House Guests

Well, this is waaay overdue. I've spent all of this last week on duty, including extra shifts for labor day, and Monday night filling in for my opposite number. And since then, I spent an entire day trying to get home from New Orleans, mixed in with the evacuees. Since I got home, we've been preparing for house guests.

A friend was supposed to come stay with her dogs. My folks evacuated here and brought their cats. But the main guest we were preparing for is named Ivan. Fortunately, he's apparently decided to go east into Mobile. Should he change his mind, I'm pleased to report we are secured and in all respects ready for hurricane.

Anyway, I know you might want to read something. Since I've been so short of time, I haven't had any chance to come up with coherent thoughts for you. "What?", I hear you cry. "Your rantings have never been coherent". That's why I decided to give you a change. A guest ranter. Please welcome J C Grout IV, AIA, Etc. Without further ado,

9/11/04

Why I am voting for Bush

I really don’t care who went to Cambodia when. I don’t care who didn’t take
a physical where. This election is about the next half of the first decade
of the 21st Century, not about behavior in the Hippie Era. The world has
changed. Such issues deflect from the Question of the Day.

I don’t care what CBS says about this election, or the New York Times, or
Fox, or ABC, or CNN. They are (quite literally) old news, the last
un-busted Trust, willing to do anything (including lie) to hold onto their
monopoly on the dissemination of Information. Their arrogance and bias
insult my intelligence; I no longer believe a word they say. They are
utterly clueless as to the Question of the Day.

Do I care about prescription drugs, or affordable housing, or tax reform, or
gay marriage, or the environment? Sure. But they pale in comparison with
respect to the Question of the Day.

And what is the Question of the Day?

Simple - How do we WIN the Fourth World War?

Yes. Fourth. The First World War vanquished Imperialism. The Second World
War put paid to National Socialism, while the Third slam-dunked Scientific
Socialism into the dustbin of history. This war is to eliminate the threat
of Islamic Fascism. This is not a “War on Terror”. That sounds so…..
clinical. So banal. So limited. And so utterly wrong in what’s at stake
here.

The major Candidates stand on the Question of the Day can be distilled down
to this:

BUSH: We are at war. We gotta kill the bastards!

KERRY: I was in Viet Nam. We need to ask the French.

NADER: Bush is the terrorist!

Three years ago today, our enemy announced his intent with the deaths of
thousands of our countrymen. You see, our enemy isn’t mad at us. He hates
us. We are “infidels”. We are not even human in his eyes. Our enemy wants
to see our country - it’s people, it’s freedoms, and it’s way of life -
crushed and destroyed. Not humiliated, or forced to change some foreign
policy. Destroyed. Wiped from the face of the Earth. This conflict cannot
be resolved at a negotiating table. IT MUST BE WON.

In the past three years, the UN has ignored the threat posed by Islamic
Fascism, as have some of our “traditional” allies. (see Sudan, genocide in)
They have therefore have abrogated their moral right to lead. Turning to
them will accomplish nothing. Nor can we ignore the threat or run away.

And that is why I am supporting Bush. He has the right answer to the
Question of the Day. We can argue about how our country will address gay
marriage, or tax rates, or health care benefits once our first priority -
making sure that our country will continue to safely exist - is resolved.
Think about it in terms of the movies. ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’,
to be exact. Nader is the ‘Brave Sir Robin’ of this race, standing in front
of the Bridgekeeper from Scene 23 debating whether his favorite color is
green, or blue. John Kerry wants us to trust him because he has a different
plan. To continue the ‘metaphor, he is 'Sir Bedevere', trying to interest
us in a “large wooden badger” after the large wooden rabbit of big
government had failed. And Bush? He is 'King Arthur' - simplistic, but
clear of vision and driven to achieve his goal. Plus, he is willing to
truncate the Black Night and use the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch in order
to do so. (No, Bush is not Lancelot. RUMSFELD is Lancelot - ed.)

…..GROUT