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2003-05-11 | 9:31 p.m.

corduroy licorice and his friend louie were in the same boat. fishing was just more fun that way.

***

shock and awe. smoke and mirrors. tax cuts for the rich and social services cuts for the poor.

this is a sucky time to be a democrat. the potential candidates who are lining up to take on the flight-suited, self-knighted dubya are less than inspiring.

i went to see bill clinton speak early in his first bid for the presidency. his charisma was palpable even from my back-of-the-city-park viewpoint. i knew i was listening to the next president.

with gore bearded and bummed, who can we look to now? lieberman? a man who during a recent debate bragged about having been pro-iraqi war. when asked how he would respond to those who say he's not tough enough for the office, lieberman answered that he'd prove his chutzpah by taking hollywood to task again for pushing violence down america's throat. gee, i guess it's a good thing when washington takes on hollywood about fictional violence, but hollywood taking on washington for actual violence is a big boo-boo.

i had lunch this weekend with my oldest friend (circa fifth grade). we both were raised in a fairly strict religion and both went to church schools from 1st grade to college. recently, our talks have turned more and more to politics. what's so cool is that we share the same liberal-leaning opinions. considering the years we've known each other and the conservative institution that introduced us, that's pretty darn amazing.

she has taken to writing letters to her local paper when she gets angry about what she reads within its pages. lately, it's been about dubya and his motivations in the middle east and his backroom deals handing out "rebuilding iraq" contracts to his cronies. her letters get published a couple of times a month. her parents have warned her that she may draw negative attention to herself from the government.

"they're watching everyone more carefully now," cautioned her father, who decades ago had to make a desperate escape from his european home country due to a suffocating government.

she feels a bit worried about speaking out, but can't rest easy by keeping silent either. i'm so proud of her. i often wonder if my soapbox rantings on this innocent little diaryland page could someday be used as evidence against me by the neo-cons to show that i'm a bad american. sounds paranoid, i know, but these are paranoid times--something that dubya and his crew realize and are using to their advantage in a frightening way.

it's ridiculous that while my friend and i are fortunate enough to live in a country where free speech is a legal right, she and i both have the concern in the back of our heads that we may face future repercussions for sharing our opinions publically.

i came across this quote below in the latest issue of vanity fair in the editor's letter by graydon carter, which does a terrific job of outlining how bush's tax cuts will make the rich richer and slash social services that everyday americans, including the poor and veterans, rely on.

"to announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the american public."
- theodore roosevelt

wouldn't it be ironic if iraq did end up going democratic and we americans got ourselves a dictatorial regime in the trade? tres iraqnic.

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take a peek at these - (c) 2000-2003 nictate:

health tip
2005-03-16

health tip
2005-03-16

moving house
2004-11-19

quibbling with quitherfeather
2004-11-17

catcher in the wry
2004-11-16