this imploding heart

U.S. troops sexually abused and murdered prisoners in Iraq.

Ninety-five percent of felony convictions in the United States occur without a trial. Ninety-one percent are plea bargained, 4% are bench convictions.

Less than half of federal prison inmates are violent offenders. Approximately 20% of inmates are non-violent drug offenders (like pretty much everybody we know).

Due to underreporting, precise statistics are difficult, but prison rape occurs in the United States at a rate of approximately 300,000 incidents per year.

HIV infection in the prison population runs around 2% (reported), which is approximately 5 times higher than in the general population.

The state of Illinois recently released half of its death row population in light of DNA evidence that proved they were innocent.

Conclusion: the United States federal government is a frequent accessory to rape and murder.

How would that situation best be remedied: by invading Washington DC with tanks and troops, bombing it, slaughtering the civilian population, and leaving the states to fend for themselves while a foreign power decides what form the new federal government should take? Or should we deal with the situation through legislation, education, and reallocation of funding?

It might be a little confrontational, but it's worth a try.

But none of that is going to change if he votes for Kerry. I need a Bush Sucks For Fundamental Reasons that Kerry Doesnt Suck For response.

Okay, howzabout this: Kerry volunteered for hazardous duty in Vietnam. He may have protested the war afterwards, but he earned the right to do so (unlike most stereotypical hippies) by putting his ass on the line. Not only does this give him an actual working knowledge of combat (making him less likely to do stupid shit like, oh I dunno, not commit enough troops to keep the peace after an invasion,) but some would say it gives him the moral authority to ask others to lay down their lives that a draft-dodging alchoholic country-club party animal might lack.

This is essentially a bullshit "character" point, but your dad seems to vote that way, so it may be worth a shot. Throw in the fact that Bush has supported legislation to cut combat pay and veterans benefits while you're at it.

Or you could point out the example of Saudi Arabia, which tortures citizens and executes political opponents and yet enjoys a long history of friendly relations with the U.S. and with the Bush family in particular. And which had a direct link to Al Queda. And which, strangely enough, we did NOT invade.

Or you could point out that either president is going to have to continue a war in Iraq, so that issue is settled, and the REAL issue is domestic policies, and on that front Mr. Countryclub McDrunkypants (there's the character thing again) is screwing working guys like your dad. Any chance your parents might need Medicare or Social Security? How do they feel about Richie Rich's plan to play the stock market with the Social Security fund? Or the "improvements" in Medicare that raise the co-payment for prescription drugs?

Does he know that Dick Cheney and all his rich Halliburton and Enron buddies take the millions they've saved in the Bush Tax cuts and roll around in stacks of dirty bills like hogs in a waller? Speaking of Enron, does he know that the biggest contrbutors to the Bush 2000 campaign (if you said Enron, you're correct!) took all that money they stole from their employees' pensions and used it to pay high-priced lawyers to keep them out of jail? And hookers? Underage Ukrainian hookers?

Oh, okay.

Kerry served in Vietnam while Bush used wealth and family connections to get out of doing so. Bush used that same wealth and those same family connections to become governor of Texas. He talks a good game on the Nascar thing, but really he's just a rich kid (and a stupid one at that) who's gotten ever opportunity he's ever had because of nepotism and unethical influence.

Kerry plans to correct the deficit by rolling back tax cuts to the wealthy. This will strengthen the dollar and stabilize employment and income levels for poor and middle class people, resulting in a net increase in real wages (how much money you're making after it's been adjusted for inflation).

John Kerry has committed to maintaining America's pre-emptive prerogative abroad (which I personally don't agree with, but your dad will go for it), and to hunting down and killing terrorists wherever they are. In that respect, his agenda is similar to George W. Bush's. The difference between them from a foreign policy perspective is that Kerry is a better statesman, and will be able to encourage more non-U.S. participation. Please note to your father that participation is not the same thing as "giving France and Germany a veto". Kerry has explicitly stated that he will not do that. The advantages to broader participation is that it is better for our economy because we'll pay less of the cost of future interventions. It is also better for our military goals: even if one strong man can lift a heavy object by himself, the object will be more stable if it is lifted from all sides by many hands.

The Bush presidency has been terrible for regular Americans: the three and a half years he's been in office have seen the longest and deepest sustained job loss since the Great Depression. Period.

Under George W. Bush the government has gotten bigger, its powers to spy on Americans have gotten stronger, the rich have gotten richer, and the poor have gotten poorer. The Department of Homeland Security is the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States. The reduction in federal tax revenues has been deferred to essential services at the state level, forcing states to enact higher sales taxes, vehicle excise taxes, property taxes, gas taxes, etc in order to cover the shortfall for roads, schools, police, and fire departments. Bush's tax cuts have all been a hat trick: robbing Peter to pay Paul. He's made the federal government look better by turning state government into the bad guy.

Also, it would be shocking and deeply troubling to learn that George W. Bush has sex with monkeys.

how about:

#1 What causes terrorism?

#2 What is GWB doing to confront these causes at their TRUE root source?

#3 Do you think that GWB takes into account that collateral deaths from US mil. activity breeds terrorism? the Terrorist Hydra if you will

#4 by what metric (NOTE: Actual events, *NOT* conceptual policy) is the world actually safer?

#5 what is leadership? When someone in the Bush admin screws up and people die, or it costs us 10's of billions, does he show leadership and actually FIRE these people that are doing the screwing?

Oh my! My mom is the same way. The only difference is that she won't explain to me *why* she likes Bush so much. She just sniffs whenever Kerry's name is mentioned and tries to make little 'Democrats suck' remarks when she's feeling saucy. So there's just no debating with her.

Of course, I've also explained to her numerous times that I'm not a Democrat, but apparently if you're anti-Bush to her you're a Democrat. It's lose, lose.

Dude, you get smart comments on your site. Mine are all, Lloyd, see you around, maybe.

dear sonya, i think i might be in love with you.

yep, pretty sure.

Ritzville!

I'm in love with sonya also, Amy - welcome to the club! Great commenting going on here... very educational, for an undecided voter....