Political Ramblings
I've mentioned before that I'm a reluctant supporter of John Kerry, still somewhat fuming on his vote to invade Iraq. Nevertheless, now that the Republican attack machine is in full swing, I'm troubled by the hypocrisy of many of the attacks against Kerry, particularly the attacks against his character.

Personally I've never been too concerned with a politicians "character." I don't care if the guy is a son of a bitch in his personal life or not, as long as he votes on the issues the way I want him too.

I suppose it all depends on how we view the concept of representative democracy. Do we elect good and wise men to make our decisions for us (like the kings of yore), or do we elect people who will faithfully represent our views.

Some people take a different view and like to make character an issue. And I can respect this difference of opinion, but what I can't stand is inconsistency. I am reminded of this Chimes article I wrote during the 2000 election.

During the 1992 election and throughout his Presidency Clinton was vilified by the right for his youthful experimentation with marijuana and for avoiding service during the Vietnam War. During the 2000 election, Bush got a free pass for rumors of his own cocaine use, and for also avoiding Vietnam. I didn't know about the drunk driving conviction at the time I wrote the article, but that is also something that the right forgave very quickly. One can only imagine what AM radio and Newspaper columns would have been saying if Clinton had the same past.

Now with John Kerry, suddenly character attacks have become fair game again.

Of course I know this is all just politics as usually, but I think it's time the rest of us stopped playing along. Either character is important to these people, or it is not and they should stop wasting everybody's time.