> so that choosing your kid's
> school could possibly become more convenient?

 Can't have kids, unfortunately.

Had a mom who was a schoolteacher though, and she hated
both the education bureaucracy that prevented her from teaching kids,
and hated the union for telling her how to vote.

 I don't think vouchers could possibly making choosing my kid's (if I
could have them) school easier. Having a choice where I might not before
would always make things harder, not easier.

Rather I have a firm belief in education, and think that that one of 
the smartest things we ever did in this country was provide universal 
schooling. However, I think that we're providing shit in the way of 
education in the inner cities. Ideally, it would be best to reform the 
overweening bureaucracy
in the school system, but since that doesn't seem to be possible, I 
think
that a _limited_ voucher system where any parent could place their 
child in
any _public_ school would give those parents some hope.

I don't endorse _full_ vouchers at this time, because I don't think the 
public
schools are really ready to compete yet. That might be possible, 10 
years
down the road, but not yet.

 Also, 66% of inner city parents are in favor of vouchers, and I 
believe in
trusting the "boots on the ground".

 Pierce