It’s almost here! It’s almost over! For the love of all things holy let it end!

Not very many hours left. Praise whatever deity you worship, but tomorrow, America votes to elect the leader of the free world. Now my political beliefs are pretty common knowledge to all of my friends. And if the big banner at the top of the page doesn’t spell it out clearly enough, I’m voting for John Kerry. For some reason, that has come as a surprise to many of my friends. So, on this eve of the election, I think it’s about time for me to spell out my reasoning.

John Kerry is not George W. Bush.

It’s pretty much that simple. Save a Neanderthal or Hitler, I can’t think of many people who could have run that would have made me vote for “Dubya”. There are reasons for this, and I’m going to list five of them in a bit. But before I piss people off, understand that I agree with Jefferson: dissention is the truest form of patriotism.

And we have a group of men running for president that exemplify dissention.

Nader, the ultra-left wing consumer advocate is representing the Green Party. Peroutka, of whom many haven’t heard, appears on the ballots of many states as the Constitution Party candidate–complete with a platform that is as myopic as the racist views of many of his followers. There are others–but those are the two candidates who most accurately represent the two extremes. So if you don’t want to vote for Bush or Kerry, pick someone else. There are as many as 23 people running in some states. (Does anyone know if LaRouche qualified this year?)

So why not Bush?

1.) He can’t say Nuclear, America, or sylable. And I’m elitist enough to believe that the President of the United States should be able to speak coherently.

2.) Dick Cheney (and his heart condition) scares me. Haliburton scares me. And while I think that there is a more than fair chance the “Haliburtongate” scandal was and is a farcical myth, why take the chance, eh?

3.) He spent way too much time telling people what he was going to do rather than doing what he said he was going to do. Tax cuts not withstanding, he’s also lied about most of the things. He claims to be a conservative in favor of small government, yet he doubled the size of the Federal government and increased the deficit twelve-fold.

4.) Iraq. 1,300 soldiers dead in a war that he proclaimed “Mission Accomplished,” after telling Pat Robertson that there would be no casualties. (Sorry, Mr. President. I’ve listened to you tell me there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I’ve also listened to Pat Robertson tell me things. While he is tragically misguided religiously, I trust him more than I trust you. So don’t bother denying it.)

5.) On August 6, 2001, he was told about the possibility of a 9/11-style attack orchestrated by Osama bin Laden. And he did nothing. I’m not talking about the Michael Moore, hey-here’s-a-picture-of-a-file, “watch-this” thing. I’m referring specifically to Condi Rice’s testimony about the “vague” report given to the president that was titled “Osama bin Laden determined to strike within the United States.” He did nothing. The economy, national security, and social welfare of the nation suffered under his dereliction of duty. Would Kerry have done anything differently? Would Gore? I haven’t a clue. Probably not. But Bush was there and did nothing. The guilt is his.

I’m not going to tell you to go out and vote for John Kerry. But do go vote. Vote for someone. Anyone. Joni Mitchell said it best. It always seems to go that you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone. How would you like to wake up Wednesday and not have the right to vote? Go vote.