Well. The Bush people are now complaining to the FEC (Federal Election Commission) that Kerry’s campaign is engaged in criminal behavior because many independent groups and individuals would like to see Kerry replace Bush as President — and are saying so on TV and in other media. The crime (in the Bush people’s eyes) is that some of these groups and individuals may be in communication with Kerry campaign staffers. Not me! I would like to state for the record that I am not in contact with anyone on Kerry’s campaign staff in any way, but that as an individual American I would rather see Kerry become President than let Bush stay in office for another four years.

Note that I posted this statement on a public Web site. Under the Bush definition this probably makes it an ad for Kerry, although if I were backing Bush I’m sure the Bush campaign would consider it a citizen endorsement, not an ad.

I do not wholeheartedly support Kerry. I just think he’d be a better president than Bush. My real sadness is that Colin Powell decided he didn’t want to be president. In my opinion, he’s the most qualified nationally-known person for the job. But I also respect his decision; the man has spent his entire adult life in service to the country, and we can’t ask him to do more than he already has. At least, as Secretary of State, he’s bringing a little foreign policy sanity to the Bush people, and Lord knows they need it.

“Service to the country”

This seems like such an old-fashioned idea these days. I look at Bush and crew, and as near as I can tell they want to be in office primarily to play ego games, get rich(er) or help their largest campaign donors make money. In other words, their reasons for wanting power are almost entirely self-serving. I get no sense that they have any desire to work for the common good or improve all Americans’ lot in life.

I still believe in the old Republican ideals of probity, service, and generally butting out of citizens’ lives. I’ve voted for at least as many Republicans as Democrats in my life, and have been a registered Republican for at least as much of my adult life as I’ve been a registered Democrat. But the Republican Party has moved far away from what it once stood for. It is now run by meddlers and self-aggrandizers. It is no longer the party whose candidates were more often than not local attorneys with stable practices and good community reputations who decided it was time to give something back to the community by running for office.

Of course, attorneys with stable practices and good community reputations have become damn near as obsolete as the idea of public service being a successful person’s duty. The legal profession seems to be dominated by whores and pimps, although they still want the respect due to professionals who routinely put clients’ good ahead of their own. But that’s another observation for another day.

A qualified endorsement for Kerry

No one has paid me to say I prefer Kerry over Bush. I don’t expect a lucrative job in a Kerry administration if such a thing becomes reality. And I don’t expect the country to suddenly become wonderful if Kerry wins or to descend totally into a mire of evil if Bush stays in office. Kerry’s the best opposition we have right now, so we might as well get behind him. Maybe he’ll win, maybe he won’t. We’ll find out in November.

Our country has survived bad leaders before. It will survive Bush. We Americans are a resilient people. We’re often spoiled and want more than we should as individuals, but in the end, when things get rough, we pull together and pull through.

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