A Modest Proposal
John Chuckman
September 12, 2004
It would be nice to have a moratorium on discussing the American election, at least until something happens that is
worth discussing. Just about everyone, except the candidates, understands that Vietnam - ugly scar on America's
conscience that it is - should not be the central subject of the current campaign. Actually, the twisted, degrading
treatment Vietnam is receiving should not be the central subject of any discussion taking place outside the walls of a
psychiatric hospital.
A moratorium, however, is not the proposal of my title, but it's a reasonable starting point. America appears firmly
committed to reelecting President Crackhead, so I don't see a lot of point in flogging a dead horse like Kerry. He does
strikingly resemble a dead horse, or at least a near-dead one, an old dobbin with no sparkle left in his eye, no prance
in his step, and no swish in his tail.
It is beyond rational explanation why the Democrats have wasted tens of millions running dobbin against an opponent
whose sole merit was his determination to finish a story about goats after planes struck the World Trade Center. Except
for that single shining moment of holding a steady course, Bush is an opponent who possesses every shortcoming and
vulnerability it is possible to imagine - an inarticulate dope who has spent four years running the United States into
the ground and reviving anti-Americanism throughout the world. Can anyone now have the slightest doubt about the
overwhelming prevalence of insanity in the country?
There is really only one way I can see of injecting some excitement and interest, not to mention purpose, into the
election, short of Bush's miraculously, peacefully passing to his reward, succumbing finally to the cumulative effects
of all those years abusing drugs and every human being who crossed his path with less family money than he had. My
proposal is for Kerry to step down as the Democrats' candidate. Here is a chance for Kerry to display some genuine
heroism.
It would be a desperate step, but considering the fact that Kerry has no chance of being elected, it would at least
provide a statement of principle, something Kerry, to date, has not managed to utter. The Democrats would be left in the
lurch, but maybe, just maybe, they could quickly name someone with some purpose and principles to carry on, although it
is easy to forget there seem to be remarkably few of those left in America. The worst that could happen is what is now
virtually set to happen, Bush, the boy psychopath who relished watching frogs being ripped apart, being returned to
office for four more years of watching people being ripped apart.
ENDS