When I’m walking around town, or riding my bike, I notice that I have a certain amount of resentment towards all those idiots driving in their cars. When I’m driving my car, I feel the same resentment towards all those pedestrian and bicycling jerks who are getting in my way. Prior to 9/11, I was a far left liberal who felt that all those on the conservative side of things were greedy, unfeeling, ignorant bastards. Now that I am a post 9/11 conservative, the liberals all look like delusional morons. I used to think that the mainstream media were biased against liberals. Now I think the opposite. I thought I was right then. I think that I’m right now. I am a walking (or driving) microcosm of the political polarization in America that the pundits are all talking about. No matter which side I’m on, the other side looks like a bunch of wackos.
Pre-9/11 I lived in a left-wing echo chamber. Post-9/11, I still do. My friends and relatives are still my friends and relatives. They all think I’ve lost my mind. They simply cannot comprehend how anyone could even consider voting for George Bush. My lifestyle hasn’t changed. I dress, eat, drink, smoke, listen to music, like a lefty, but my political views have taken a hard turn to the right. George Bush is the kinda guy I would never have known or hung out with. Kerry, on the other hand, is right up my alley, cultured, intellectual, transnational, a veteran of the 60’s anti-war movement. I’d like to vote for him. I’d like to have a president who wanted to do something about the millions of citizens who have no health insurance. I wish the president had some vision about alternative sources of energy. I’d like to see the government do something about the cost of higher education. I think the proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage is despicable.
So I would love to vote for John Kerry, but I can’t. Why? Because we’re in the middle of a war for our survival, for the survival of Western civilization itself, a war that is going to continue for a long time to come. And John Kerry can’t even bring himself to say the word ‘war’. He has nothing to say about the single most important issue, not just of this election, but of the century. It’s hard to know what Kerry really believes. You certainly can’t figure it out by listening to his speeches. But I have the definite feeling that he doesn’t really think that the war is such a big deal. Most of my friends and relatives would agree with that assessment. They are wrong, and so is Kerry. So I’m voting for George W. Bush. I wonder how many other people there are out there like me?