the road to the presidency is much shorter now than it was last time i wrote on the subject, & although i can't say a lot has happened since then, there is more information out now. the major parties had conventions which did nothing but were wallpapered all over tv. meanwhile the other parties had conventions (some of which actually did stuff!) which were largely ignored.

gw bush picked dick cheney as his running mate on the republican ticket. i don't know much about dick cheney, but even if he were george washington reincaranated he couldn't be good enough to vote for bush. bush has repeatedly proven himself to be an idiot; governor of one of the most poorly-run states in the union, bush holds the record for the most inmates executed while he was in office. what's the key to his prisoner-killing victory? no public defender system. that's right, if you commit a crime in texas but can't afford a lawyer, you might as well jump right into the electric chair.

gore nominated joe lieberman for vp. the big buzz about lieberman is that he's jewish, orthodox no less. that's all well & good, & i'd rather have a jewish vp than yet another wasp. what bothers me about lieberman is not his faith, it's that he's a censor. lieberman has repeatedly struck out against just about all mass media: tv, movies, music, etc. calling for labelling, reduction of material he considers offensive, & all the other flavors of prior restraint. it's obvious he was chosen as gore's running mate to help distance gore from the clinton sex scandal, but i'd rather have a hardcore whore in the white house than a censor. it's just enough to remind you, in case you forgot, that al gore's wife was at the head of the whole cd-stickering campaign back in the '80s.

since when is censorship part of the democratic party platform? historically the whole bookburning, wipe-my-ass-with-the-first-amendment schtick belonged to the republicans. the democrats are stealing their bit! one of their most famous bits, too! that's like trying to plagiarize "who's on first?". democrats are supposed to be about the aclu, freedom of speech, hippie love, performance art, & all that. this is just more evidence that the 2 major parties have become one. they should change their names to indicate that they're now the same party: republocrats or demublicans or something.

honestly, people in this country are prudes with a little catchphrase called "protecting our children" stuck up their asses. "protect our children from filth!" they say. "we don't know how to raise them, you should ban anything we don't want them involved with or aware of! make all entertainment bland & boring!" there is full nudity & profanity on standard broadcast channels in most of europe as well as canada (people in the u.s seem to think of canada as a backward neighbor, but they're far ahead of us on this issue). hell, even russia has nudity on tv. but kids in all those countries don't turn out to serial rapists or michael jacksons any more than our kids do (probably less, in fact). guess what folks: sex IS a family value. because without good old raunchy penises & vaginas & penetration & ejaculation there would be no families.

ballots like this are why nobody votes anymore. or more accurately, the fact that people are only aware of these 2 candidates are why nobody votes anymore. here's a rundown of everyone on the ballot, so that when you go to the polls & vote (& you will, or i'm coming to get you), you know who you should vote for.

republican: vote bush/cheney if you like the idea of being executed for a crime you didn't commit.

democrat: vote gore/lieberman if you hate artistic freedom.

libertarian: harry browne is the libertarian candidate for prez. he & vp hopeful art olivier will be on the ballot in all 50 states. vote for them if you want less government & more personal freedom.

green: ralph nader chose and environemtalist ojibwe indian woman named winona la duke as his running mate. vote for them if you want environmental reform & lots of programs to help the poor & working classes. the green party is like what the democrats are supposed to be. they're on the ballot in most states (of course, not indiana, at least not yet).

reform: don't even think about voting for pat robertson or that black chick he chose as his running mate. a black woman who's in favor of the confederate flag flying over south carolina? this should be an obvious no, & if you need me to give you a reason to vote against them then i'm curious how you stumbled across this sermon...

you probably noticed that the only 2 candidates i think are valid in this election are "third-party" candidates. but the only way they can win is if informed voters go to the polls & vote! the mantra "voting for a third-party is throwing your vote away" is a self-fulfilling prophecy! it's just propaganda put out by the dominant parties to remain in power. third-party candidates can win. we've even had third-party dark-horse presidents. james k polk was one. we need stronger third-parties to keep u.s politics alive!

please, i don't want to have to leave the country come next year...