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Could Bush actually be the lesser evil?
This question is addressed by John Pilger in his newest article in Dissident Voice." Most of the US's recent wars were launched by Democratic presidents. Why expect better of Kerry? The debate between US liberals and conservatives is a fake; Bush may be the lesser evil.
On May 6, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution which, in effect, authorized a “pre-emptive” attack on Iran. The vote was 376-3. Undeterred by the accelerating disaster in Iraq, Republicans and Democrats, wrote one commentator, “once again joined hands to assert the responsibilities of American power.”
The joining of hands across America's illusory political divide has a long history. The native Americans were slaughtered, the Philippines laid to waste and Cuba and much of Latin America brought to heel with “bipartisan” backing.
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These days, terrorism having replaced the red menace, another fake debate is under way. This is lesser evilism. Although few liberal-minded voters seem to have illusions about John Kerry, their need to get rid of the “rogue” Bush administration is all-consuming. Representing them in Britain, the Guardian says that the coming presidential election is “exceptional”. “Mr. Kerry's flaws and limitations are evident,” says the paper, “but they are put in the shade by the neoconservative agenda and catastrophic war-making of Mr. Bush. This is an election in which almost the whole world will breathe a sigh of relief if the incumbent is defeated.”
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The multilateralism or “muscular internationalism” that Kerry offers in contrast to Bush's unilateralism is seen as hopeful by the terminally naive; in truth, it beckons even greater dangers. Having given the American elite its greatest disaster since Vietnam, writes the historian Gabriel Kolko, Bush “is much more likely to continue the destruction of the alliance system that is so crucial to American power. One does not have to believe the worse the better, but we have to consider candidly the foreign policy consequences of a renewal of Bush's mandate . . . As dangerous as it is, Bush's re-election may be a lesser evil.” With NATO back in train under President Kerry, and the French and Germans compliant, American ambitions will proceed without the Napoleonic hindrances of the Bush gang.
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All good points... let no one ever tell you that I don't consider all sides of an issue. The thing is, no matter what, it would be impossible for me to vote for Bush. At least I can tell myself that if I vote for Kerry, something will change. It may end up being for the worse, but at least I TRIED to change things.
The obvious solution is to not vote for either. I could either not vote (which I also could't bear to do) or vote for a third-party candidate like Nader. I'd be voting my consciense if I voted for Nader, but not with my brain. A third-party candidate in the Presidential office at this point in history would border on the insane. Not only would he never win, but if Hell did freeze over, he would be blocked by every other branch of government, and nothing would get done.
If we were in a situation where I liked the way things were going, this would be great. It would slow down or stop the legislative process, and things would be stuck in perpetual goodness until the next election. However, right now almost everything needs to change, so a third-party candidate is a pointless and awful decision.
Therefore, it comes down to Bush vs. Kerry. I can't vote for Bush, no matter how crappy I think Kerry would be. Besides, it's quite possible that Kerry will provide some necessary help. I do think that he'll help mend a few fences, and his domestic policies are certainly more well-meaning (albeit probably unhelpful). The unfortunate truth is that on all the issues that REALLY matter in my mind and the minds of many others, Bush and Kerry aren't very different. All the issues where Kerry could really change things as the President, he doesn't want to change. It's a real dilemma, America.
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