Thursday, October 21, 2004

bad feelings

I've been trolling the blogoshere a little and it's scary.
Right up I should say I think Kerry likely to be a fine president and Bush a scary unthinking man. I'm a new-yorker reading atheist and social democrat who is probably by the standards of the US pretty far to the left of centre. (Of course I think I'm the epitome of sweet moderation and reasonable and considered opinions.)
Both of them have been stretching the truth- ok, lying- on the campaign trail; I hope it's not just my bias that finds the lies of Bush go deeper and to be far more sinister.
That aside, I generally find the lefty/democratic bloggers to be scathing and sarcastic about Bush, but generally more sceptical and thoughtful about politics, the world and -well, reality.
The right-wing blogs are terrifying.
First of all, they've swallowed the "Swift Boat Liars for Bush" character assassination of Kerry hook line and sinker. They regularly quote these lies as if they were incontrovertable, when they've very largely been completely and systematically debunked. So to them, Kerry is a lying, self-serving, opportunistic creep, intent on stealing their money and using it to fund abortion- or perhaps just giving it all to Osama.
And they use the most intemperate hate-language I've encountered on the web.
Second, they live in a world I hardly recognise, where anyone outside the USA is a semi-human, and hardly counts; where tax cuts are automatically good, deficits are something the democrats run, and God is indubitably on their foul-mouthed side.
Scary. Complete conviction mostly based on complete fiction.
If Bush wins, it's a tragedy for humanity (and most other living species).
But if America votes him back in, in some ways I've come to think maybe we've have got the President we deserve.
A right-wing corporate lacky, religious crank of an arrogant, incurious blinkered self-righteous puff-bag.
Did I say the right-wing bloggers use intemperate hateful language?


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