Mike Karikas will eat your brain and gain your Earth knowledge.

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Elliott Smith - A Fond Farewell

This morning I woke up with that feeling like you've been crying all night, going through deep personal trauma.

But before I launch a tirade of self-vomit, nothing can beat what loopy Dan Rather said last night:

Dan: "What's the situation down there? Is it like running through a furnace in a gasoline suit?"
Correspondent: No Dan, it's not.

Dan Rather was my sunshine on a very troubling night.

Kerry was unable to secure his promotion to head CEO of Team USA. This deeply upset me. I knew it would be close, but I never thought the states beyond the west coast would be so willing to continue on Bush's agenda, his war, his degradation of everybody's freedoms. But, I then discovered why - America (at least 51% of it) seems to be heading backwards, because of the next paragraph.

11 states had gay marriage bans on the ballot, and every single one passed. I cannot believe it. I can believe some of the southern states, where confederate flags are flown proudly from ancient pickups, but even Oregon went for it. I feel betrayed by my home state (though actually not too suprised knowing my home town). In our country where freedom is the big selling point, we're having personal freedoms breached (when deemed necessary) by the Patriot act, and most disgustingly, two soulmates in love cannot marry each other, whereas the loveless couple down the street can so somebody can gain citizenship or a tax break, just because their locks and keys match up (down there!). It's disgusting to think that this country won't grant that basic right. Religion aside - and doesn't America have freedom of religion? - if two people are in love, let them marry. This is a civil rights issue, not a moral one.

The one thing I do recognize now more than ever is how extremely divided our country is. Even Kerry mentioned that to Bush this morning in his 'Way to go Bub' phone call. We need to divide this land into two countries: America, for the people who like to limit people's rights and police the world, and Americanada, for people who like freedom, clean air, happy people, and don't want to use their government for making the rich richer.

Jason suggested that this second country be named Nohio.

On another note, here's a picture of my Halloween pumpkins, hand-picked form Bob's Pumpkin Patch. A nice Colonel Sanders pic (you know it's not Dead Pee-Wee because of the bucket of chicken I was carrying) will be up once I can sneak away Elicia's camera.

That's not a spaceship, it's a skull by-golly!

That's not a spaceship, it's a skull by-golly!

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And then you said:

Jason, 11-7-2004 with $11.45
Mrs. White: Are you a cop?
Mr Green: No, I'm a plant.
Miss Scarlet: A plant? I thought men like you were usually called a fruit.
Mr. Green: Very funny.

Andrea, 11-5-2004 with $23.24
Mike! I heard you bought a sweet Clue table in the name of ending poverty. Could such a thing be true??? Let's play!

Jason, 11-4-2004 with $23.37
Personally, I just don't feel like a part of this country. I'm fed up with feeling this way, and I'm ready to leave. I may as well have some adventure in my life while I'm at it. It's not so much that these people don't understand they're being duped; it's that they don't care. According to several polls (and I'm n... [474 more to go]

Andrea, 11-4-2004 with $23.21
I propose a two-point plan:
1. A letter-writing campaign of hand-written letters to individuals informing them of the various realities of Bush's actions based on third-party information.
2. Liberal voters in states where the Democratic majority is well-established (NY, CA, DC, especially since they don't ... [344 more to go]

jared, 11-4-2004 with $9.44
you know, this same message has been floating around blogs the last couple days. and i think you're absolutely right in that Kerry wasn't going to "save" America. however, now we have a government completely controlled by the right wing, and thats not very good either. we should get some picket signs, and then begin... [334 more to go]

Jeromie, 11-4-2004 with $4.57
You know, I used to be a fairly political person, and to be an honest man, I voted for Bush in 2000. After mildly following this race, I came to the conclusion that Kerry was actually not radically or even significantly different from Bush on most issues, specifically those mentioned above.

As an example,... [2392 more to go] You know, I used to be a fairly political person, and to be an honest man, I voted for Bush in 2000. After mildly following this race, I came to the conclusion that Kerry was actually not radically or even significantly different from Bush on most issues, specifically those mentioned above.

As an example, I believe it was Debate #3 where Kerry specifically mentioned his opposition to gay marriage. If I recall correctly (which is often an issue... =< ...), this was during his speaking time directly after a point where Dubya had made clear he is motivated by religion in every decision he makes. The funny thing is, Kerry chose to essentially concur with Bush, that he as well is a very religious (Cath-o-holic in this case, sorry if that name offends, it's all in fun!) man and is also motivated in life by religion. Instead he could (and probably should) have shown how he differs, appealing to those of us who think, regardless their religious views, that religion should stay the hell OUT of government. I respect the fact that these men are religious, but I find it completely unimportant with regard to their political service. It is the will and regard of the people in this country they should be concerned with primarily in their decision-making process.

In short, I believe one of Kerry's failures in this election was in providing concrete evidence that he is actually different in a significant way on the "key issues".

Another example would be the cornerstone of the whole campaign and all three debates, the Iraqi War and the "war on terror". I am not going to debate that it is not being done correctly and that we're in a "pickle" at this point. However, I was not convinced that Kerry's "Plan" truly offered a new path from Bush's. During the debates, his response was always centered around hindsight, and what we should or shouldn't have done. When approached about the future of Iraq and other terror-issues, he often replied with "I would do it differently" or similar. Even when directly asked about the details of his plan, he essentially described the same course of action as Bush, but "faster and better", saying we would train MORE Iraqi troops in a shorter time, and hand it over to the UN in a shorter time period. I don't see that as a line drawn in the sand between Kerry and Bush on War policy. It's more an agreement to have coffee, but an argument over cream.

So, I for one went into this election honestly not giving a shit who won. I didn't see a better America coming from either candidate's presidency. In general I saw it as a choice between "More of the same" or "Do it the way he did, but different".

because 'blog' is so cliché and balrog has better special moves