giddyiguana

Yeah, I know. No updates since July. Well, get used to it: I'm officially a USC-Upstate student now. No, really! The fees are paid, the classes are signed up for...all I've got to do now is show up and move into my broom closet...er, 'multipurpose room.' It happens when you wait until the last possible minute to sign up for everything: now there's a waiting list for on-campus housing for men, so until/unless someone drops out or doesn't show up, I'm stuck in "temporary housing".

Like I care. I'M BACK IN SCHOOL!

The other effect of waiting until the last possible minute is you have to pick from whatever classes are left. So, this semester I'm taking Parasitology, International Organizations, Public Speaking, and Computer Technology. (Thirteen credit-hours total.) So if you ever need, I don't know, someone to give a Powerpoint presentation in front of the UN about tapeworms, I'm your man.

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In other news...(you didn't think I could do an entire update without commenting on politics, did you?)

I'm so mad at John Kerry right now I can't see straight. Did he really say that, even if he HAD known that our entire case for invading Iraq was based on "faulty intelligence" (read: lies), he STILL would've voted in favor of the war? Johnny boy, how could you? I honestly believed you were different; somehow better than the current batch of liars and chicken hawks in the White House. So now we have two pro-war Yale-graduate Bonesmen candidates vying for the Presidency. Will someone please explain to me what's the difference?

I'm beginning to think that my friends over at The Committee for a Unified Independent Party are right. The Democratic Party really is taking advantage of independents and progressives like myself. Sure, they'll pay us lip service during the primaries to convince us that they're somehow different from the ruling party to get us onboard their campaigns, but when the general elections roll around....we inevitably wind up having the same tired old 'Republican-lite' bullshit crammed down our throats.

No wonder they're so scared of Ralph Nader. At least Ralph gives us a real choice. Love him or hate him...at least he brings something DIFFERENT to the table. Keep it up, Johnny Boy, and you'll not only lose the election, but you'll drive the last of us 'true believers' out of your party entirely and render the Democratic Party completely irrelevant. (Though it could be argued that y'all have been headed that direction for years.)

I also find it deplorable that the Democrats are so actively fighting to restrict our freedom of choice. I thought the Democratic Party WAS the "Party of Choice!" Look, if you want to win over the progressives and independents who find the Nader campaign so attractive, the way to do it is NOT by fighting to keep another candidate off the ballot. Here's a revolutionary idea: have you tried LISTENING? They're choosing Nader over Kerry because of the ISSUES. They don't WANT "Bush-lite." They want a real candidate with real plans and real vision. They want to vote for a DIFFERENCE, and it'd behoove you to sit up and take notice.

I'll admit, I'm tempted....I'm really tempted. It likely won't happen this election, though. I'll probably get in the voting booth this November and be suddenly overwhelmed by that Party-instilled nightmare about four more years of Bush and suffer the knee-jerk reaction of pushing the Kerry button, but still...at the very least, I'm having serious second thoughts about putting that "Kerry-Edwards" bumper sticker on the back of my car.