Yep, there is a black sheep in every family, and I am it. I was raised to be a republican but it just wasn't in me. I knew from birth that I would be the renegade, the rogue, the rebel, and I think my parents had a pretty good indication of it when I wrote to Nixon at the age of 3 in crayon because his stupid speech preempted my cartoons that I wasn't going to just sit politely in my white gloves and take it.
My brother, whom I absolutely adore, is a good republican. Now, this doesn't mean he is an idiot. On the contrary he is one of the smartest, brightest and kindest, most wonderful people I know. I have hopes that he will see the light and come to join me over here on the left. We agree on Bill Richardson, so my fire of hope burns brighter these days.
Every so often though, my darling brother and I get into it about politics, mostly on AOL's Instant Messenger, because he lives in Georgia, and I live in New Mexico. We talk every day, so it is bound to happen. This morning it happened again, so with my apologies to Doo, I am posting our conversation...
Doo:
http://www.youtube.com/... Oh this brightens my day
Me: Oh David how can you blame the state of the nation on the past president's foriegn policy, when all bush has is inflammatory rhetoric and bombing the shit out of small countries that pose no threat, thus weakening our armed forces and position in the world so that when we are faced with a REAL threat, he can bungle any diplomatic solution and be forced to hope China will do its bidding?
Doo: Can the President win... we deal directly withthe DPRK and Bush would be raked over the coals for a unilateralist approach
me: by whom??? everyone with a brain and a conscience is begging for us to get into two party talks
Doo: What leverage does the US really have?
Doo: The US provides little in the way of resources to the DPRK... China is its patron
ME: NK depends greatly on the world community for resources. Yes China has more leverage, but Bush has done us NO favors in this arena
Doo: I think it is best to let Japan re arm itself and keep the region in check
ME: they wanted to negotiate with us, we said no.
ME: that is leverage, or was
ME: Japan is constitutionally forbidden from it
Doo: The US provides humanitarian assistance but there is little evidence thatit is reaching the people. China controls DPRK's energy & oil supply
Doo: Japan's current PM Abe has in the past campaigned for its amendment
Me: Bill Richardson and Dr. Barry Ramo were just there this summer bringing humanitarian aid and medical supplies. Bill Richardson is the one who can fix this.
Doo: and with an unstable DPRK with Nukes I am not sure he is going to get a lot of resistance to it
Doo: Well we have 2 years before Bill can fix it
ME: we will see. Well Richardson has offered to go. He would be the best choice, is well respected
Doo: I like the ad because it makes fun of that swine of a human Madeline Albright
ME: she is not a swine, David, she was a great Sec of State, unlike that snarly beast in Prada
(this, I think, was my best line...)
Doo: I don't care if she was the best Sec State ever... she has the blood of 800,000 Tutsis on her hands and it was not through inaction but actively attempting to remove all the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda
Doo: I hope there is a special slice of hell reserved for her
ME: Bush has the blood of 650K innocent Iraquis on his hands
Doo: I have come to the conclusion that arguing about which of the last 2 presidents is better is like asking which of 2 piles of shit is prettier, in the final analysis it is still two piles of shit
Me: Clinton lead us through eight years of peace, prosperity, growth and optimism. Bush has taken that and put it in the shitter, and we have now record deficits created to prop up a failing economy and fund an illegal war against a people who never meant us harm. We live in a state of fear with constant terror alerts (note that we are back up to orange for election season) and over 700 presidential signing statements giving Bush the excuse to ignore the laws because they don't apply to him. We have the unraveling of the geneva conventions (which other conservatives fear will cause other nations to make their own interpretations of with regard to OUR people) and legislation that allows for any american to be called an enemy combatant, held without charges being told to them, without representation, and without the ability to fight for their freedom. I think it is clear who is the biggest pile of shit.
ME: Clinton's crime was lying about getting some strange.
ME: by the way this is going to be featured in a daily kos posting
Doo: Peace? Khobar Towers, Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, WTC attack #1? The Economy, how strong was it, Enron, Tyco, Arthur Anderson, Adelphia, overvalued Dot Coms? And I still maintain that a President has little effect on the economy... Clinton slashed military & intelligence capabilities and did not take the opportunity to take Bin Laden down when the Sudanese wanted to hand him to us.
Me: OOOOhhh it takes a lot of NOIVE to blame Enron and Tyco on Clinton. Lotta noive!
Doo: No the greatest lie that came out of the Clinton administration was that what was happening in Rwanda was "Acts of Genocide" and not genocide so that the US would not have to be responsible for upholding the UN Genocide Convention
Doo: Sadly 10 years later the Bush Admin is not pushing what is happening in Darfur as Genocide.
Doo NOOOO I am not blaming Enron and Tyco on Clinton I am asking how strong was the economy when these paper giants were out there?
ME: I agree with you, wholeheartedly. But do those on the right care about that? No, the only thing they care about with regard to Clinton was the fact that he fooled around on his wife (whom they hate even more.)
ME: I see your point. There were a lot of paper giants, and I would venture a guess that there are even more today.
Doo: The evangelicals freak out on that... I don't like it because he liked to use his power to bag a few women and when confronted with it would drag their names through the mud
ME: Come on Doo, you know that women are drawn to that power. I don't think that politicians are unlike actors, rock stars, or other celebrities, especially attractive politicians, when it comes to being followed around by women throwing themselves at the celeb. And I don't think that many of these women would want to hide their names. They like the notoriety.
Doo: I think Paula Jones genuinely rebuffed Clinton's advances, I think Monica Lewinski egged Clinton on
ME: well it is truly one person's word against another, and Paula Jones is not exactly high quality.
Doo: And if I were Bill Clinton and I were married to someone like Hillary and had been scarred by her look in the 70's I probably would have hit it too. I would have made her "destroy the evedence" though
Me: hahahaha...yes, well in Hillary's defense, the 70's were kind to few people
Doo: yeah but she was a walking Birth Control Device
ME: are you just acting up for DailyKos? LOL!
Doo: I would think sex with Hillary is like Praying Mantis sex, for the man you gotta stick and move, stick and move, or she will rip your head off and eat it while your body slowly falls off hers
ME: OMG Doo
Doo: I act up for no one
ME: I <3 U
Doo: If you are gonn use material for Daily Kos, youneed to use the conversation I blogged a while back
ME: which was? Ours???
Doo: yeah the one where I talked about my proposed wars as president
ME: hahahaha you saved that?
Doo: yeah it was blogged
ME: I have to look that up. I am protecting your identity btw
Doo: I want a record of my platform for when I run... do you know I am eligible to run this year
Me: Yep, the only things we are now too young for are Social Security and AARP, and AARP is soliciting me hard!
Doo: That makes me smile
ME: bastard.