We are less than one week from Election Day. Aside from my deadline to read Plan of Attack, it is also the date we will elect the next president.

Don't let the naysayers fool you: this is possibly the most important election of our lives, and your vote does count. George Bush won Florida by a little more than 500 votes in 2000; that is possibly fewer than the number of people in your neighborhood. The gap seems even smaller when you consider that Bush received 50,456,002 total votes. Get out there, because if you don't vote then you don't have any right to bitch and moan about the direction our country begins to head in January 2005.

And let's be clear: we're looking at a fork in the road. This country will head in two very different directions depending on who wins on November 2. Bush is committed to destroying terrorism all over the world, whether we go it alone or not. And due to the vastly underreported Oil-for-Food scandal, that is the way it's going to be. OF COURSE the UN is going to stand against us with regards to Iraq - they were practically on Saddam's payroll (read those articles for a background). But even if that hadn't been the case, do we honestly believe that foreign leaders would to jump to their feet when Kerry gets elected to support the "wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

And that is what counts -- homeland security. Kerry has historically bailed when it comes to our protection (Gulf, Vietnam, etc). I wish I could believe that he would change his ways if elected, but the risks are too great for that. Like it or not, domestic issues like gay marriage, taxes, and stem cell research have to take a back seat right now. What good is it to talk about space policy if half of the nation is obliterated? We have to worry about protecting ourselves first and foremost.

Now that I am off my soapbox, I have one final thing to say. Though I care for whom you vote, I am certainly much more concerned that you actually do vote. Citizenship hinges on whether or not you participate in the process. Like I said before, if you abstain then you have no right to complain about how things go later on.

It really isn't a difficult task, especially if you simply pick a single issue and decide based on that. But please, inform yourself. I don't really want to encourage you to read the platforms of the various candidates, because it probably won't help you very much. But it's better than nothing. Just do a little research and make an informed decision. Don't base your vote on what your friends or family are doing; only what your mind tells you.

Here are some sources that may help you out:
George Bush
John Kerry
Michael Badnarik (Libertarian)
Ralph Nader