first of all i want to thank everyone for the incredibly kind words and well-wishing that's been going on in the last few days. i'm not going to pretend that it hasn't been hard, or that it won't continue to be. but i found out that brandon actually died from complications of asthma probably due to an allergic reaction, and that he'd been doing really well in the last few months or so. and somehow, that eased this horrible tight feeling in my chest. knowing that brandon wasn't terribly unhappy in the last few months. knowing that he'd actually gotten something together. of course the irony is terrible; just when he was finally starting to enjoy his life was the point at which it ended. i don't know, maybe there's some kind of lesson or beautiful metaphor hiding in there. but i'm not ready to start looking for it yet.
tomorrow, before i do anything else, i am voting. before school, before filling my car up with gas for the ridiculous commute i have to make because i can't get enough financial aid to move out of my parents' house, before everything. i'm voting. and i'm voting for kerry.
is kerry going to magically fix everything that's wrong with this country? hell no, and it would be simplistic and childish for me to tell you that he will. no one person is going to be the cure for what's wrong with america. hell, i'm not even entirely sure what is wrong with america, except that people are doing terrible things to one another in the name of money and progress, and in the name of being american itself. john kerry alone isn't going to be able to fix all of that. but from what i've heard, he can make a start.
HOWEVER, george w. bush seems to be only capable of making things worse. i do not trust this man. nor does my mother, who is a damn good judge of character. he is the embodiment of the backlash. in all honesty, what i see from w. is the desire to bring us back to the good old days that never were, to roll back the New Deal and every other gain made by women, people of color, and every other minority group who has ever fought for and won equality. if we allow this man back into office, he will attempt to further outlaw abortion (he's already eroded Roe v. Wade), and ammend the constitution to outlaw gay marriage, not to mention what he's going to do with things like the patriot act. or his foreign policy.
ok now i understand that this is a free country (for the time being), and that you can choose to vote for whomever you please. but this little part here is for all of you who choose to vote for a minor-party candidate. i fully support your right to do so, and i understand. that said, please consider voting for kerry instead? i would only ask this if i was really really scared, because in general i think a two-party system outright sucks. but with the country split the way it is, and with the bush supporters being who they are, i'm scared that by four years from now we won't have a choice of any other candidates. or that our country will be so far run into the ground that we won't be able to pull out of it.
i recognize that this sounds like "anybody but bush" rhetoric. and i'm not gonna lie, to an extent it is. i was a dean supporter in the beginning. but on a purely subjective level, i agree with kerry, i like what he's saying about his plans, and i sure as hell don't want another four years of w. i know i'll still have to protest and write letters to my senators and congresspersons and probably even picket and petition if kerry is voted in tomorrow. the difference is that i know i'll still be free to do so without the government calling it treason. and really, that's the important part.
vote kerry
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