Some of you have either commented over IM or by e-mail or in my comments sections about my constant derision of America and our current administration, and a good chunk of the feedback has disapproved of it. Let me start out by saying that I'm not pissed about that. I welcome other people's opinions, and if I expect you to let me freely rant here, then I also have to freely allow others to tell me they disapprove of what I'm saying. It takes at least two people to debate, and I love a good debate.

My ability to criticize this country and its administration is precisely why it's great to be an American. Free speech kicks ass. I fully take advantage of my ability to use it and I appreciate it to the fullest extent. While I may disagree with what some may say or some may think, I still recognize their right to say it. I can say that I think Howard Stern and Opie & Anthony are disgusting pigs and I can't understand why people would want to listen to them, but people apparently like them. Personally, if I were running my own radio station, I wouldn't let them within ten miles of it, but they still have the right to go on the air and people have the right to listen to them.

In terms of my views... yes, I'm partially an idealist. I see things and I realize that there's a better way of doing it and I'd really like for them to be done that way. However, I also realize that there's pretty much little to no chance that things will get better and they will just plod along in their usual fashion, so that makes me a cynic. It's a weird combination and it causes me to get into some rather interesting discussions. It also causes me to get angry at things beyond my control on occasion because I know they should be done differently yet they couldn't be.

However, someone doesn't automatically gain respect just by being a human being, and the office does not make the man. Clinton earned my respect on a professional level because he was a good president. Personally, the fact that he couldn't keep himself from trying to get his winky wacked was a big downfall for him and I disapprove of him for that. But I think that overall, he did a good job. However, I think that George W. is tearing this country asunder and there's a decent chance that he may get us embroiled in something very dangerous before his term is up. He constantly displays a lack of brainpower and lack of tact and a moral sneering that I find repulsive. He hasn't earned my respect.