I've incurred a little American ire, this weekend. Unmitigated hyperbole, gross generalisation, stereotyping, over-zealous neo-conservatism, pedantic and pathetic... hm, maybe more than a little.

My first thought is that sarcasm has become my primary mode of communication. I'm not sure if this is true or not, but it may be, especially when the topic involves religion or politics. I first became aware of my overuse of sarcasm back when I was writing about SWG, because it was all I had left.

So I've been trying to come up with something constructive, and what I've come up with is: the West is where you are most likely to be able to live your life without interference. Boil it all down, and that's pretty much what everyone wants, regardless of the details. North America, England, most of western Europe... best place to try.

In that regard, America has been going downhill. Bush's first election was, to say the least, a questionable victory. And then after those first four years, he get re-elected. Why? "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't" seemed to be the popular theory. I can't help but think this is exceedingly sad. Meanwhile, Bush continues to make things worse for everyone.

I don't vote. Not because I'm out of the country. Not because I'm lazy (though I admit I am). I don't vote because I don't like any of the candidates. I'm not going to vote for anyone I don't like. If my only choices are devils, why the hell would I want to vote for any of them?

I should probably rattle off a list of what I would consider offensive about the Bush administration, but my memory sucks, my information is incomplete and I'd rather muck about having a good time than research stuff that would only depress me. So maybe I shouldn't voice my opinion on the subject of religion or politics in a public forum. Apparently I'll only demonstrate how utterly stupid and pointless I am.

...Fuck that. I don't care what other people think, and I'm not gonna hash out details with people who are bound to disagree with me regardless. I'm not trying to win people over to my point of view. I'm not a fucking politician.

We'll see if the recent reshuffling of American government will actually improve anything. If it doesn't, I stand by my opinion that assassination or revolution are the only remaining means to get Bush out of the big chair before he finishes turning America into the opposite of what it was a century ago, or starts WW3; whichever comes first.

Edited to add: "If the President wants to add to this mission, he is going to have to justify it." Is this... could it be... yes, I think this is... hope! I'm feeling hope!!