Elonka wrote:
] ] When he [Osama Bin Laden] said, 'Every
] ] state will be determining its own security, and will be
] ] responsible for its choice,' it means that any U.S. state
] ] that will choose to vote for the white thug Bush as
] ] president has chosen to fight us, and we will consider it
] ] our enemy, and any state that will vote against Bush has
] ] chosen to make peace with us, and we will not
] ] characterize it as an enemy. By this characterization,
] ] Sheikh Osama wants to drive a wedge in the American body,
] ] to weaken it, and he wants to divide the American people
] ] itself between enemies of Islam and the Muslims, and
] ] those who fight for us, so that he doesn't treat all
] ] American people as if they're the same. This letter will
] ] have great implications inside the American society, part
] ] of which are connected to the American elections, and
] ] part of which are connected to what will come after the
] ] elections."
]
] Okay. I'm going to ramble here a moment...
]
] Speaking as a game designer, and an avid gamer, there's a
] philosophy I often keep in mind when faced with a difficult
] decision during a game. If I have different choices of how to
] play my hand, and I can't decide which action to take, I ask
] myself, "Which play will annoy my opponent more?" That way,
] even if the play doesn't give *me* a specific gaming
] advantage, the fact that I've done something that messes up my
] opponent's hand in some way can't hurt.
]
] So, this helps. The head of Al Qaeda would clearly rather
] have Kerry in office than Bush? Osama would be annoyed, or
] even afraid, if Bush won?
]
] I had already decided that I was voting for Bush. But now, I
] get frosting on the cake. By my vote, I can clearly do
] something that gives the finger to Osama? Well cool, that
] makes my decision even easier. :)
]
] Elonka

This is a line of reasoning that I would agree with, except for one niggling problem. It is based on the premise that I'm not going to win. Pissing off the other guy works just fine if you're doing to set them up for something later. Pissing off the other guy AND losing to him at the same time is really not the way to go.

You got played by one of the better geopolitical strategists of our time. George W. Bush is the best recruiting tool that terrorists have ever had. He offends the national pride of most other countries, offends the religious sensability of most everyone who is not a fundamentalist Christian, and offends intelectual sensabilities worldwide with his poor decisionmaking and dishonest presentation.

I guess if we don't demand better than this, we don't deserve better.

RE: MEMRI: Osama bin Laden Threatens U.S. States Not to Vote for Bush