why I am not an "anybody but Bush" kind of guy

This 2004 US Presidential election is being talked about by progressives as if it’s the election to be-all-end all. That’s not the case. It’s not the case because Kerry will not revolutionise the United States; it’s not the case because US citizens (and the rest of us, frankly) are still beholden to the same capitalist pro-patriarchy and imperialistic powers that they (we) always were; it’s not the case because George Bush has already won.

What!? He’s already won!? Yes. He’s won because the mindset of the world is one of complacency. No one in the United States rallied to Canada’s aid to stop the incoming threat of Republicans-north (aka: the new Conservative party); no one in Britain is throwing Blair out as leader of Labour to be replaced before the next election where the best option is re-voting in Blair to get progressive policies in place from the backbenching Labourites.

He already won because the complacency in the US public has left 50% of voters disenfranchised. He’s already won because (Insert Nation Here) Idol is more popular than politics which actually MATTER. He’s already won because the Democrats have to run Bush-lite on foreign policy, domestic policy, etc. Just to get a meagre amount of support. He’s already won because progressives are told “now is not the time” for the xth time to organise a true third party, or, GAWD forbid, an electoral system that allows *any* minor party to slip through the cracks. He’s already won because the rest of the world has continued to elect mirror images of Bush in their conservative leaders. He’s already won because the world will not change if (when) Kerry gets elected – 1000s of Iraqis will still die each year, 1000s of jobs will still be lost to overseas manufacturing agencies because of the outsourcing allowed by “free” trade policies implemented by, GUESS WHAT, Democrats. 1000s of tech jobs will still be outsourced to India, where the intellect and talent pool is just dripping with ready-to-work individuals.

Bush has already won because we’re still talking about him as if he has any credibility and as if he’s actually the person in charge of anything. When really, people, we know the truth. He’s not.

Bush has already won because people with true clear minds think voting for Nader in non-swing states is evil. Bush has already won because people with those same clear and progressive minds think voting for Nader in swing states is evil, even when they oppose war, oppose free trade policies that eliminate the basic notions of humanity we had once established as universal, and oppose the corporate agenda for global domination. (Agenda? Hm. Perhaps a better word would be “reality.”)

So, I don’t really care. Deep down, I wouldn’t mind if Kerry won instead of Bush, so we, like Naomi Klein articulated, can get off our high-horses and actually do some activism for once instead of trying to un-elect an unelected official, but really, Bush’s re-election might just add fuel to the fire that this global revolution so seriously needs. And likely, it won’t. It will mean the continuation of a consciousness of apathy and pathetic manifestations of citizenship that will lead to current civilisation’s dismantle. We’ve always remodeled. Perhaps in 2008, we’ll actually do some major repairs.

Vote your heart, my US citizen friends. I personally would vote for Nader.