Even as recent as this week, I found myself sitting side by side with the enemy. A perfectly nice girl, intelligent by all indications, revealed to me that she intended to vote for George Bush. I was absolutely dumbfounded. She was young, a friend of my sister’s.

What in the world does an 18 year old girl think that George Bush is going to do for her? What explanations has she been offered that justified the lies and answered the questions that should be plaguing every American voter? Does she have the answers?

If I asked, could she tell me why George Bush made specific remarks in multiple speeches including the State of the Union that he knew to be false? Statements that George Tenet’s CIA had previously requested be removed from the address, but were reinserted by the office of the President?

Could this 18 year old girl give me a satisfactory reason that our President, his administration, and indeed every branch of our governing body was taken entirely by surprise when the populace of an invaded country rose up against the occupying force? Should this really have been a surprise? Should so many have died because our troops were not furnished with enough body and vehicular armor? Does this girl know how many troops died when their non-armored vehicles were attacked riding through a hot zone?

Maybe she’s simply voting Republican because her daddy’s a republican and her daddy’s daddy is a republican. She does, after all, hail from Arizona. Maybe this is another example of partisan politics making the decision for the voter. Maybe this is another argument against a polarized bipartisan electorate. Maybe it’s another argument against giving the vote to anyone who can pull a lever. I’m thinking you should have to take an aptitude test before you’re allowed to vote. At least a current events test. If you are ignorant of the world around you or unable to understand the issues, perhaps your vote should not count like mine.

This is all starting to sound very East German. This girl had no problem finishing a sentence. She had no problem following the conversation. She even had the tact and the sense to steer the conversation away from politics, knowing it would surely be a hot button.

So why does a young, intelligent girl vote for Bush?
God.

This girl is religious and believes that George Bush, regardless of anything else, will do his best to follow the word of the lord. In the year 2004, perfectly intelligent college students can still be swayed to vote for the most obvious American villain in a century because he quote the bible — even if he gets the quote wrong. When god is involved, logic is not. There’s no sense arguing. God is a loophole. An excuse. God is the reason people are allowed to do violent, dishonest and illogical things, and perpetrate crimes against their friends, peers, or populations at large. People in the middle of the country still smoke, still use cod liver oil, and still believe in god in a very literal sense. These are the people who will be voting for a warmonger in November, and this is the reason I’m angry.