October 02, 2004
Taking a Stand

imaginelennonandkerry.jpg

In this weblog I've concentrated on issues far from home (energy and culture in Mexico and Guatemala), in the neighborhood (local economic development), and on my desktop (Mac OS X). Occasionally, a broader political issue pops up, usually attached to a local figure like Reverend Billy, who is waging a campaign for the First Amendment and against chain stores, in his Church of Stop Shopping.

I've also deplored the tendency of some tech webloggers to hide their affiliations, usually to avoid alienating their tech friends and colleagues with different views. So I find myself in agreement with Dave Winer, Russell Beattie, and Joi Ito, in their recent posts - it's time to take a stand and use whatever platform we have to change the country for the better.

The debate this week showed that Democrats and left-leaning citizens are not just complainers and borderline traitors. Bush is arrogant, incompetent, dangerous. The shadow government behind him has taken the strength of America for themselves and left the rest of us nothing but fear, corrupted TV news, Hummers on the streets, and hatred in the world.

John Kerry has picked up the mantle of plain-spoken confidence and courage that Bush used as a disguise until his fragile performance dissolved into spite and petulance.

There is a way forward. We can have an open society again. We can have a leader who inspires our confidence and the respect of the rest of the world. There may be continued terrorist threats - who would be surprised at that now, after Bush's call to "bring it on"? But we have defended ourselves in the past, and we can do it without losing our rights and demanding blind loyalty to a cowboy dictator. The dictator has no clothes, no heart, and little mind left. There are only four things he's allowed to say on any particular day. We do have a choice. Let's make it.

UPDATE: Via Dave Winer, a Kerry endorsement by a hometown paper in Crawford, Texas:

The Lone Star ICONOCLAST - Editorial, Opinion of the Publishers - Kerry Will Restore
American Dignity

Regarding the photo above:

RollingStone.com: News - John Lennon - FBI Must Open Lennon File

On the possibility of an October Surprise, and the neo-con shock at the very suggestion. File under "Don't dish it if you can't take it" (and read the comments):

Electrolite: Setting the stage for the "October Surprise."

The Poor Man: Charades

Posted by Dave at October 02, 2004 01:06 PM