Category: political

Well, this should be terrifying to any American aged 18-34. Read it.

A few weeks ago, Christine and I were driving down the street, listening to the liberal talk radio station that I’m perpetually tuned to, and they were discussing the possible reinstatement of the draft. I asked Christine if she would be willing to move to England with me should that happen. (Canada, unfortunately, is no longer an option for the draft-dodger. They’ve worked out treaties with the US to send them back.)

She said no.

She did, however, mention the possibility of Ireland, and I intend to hold her to that. I absolutely will not serve in the American military under the current administration.

I don’t want to avoid military service because I’m a coward, or because I’m not a patriot, or because I hate freedom, or because of any of the other reasons that a recruiter may give you. I love this country, I love the freedoms it was founded on, and I love what this country used to stand for.

I am not against the idea of military service. My great uncle Ed was a tail gunner in the Pacific theater in World War II, and I’m proud to claim a close relation having served honorably in such a pivotal event in history. There are scenarios where I would voluntarily enlist, but they would have to be damn good reasons… the only ones I can think of would be a full-scale military invasion of the continental US or a nuclear war which we did not initiate.

My primary reason for being against military service is because I am completely and totally against the policies of the Bush administration. The man is a liar, a thief, and a symbol for everything that is wrong with America. If I worked for the government, I’d need to know, not suspect, not hope, know that I was fighting for something that was worthwhile and honorable. I know that in George Bush’s America, I couldn’t possibly believe that what I would be fighting for would be anything more than an extension of his lies and delusions.

Secondarily, I find violence to be abhorrent. While I practice martial arts, I do so to learn to defend myself (and others) and to stay in shape. I don’t start fights, and I walk away when I can. Since I started learning martial arts more than four years ago, I have been involved in only two altercations. Both times alcohol was involved, and both times cooler heads prevailed before anything of consequence happened. I regret my lack of restraint on both occasions and hope to do better if similar circumstances arise. I may know strikes and combinations that could easily incapacitate or seriously injure an opponent, but I’m still the guy that would rather painstakingly catch and release a spider than kill it. I often say things like, “So-and-so deserves to be beaten to death” or “Dubya should be publicly crucified upside down,” but I don’t mean it. I couldn’t willfully cause that degree of suffering in another human being.

And thirdly, if I knew that I had been directly or indirectly responsible for the death of another human being, I couldn’t face myself in the mirror. I remember being young and reading that when you kill someone, you lose a part of yourself. It’s gone forever, and nothing you do can bring it back. I think that whatever that part is—I can’t even identify it because I’ve never been without it—is an essential part of my humanity. I have no intention of killing one stranger at the behest of another stranger because one of them happens to be on “my side.”

I hope that I’ve made my case in a way that’s understandable to most people. While I believe in the ideals of America, I don’t believe that fighting for them is the way to go about defending them.

Well, by now, I’m sure everyone has heard the news. Bush has been reelected. Four more years with an incompetent arrogant failure in charge of the country.

Obviously, I had really been hoping that Kerry would win. Was he the ideal man for the job? No. Was he a damn sight better than Bush? Absolutely.

But this election has shown something about America: After September 11, Bush had an eighty-eight percent approval rating. This should have been a massive blowout for Bush. But it wasn’t. He only won by three percent of the popular vote, with the largest voter turnout since the 1960s.

This means that a lot of Americans have woken up to the fact that George W. Bush is not the man for the job. Yes, Kerry lost, but we can’t give up now. There’s even more at stake now than before the election. We have to use this momentum to carry us through the next four years. If everyone just gives up and turns their backs in disgust, like I was ready to do early Wednesday morning, there will be no dissenting voices left.

Are you ready to give Bush and his political junta free reign? Do you want America to invade another country and kill another one hundred thousand innocent civilians? Are you willing to let the polluters continue running the very organizations that are supposed to protect us from them? Do you really think that by wiping out entire families, places of worship, and schools while waging a poorly planned and ill conceived “crusade” that we will create fewer terrorists?
Is the world that Bush is building the world that you want your children to grow up in?
Don’t give up. We can’t give up. Now, more than ever before, we must do everything we can to constrain Bush’s horrible and destructive agendas. If you don’t like what is going on, write your congressman and your senator. Go to rallies and protest. Circulate petitions fighting for what you believe in.

Because if you don’t, no one else will.