Well, I mailed off my absentee ballot yesterday. Although I submitted an absentee application way back in March, for some reason the ballot was inexplicably sent to my parents’ house in California, and so they had to forward it to me here. Hopefully it will arrive at the county registrar’s office in time.

While I’m not the type to push my political beliefs on others, I thought I would take a moment to bring attention to a perspective that might not be readily apparent to those living in America:

My fellow Americans, despite what the Bush administration and Fox News would have you believe, THE REST OF THE WORLD FUCKING HATES US RIGHT NOW.

Since coming to Japan in September of 2001, I have had the chance to meet people hailing from countries all around the globe, and the one thing that has united them despite their diverse origins has been their mutual hatred of George W. Bush and his cronies. I can’t tell you the number of times that, upon revealing that I am American, I have been immediately subjected to rants and tirades against the U.S. government. Uncouth, yes, but the fact is that America’s actions affect not just the American people, but the whole of the world as well. Thankfully, I don’t live in a country where I am at risk of getting my head hacked off simply because of the passport I carry, but sadly not everyone can say the same.

I can only imagine how some people might respond to criticism from people in other countries: “Who gives a flyin’ howdy-do about what some know-nothin’ commy furriners think about us? We’re the greatest country on God’s green earth and the rest of the world can just kiss our fat asses! Ha ha ha! U-S-A! U-S-A!”

I would like to think that I’m exaggerating, but sadly it appears that in fact many people share this opinion.

Obviously, I know that nothing I say on this dinky little speck on the interweb is going to influence the way anyone will vote next month [You are going to vote, right? Riiight?], however I hope you’ll think long and hard about how the outcome of this election will affect not only the American public, but the rest of the world as well. Has the War on Terror ™ really been a smashing success? Is the world a safer place than it was four years ago? What does “stay the course” actually mean, considering the “course” thus far has been nothing but bumbling, ill-conceived operations that have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of Iraqi civilians?

I’ve given a lot of thought to these questions and others over the past several months, and I hope everyone else has as well. We are at a critical point in history at this moment. . . so let’s try not to screw things up even worse, shall we?

Okay, it’s time for me to crawl back under my rock now. Happy voting!

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Yes, today’s title was a stupid crack at the Japanese L/R problem, but after being asked countless times whether I’m going to vote for “Busshu” or “Kelly,” I just couldn’t resist.