Put It Better Than I Can…
Every now and then, I’ll somehow find my way into a conversation on social policy and individual responsibility. I might enjoy the conversation, but it doesn’t take me long to realize that I don’t have that Chomski-like ability to recite facts and recall quotes. And that’s where I loose: I can tell people how I feel, but I sure as all heck have a hard time telling them why.
Well thank all that is super for writer’s like this. This is one of the most concise and well said essays on class and poverty. It’s the type of thing that I wanna’ link to here so that I can just point people to that story instead of just being smart myself — the American way™.
I got stuck in the same way the other day when I was having a chatty-chat with someone regarding Kerry Vs. Bush Vs. Kucinich. She asked me what I had against Kerry; and even though I’ve read plenty about his voting record that I don’t think is perfect, I drew a blank. But I knew that I was a Kucinich fan (he’s vegan!).
She said, “Well, how about this metaphor: Your car (the economy) breaks down outside of town. Another dude (Kerry) in a car pulls up offering to fix your automobile, but you tell them no because you’re holding out for a guy (like Kucinich) to give you a fix AND a wax.” (Ed. note: She didn’t say “dude”. That was creative license at work. Also, she didn’t say anything in the previous parentheses, but man, they really make that metaphor clear.)
That got me thinking until someone else mentioned that the person who offered to fix the car would be using bubble-gum and toothpicks that wouldn’t last me the trip back to town. And that got me thinking about how I don’t want to get stuck again, ’cause I’d get hungry and probably try to eat the gum. And I hate gum.
But none of that matters, because by most accounts, Washington State is not a swing state. And it looks like it won’t be come November (What is the threshold for a swing state, anyways?). So I can vote for Kucinich and know that Bush will not carry Washington State. If I lived in Florida or Oregon, I’d have to re-evaluate my thoughts. But luckily I can vote outside of the shitty two-candidate system. I really hate the attitude that people are specifically voting for the lesser of two evils instead of voting for who they think is the right candidate.
Points on Kerry and Kucinich:
- Between 2001 and 2003, the Arab American Institute rating for Kerry went from a 75% rating to a 33% rating, while Kucinich has maintained a 100% rating.
- Kerry has a 63% rating from Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants while they gave Kucinich an 80% rating.
- Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel gave Kerry a score of -1 while Kucinich grabbed a +3
- Kerry voted yes on the Patriot Act while Kucinich didn’t
- And the biggest point, Kerry voted for the Iraq War Resolution and Kucinich didn’t.
- One knock on Kucinich that I can’t ignore: Kucinich voted with National Abortion Reproductive Rights Action League 0% of the time through 2000-2002. In 2003, he does a 100% turnaround. Kerry voted with them 100% of the time.
Any glaring points I’m missing? Add ‘em in the comments…