May 26, 2004 -- CITIZINE's Oleo W. DiNero responds to a recent article on the Punk Voter campaign and calls on Americans to cast their votes for Democrat John Kerry this November.

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Dear Thom,

I just got the new CITIZINES in the mail a few days ago. It is looking like a damn fine magazine, even if the articles that appear in it are sort of dated. I guess you'll be churning future issues out in a more timely manner. Still, I also noticed the ads. Way to go, pal. You're almost there with this thing.

I'll try to get you new Asstrology by the end of the week (Friday). Until then I will be playing with matches, taking long walks around my block, and saving time at intersections by only looking in one direction before I cross.

Speaking of only looking in one direction, in the article you penned for CITIZINE issue no. 5, "It's Official: Voting Bush is Not Punk", you mention in one section that "if Kerry becomes the establishment 'opposition' to Bush, will Punk Voter simply throw its weight behind this 'Bush-Lite' candidate?"

Alright, are you serious here? Or are you writing from a "punk" point of view in viewing all elitist contenders of a Presidential Election as the "establishment"? Because Kerry is very different from Bush, and Kerry would be a better president.

I mean, don't get me wrong, Kerry has his problems too. But so far he has mainly been attacked for his flip-flopping on major issues like war. Personally, I think it's a good thing that he thinks about being a soldier, about what it means to die for your country when your country doesn't need it, about voting for war and then realizing that maybe key members of Bush's administration were spewing false information about weapons of mass destruction and that the Iraqi threat to the world, to the United States, to New York, to these brown balls resting innocently between my legs, is maybe not as threatening as it seems.

The real solution is: better foreign relations now, fewer airplanes flying into buildings tomorrow. This war is worse than two WTC attacks combined. Well, maybe not two. Anyway, then I have a problem with the next paragraph:

Such little difference between the two leading candidates makes the 2004 presidential election an excellent opportunity for populist third and fourth parties to increase their presence, and for Punk Voter to exercise its might behind an independent, Green Party, or libertarian candidate who offered a true policy alternative to the Bush Administration's warmongering agenda.

Do not kid yourself or the impressionable punk voters out there. Any vote that does not go to Kerry is a vote for Bush. The way I see it, we, the common citizens of America, can keep Bush and his awesome administration in office through any one of these ways:

1. Not registering to vote.

2. Registering to vote but not actually voting.

3. Not voting for Kerry (this includes voting for ANY and ALL third party candidates). Now is the time for regime change, not "Let's see what happens. It could be fun."

4. Dying before election day.

5. Voting for Bush.

In a recent article I read in the Village Voice, a free paper here in New York City, there was a great article written about Nader playing the "spoiler" for Bush and his administration of cheering Laker fans in his most recent election victory(?) against Gore.

The article points out admissions by Nader himself that what he really wished for, more than being President of the United States, was not world peace, or to find true love, or even for more wishes. What Nader wanted more than anything was for anybody but Gore to be the president.

He bamboozled us all with his "tweedledum and tweedle dee" description of our two party system. At the time, I was in college, not thinking very hard, and taking for granted the eight relatively peaceful years afforded to us by the Clinton administration, aside from Monica Lewinsky. Then again, the only blood spilled from that little scandal was Bill's, and so far a 'little head under the desk from an intern' has not been responsible for increasing hostility towards the U.S. from all over the world, rising gas prices, and most importantly, dead soldiers, Americans, human beings, that didn't have to die at all.

I didn't know anything about politics (less than now) and I voted for the Green Party. Why not? Gore is a robot. Bush is a king among fools who champions the voices of Ignorance, of Lunacy, and Christians All Over the World in America. Nader is the guy in the corner, smiling like he knows something, looking like he could use a vote, a hug, maybe even a few joints. It's easier to see how I could vote for this guy between 'Dum and 'Dee' when it's Bill Clinton's ass in the big chair.

But that ass has been replaced by the narrow minded one of George W. Bush, Jr. It's George spinning around going "Wheeeee!" as his administration turns America into the Eagle-colored War Machine with Mirrored Sunglasses On. It's George adding things to the Constitution in crayon as his administrators give tax breaks to the rich, a feat proven succesful by the Reagan administration. Remember the trickle down theory? Remember Reagan was a (puppet) actor? Remember the rich stayed rich and the poor got even poorer? I remember. My parents remember. It wasn't loose change from millions trickling down to us through the holes in the roof.

It was "The Emperor's New Clothes," only replacing the word 'clothes' with 'money', and instead of the emperor being naked it's the common rabble, the poor, anyone unfortunate enough to be setting their alarms tonight for 7:30 A.M. or earlier, that are wandering the streets without any money.

And that's what the war is really about. Money. Trickle down doesn't work. The National Treasury is just about gone. Our debt is insane, insane, insane, although it does make me feel better about the money I personally owe. America won't miss those five bucks she spotted me at that strip bar in Mexico. But back to Nader and third party candidates:

Anyone voting for Bush is throwing his vote away. Anyone voting for Nader or any other third party or ideology, is throwing his vote away and may be even dumb enough to warrant a blunt projectile to the face. If Punk Voter really wants to make their voices heard and their votes count, then they should scream at the top of their lungs:

1. Vote for Kerry.*

I intend to vote for the second time in my life, now that I understand not just what it counts for, but what it counts against. In protest of the current administration and of Bush's policies, I am voting for Kerry.

P.S. I didn't mean to sound all "preachy" and "confused" and possibly "insane." I just think that you have a wonderful magazine that you are in charge of and that there are certain responsibilities you have concerning your readers. It would be a mistake to inform people that this is the year a third party candidate could beat Bush, even if it is dialogue from a rockin' out political event like Punk Vote. Sometimes (by just a little tiny bit), now is not the time.

With all due respect for a friend who said "fuck it" in Austin, moved to Los Angeles, and started a goddamn magazine from nothing,

Oleo W. DiNero

*except in Florida

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