...obama supporters, we've all defended our candidate against people saying he'd get swiftboated and that he'd sink. we've said he could stand up to the racism and republican attack machine.

...well, here we go.

I'll explain why in a bit, but, we'll start this with a statement of faith: after last night's debates, I'm not too terribly concerned about the election. We're going to win.

...i mean... there's something here that screams 'evil overlord'... try to guess what... it's fun.

...i actually knew a girl during my first few years of college that looked remarkably like condi... not in a literal sense... more of the ~vibe~ she exuded... that kind of evil that only a black female conservative/republican can exude... i think she had a crush on me... but that stopped soon after the first time she saw me with dreadlocks...

...but really, fellow kos-ovites... help me out here... what is it about this picture that is ~so~ disturbing?

...is it the "darth vader spring '05 collection" ensemble she's got goin' on?

...is it the "gotta think up something new for iran. smoking gun/mushroom cloud is ~so~ 2002" smile on her face?

...is it the upraised arm that looks ~so~ close to a hearty seig heil?

...is it the jeff gannon lookalike in the upper right hand corner?

:)
-kev

...consider bush's record on...

afghanistan: subcontracting (outsourcing is such a blatant, pandering term) the job (finding bin laden and policing the afghan state) to unreliable, untrustworthy warlords of northern alliance who could be easily bought off. bush keeps blathering on about "hard work"... doesn't he trust our troops to do the "hard work" of cleaning up and reconstructing this country? or is he too afraid to do the job right because he doesn't want to hurt his chances of a second term?

verdict: fox guards chicken coop

health care/prescription drugs: i mean, come on, do you really think it's SAFETY that's holding up the import of drugs from canada? i mean, how many canadians do you hear of that've dropped dead from their pharmacies' drugs? his plan is blatant pandering to the pharmaceutical companies, with the aarp as lackey...

verdict: fox guards chicken coop

energy policy: ummm... really, i should only have to say "cheney's energy task force" and you should get the point.

verdict: fox guards chicken coop

environment: yeah... appointing heads of industry to monitor their own industries does not an environmental policy make... again, self-explanatory...

verdict: fox guards chicken coop

media consolidation: no real attacks on bush... i'd just like to see him mention this... fairness doctrine... maybe stricter regulations, etc...

verdict: fox news sucks

...and i'm done.
-kev

...so my suggestion... from personal experience.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...when i was younger and i did something to get into trouble (often), it was often the case that i would fudge the truth, hide the truth for as long as possible, or lie outright to my parents in an attempt to get them to get off my back or put them at ease. this continued into my teenage years: scraping cars, breaking things, losing money, etc.

...but when i got older (see corinthians 13:11) i put away all that nonsense. i remember the first time i didn't dissemble or split hairs with the truth in relating my latest screwup to my parents. it felt terrible in my stomach, but remarkably easy in my head. my lips didn't tremble. my tongue didn't quake. and their reaction wasn't as bad as i thought it would be.

...oh, yes, i still got in trouble. couldn't drive for two weeks. but that wasn't nearly as bad as it would have been had i tried to lie about it. they even helped me to fix the situation and didn't give me too much shit about it afterwards.

...the point is that, before i grew up, i believed that if i deceived enough people as to the nature of a situation, i could change the absolute nature of the situation... or at least buy myself enough time to try to fix the situation to correspond at least a bit with my lie. there was also the shame factor. i hate screwing up probably quite a bit more than most people you know. and there was the thought that, if i admitted my mistake, i would be subject to, along with harsh punishment, ridicule and unending shame. (i WAS a teenager, let's remember... a week and a half is "unending" during those years).

...but growing up gave me the proper perspective that such deception and dissembling gets one nowhere other than deeper in a hole.

...the truth will set you free. and i knew this to be certain once i started dealing evenly with my parents regarding any mistake i made. president bush needs to do the same with the american people.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...and if kerry were to (calmly) tell bush or reporters something like that, i'd cream my pants. especially if he threw in the corinthians reference to snag the biblethumpers. the calmness is essential, though... this is (to be perceived as) less campaign rhetoric than it is honest attempt from an almost fatherly kerry to get sonny-boy to level with us as to exactly how he drove the car into the brick wall despite all the warning signs...

-koan
http://koanism.textamerica.com