Journal entries in 'Dreary Politics' for October, 2004

I came across this story about the Bush administration's attempts to legalize torture, or, as it's euphemized, "extraordinary rendition." I figured it couldn't be as bad as they made it out to be, and looked for other articles to read more about the issue, ideally from both sides, and slowly came to the disturbing realization that yes, it really is. Quite simply, they are trying to sneak in an amendment to a bill which would exclude from the protection of the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, any suspected terrorist (emphasis mine). And that's just ridiculously unacceptable. So, even though Puerto Rico's representative doesn't have a vote, I wrote my first letter to my Representative. I strongly encourage you to do the same, particularly if you are lucky enough to live in a state where your opinion actually matters. See the link above for more details about the story. Damn this growing political awareness! It's so much work, actually caring about things.

Are you going to vote for John Kerry even though you find him unpleasant, annoying, arrogant, waffling, misguided or just generally unappealing in some profound way? Then you've come to the right place! We're Kerry Haters for Kerry -- perhaps his largest constituency! No need to hide in the Kerry-hating closet anymore while you pretend to everyone that he'll be a great president. Here you are among friends. You can speak freely and honestly. You can admit: 'He's awful! And I'm for him!'