Note to Republicans: Dump This Loser

Posted on January 21, 2004    Posted by John Scalzi

Regarding the State of the Union Address: We all know why Democrats won’t vote for Bush. But let me ask the Republicans: Why on earth would you vote for a guy who wants to expand the size of the federal government, increase deficit government spending, curtail personal liberties, bring the government into your homes and churches and then stick your children with the bill? With the exception of Bush’s mania for lower taxes, is there anything about the man that is in the least bit Republican? Or to put it in another way: If anyone but Bush were planning to expand the size of the federal government, increase deficit government spending, curtail personal liberties, bring the government into your homes and churches and then stick your children with the bill, would you vote for him?

As far as I can see, there are exactly two groups of people to whom Dubya’s government should have appeal:

1. Childless hedonists, who need not worry about the consequences.
2. Those expecting the Rapture Right Soon Now, for much the same reason.

Everyone else should be a little twitchy about what this man has in store. Unlike some, I don’t think this is the far right’s attempt for eternal rule, because the agenda is simply too clueless for that. People who are planning for eternal rule would, I think, at least try to make a token attempt to leave something worth ruling. This government is merely the functional equivalent of a pampered five-year-old let loose in a candy shop, trying to gorge itself with as many sweets as possible before it coats the merchandise in a spray of sick, collapses into a hyperglycemic slump and has to be dragged off the premises by a responsible adult.

I don’t think anyone should vote for this guy, especially Republicans, for whom George Bush stands as a testament to how your values have been betrayed in exchange for mere power. Look, Republicans, I’m not even asking you to vote for a Democrat — that’s really pushing it. Just don’t vote for Bush. Either find yourself a nice third party candidate you can see your way to surprising with 270 electoral votes, or just whistle past the voting booth come November. Or for God’s sake get someone out there who isn’t so clearly bent on salting the earth for the next several administrations, whomever they may be, and any American who plans on existing in this country beyond 2008. This guy is simply toxic.