As most of you have noticed, as of late this diary/editorial has taken more of a political stance. I'm not trying to scare off my target audience (Hot Australian nymphomaniacs), but I am merely trying to get a nation full of voting-age, open-minded youths to seriously consider this notion that we like to call "Democracy."

I know I bitched about how Democracy died along with the notions that America was initially built upon. Well I fucked, okay? I forgot to mention the one thing that most of us base our daily lives on, that one thing that gets us through the day without taking a few too many sleeping pills or trying to carve our initials into our wrists with hacksaws: Hope.

There is hope out there that we can get things back on track. There is hope that we can fix this country before it's too late. All we have to do is.... not re-elect Bush.

Sounds simple, eh?

In order to not re-elect Bush, we must vote for somebody different. And I'm sure two things are going through your mind right now: "Steve, even if we don't vote for Bush, that doesn't necessarily mean he won't be president again... I mean... look at last time."

What happened last time was indeed a sad affair. Watching Bush's limo pulling up to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Watching Bush start to get out to take that final walk to his rightful position as our commander-in-chief. Watching Bush have to dive back in the limo as protestors threw eggs and other produce items at his limo, protestors who were angry that he stole the election. Watching the limo speeding off, leaving a group of confused secret service men to try and keep up with the limo.

Well... okay... that wasn't really all that sad. It was pretty funny actually.

But the "what does one vote matter" mentality just leaves more of an edge for people like Bush to slip through our fingers. If we gave the majority of the votes to another leader, I can honestly say that Bush, legal battles be damned, will not whine his way back into the White House. Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, shame on us.

But that leads to the second thing you are probably thinking: "Who do we vote for then?"

NOT BUSH!

Honestly though... I can't tell you who to vote for or who not to. That's for you to decide.

Hell... we had Bush for four years. He did okay didn't he? Oh sure... he wrecked our economy, let terrorists slip into our country and murder our citizens, then sent more of our people to fight a war in the name of a group of people (Iraq) who we didn't even give a shit about two years ago!!

And let me get side-tracked for a second here... Is it just me, or was "Operation Iraqi Freedom" the biggest waste of money and human life we've seen in a long time? We still have people dying over in Iraq for a cause that was supposedly obtained over six months ago!

I was pissed when Bush said we were at war with Iraq. One reason was because he was shifting all of the focus off of Osama Bin Laden. Wasn't Osama Bin Laden the big bad guy who made our two towers go boom-boom and made all of the people sad? What happened?

"We will catch Osama Bin Laden, because a man cannot murder Americans and think he can get away with it. This man will be brought to justice, and used as an example that we, as Americans, do not stand for certain things and-" (A White House official whispers something into Bush's ear) "No shit? Can't find him anywhere?" (Turns back to the cameras) "We will end Saddam Hussein's rein of terror over the Iraqi people. We will ensure that those people have the same freedoms we do. We will do everything we can to protect their oil- err, interests... Even if it means we have to kill a few of the fuckers ourselves."

I was so pissed, especially when Osama Bin Laden sent that tape in... like... a week into the war with Iraq, basically going, "Neener neener neener!"

Anyway, Bush had his fun, now it's time to reel him in. We gave him the keys to the Nation's Car (Which is never a smart thing to do to somebody with a DUI and a hit-and-run charge under their belt). Well, luckily for us he didn't total it, but there are a lot of scratches and dents that need to be fixed, and the transmission makes a weird sound when you switch it to third gear... and there's this smell emmanating from the back seat... Something like.... cat piss and cotton candy.... I dunno. But it's time we clean things up....

So how do we vote for? Like I said... I can't tell you who to vote for.

There is one guy who caught my eye, though. He's a wise, and very down to Earth man (Whatever the hell that means anymore... probably means "Makes under $100,000 a year"). A man who's number one priority for the longest time was... protecting America and it's citizens.

This man is a retired General.

This man's name is Wesley Clark.

His website can be found at http://www.americansforclark.com/. Take a minute and read this speech... in fact... don't even bother reading the whole speech. A speech in itself can be a long-winded process where you have to state and restate facts just to make sure you are getting your message across. Instead... just read a few of the things he talks about under "A New American Patriotism." http://www.americansforclark.com/speeches/006/

Crazy, isn't it? A guy who... instead of wanting to line his pockets with the millions of oil money just waiting in Iraq for the next president... he wants to help the people! He wants people to have health care! He wants people to have work and prosper from it! He wants to strengthen our economy and make sure that the people of America gain from it!

WHO THE HELL DOES THIS MAN THINK HE IS!?!?!?!

How could he ever hope to get elected with such crazy ideas? Why would the people want to elect somebody who actually cares about them?

Bush is more than likely going to play his "War" card during this electorial race. He's going to say, "This is a time of war, and you need somebody to lead you through it. Somebody who has already seen you through two wars."

Well.. war time was over once Saddam went running... which was apparently six months ago. Plus, remember, American's are still dying over there while they wait for a job to be done (The rebuilding of Iraq) which should be handled by the UN anyway. Nice gesture though.

And of course Bush did the right thing by wanting to bomb Afghanistan. Hell, if I were president, I'd point at Afghanistan on a map and go, "Them! Those are the fuckers! Drop 'em! All of them! NOW!" And we all treated him like that little kid who gets rewarded for doing something he should've been doing in the first place.

"You had the perfect opportunity to light Jenny's hair on fire with the blowtorch and you didn't, therefore, you get a cookie."

But at least with the war declared on the Middle East, we were all treated to some fine TV programming. I'm talking about, of course:

Watch Dubya Try to Pronounce Middle-Eastern Last Names

"We will hunt down Saheid... Abdula... Abladuly... Abbra Cadabra... err.... Smith."

Okay... That was a low blow.

Bush could never point out Afghanistan on a map.

And just a personal note: I wouldn't proudly announce that I had gotten our country into two wars. Maybe it's a personal thing. It's like you're gloating about the wrong thing.

"I killed me more American soliders than Ford and Kennedy combined! Yee-haw!"

Personal attacks though... what a shameful way to go. I apologize. I'm sure Dubya is a really nice guy in person. It's just a shame you couldn't get anywhere near him with snack foods.

Me: Pretzel, Mr. President?

Secret Service Agent: TAKE HIM DOWN!

(I get tackled by four secret service agents)

So anyway... even if we were at war... who would you want running the country?

A retired General that has the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart (Medals of bravery in military action), plus a couple of honorary knighthoods? Or a guy who dropped out of the Air National Guard?

I'm going with the leader. Just me.

And for those of you who are testosterone-jacked patriotism junkies... here's a thought:

The past four years all Bush has said about the people was usually "It's in the people's interest to..." or "The people should rally behind this..." He basically told us where our best interests lied.

So far... all I've seen is Clark addressing the problems that he has heard from people. Not enough jobs, no health care, no... no chances basically.

Maybe I'm jaded because I come from a middle-class family. My dad is a cop and my mother was a teacher, and now she's a secretary assistant or... something... I don't know really... Maybe I'm jaded because I had to watch my father watch the Dow Jones Report, and when he only lost 10 points he would called it "An okay day."

But then you would turn on Bloomberg or whatever it was... and watch the rich 1% of America bitch because their stocks went down a half a point, so now instead of getting their $47 million Venice Beach condo with the two bedrooms, four bathrooms, and indoor swimming pool filled with live dolphins.... they have to settle for that $20 million Myrtle beach condo with one bedroom, two bathrooms, and an outside swimming pool filled with retarded sea lions (Who can't quite balance the rubber ball on their noses, but God bless them, they try).

Maybe I'd like to see my dad retire before he hits 70. Maybe I'd like to see his life a little easier for him.

Maybe I just want to see Wesley Clark in office because I think his name would look kick ass on Presidential letter (Especially if his middle name was "Kick-ass").

Maybe I'm wrong about Clark. I'm pretty sure I'm not, but it's still early. And he has a lot of time left either to prove me wrong or to completely floor me.

I'll be watching this man closely. Because I saw him on TV once, and I saw something that amazed. Something that made me proud. It was a little speck in the corner of his eye. And in the right light... it almost looked like hope.

*Note: The reason for the lengthy post is because... basically... this will be my last political post for a while... and I had a lot I needed to get out there.

Also, a lot of the information I received was from various sources, so if you think any of it's wrong, then it's probably somebody else's fault. Thank you.