Accountability

I realize most everyone has their mind made up by now about who they’re voting for – but let me have my piece.
Back in 2000, one of Bush’s big selling points – and this was a very post-Clinton point – was “to restore accountability to the White House”.
Since then, we had 9/11 – but that wasn’t Bush’s fault, because despite the memos, those were just historical, and how were we supposed to know they’d use planes as missiles?
And the recession – except that apparently wasn’t Bush’s fault, because he “inherited” it from Clinton. Except he really didn’t.
And then we got the largest recession in history – except that’s not Bush’s fault, despite him never vetoing a single spending bill his entire term, and pushing through two major tax cuts during a war.
And the war? Well, that’s not Bush’s fault – someone else’s intelligence was faulty. But even then, he’s not sorry. The world being a better place without Saddam in power is supposed to counteract the billions we’ve spent – not loaned, spent – and the servicemen and civilians who have died. Luckily, the White House restored accountability – and no one involved in the drive towards war stepped down.
And Medicare? Not only was there a government worker threatened with termination were he to reveal the real cost of the bill, but fake news programs sent to the media to run to promote the program. Luckily, the White House restored accountability – and no one involved was fired.
The Bush administration hasn’t restored any accountability to the White House. There’s been a constant refusal to claim responsibility, to apologize for any missteps, to be in any way culpable.
Right now, we’re seeing massive attempts at disenfranchisement – Republican groups throughout the country sending out fearmongering flyers, telling people to vote on the 3rd, attempting to challenge the voting rights of minorities in swing states. I know that there are people reading this who are going to laugh at these posters and think they’re awesome in a yeah-dickheads-rule way. This is not a time to be a dickhead and stomp on the rights of others.
I don’t believe in the Anybody But Bush doctrine – Bush isn’t stupid, and he’s not the anti-christ. I merely believe in performance reviews. Due to his complete lack of effort to hold anyone within his administration responsible for any of the problems this country has faced in the last four years, there is no way in good faith I can give him another four years.
I’m willing to give a chance to a man who understands that we can be doing better. We don’t have to shoulder a huge debt onto the upcoming generation (read: my generation), we don’t have to engage in nation-building, we don’t have to give up our personal freedoms to battle terrorism, we don’t have to muddy the Constitution with discriminatory language, and we don’t have to go it alone or leave our security decisions up to others.
I’m voting for John Kerry. And while I hope you do too, I hope more importantly that you at least vote for someone. Government is too important not to be involved in.