Wednesday, November 03, 2004
IT'S OVER...FOR NOW: It's official. After looking at the "real numbers" in Ohio, the Kerry camp conceded the election in a late morning phone call to the White House, followed by a concession speech in the afternoon. I can't understand how a majority think George W. Bush is doing such a bad job on all fronts and yet give him another chance, but there you are. Maybe I'm a bit naieve for believing that a man's continuing employment should be based on how well he does his job and not on his personality. It'd possible that I'm making a mistake by taking the ugly campagin rhetoric at face value if it wasn't preceeded by three and a half ugly years to back it up.
The hardest part of the whole process begins now; we have to continue making dissenting viewpoints heard through the yes men, and for that reason, I recommend getting familiar with how to get in touch with your representatives in Congress. It's not as sexy as volunteering for a campaign, but we have to do what we can to minimize the damage of another four years with a leader who doesn't listen to people if they're not perceived as on his side, a man who is presiding over the most secretive administration this side of Nixon, and has fought accountability at every turn. He has paid lip service to "freedom" while undercutting it in many dramatic ways. He won't admit that he's made even one mistake, and wouldn't change a single bloody second of our occupation of Iraq, indicating that he has no idea that things could've been done differently. And of course, there's the issue of gaining unprecedented world support and pissing it away on a dubious war. These were all preexisting conditions going into the election, and none of it has changed just because the polls are closed and 98% of the vote is counted.
We're being told is that it's time to stand behind the president and let the healing begin. However, one of the most basic rights in this country is the right to not support a leader if we don't agree with him. Anybody who doesn't see it this way has a vision of democracy which is irreconcilable with mine. George W. Bush will get my support when I feel he deserves it, and not a moment sooner. If, on the other hand, the man refuses to carry himself the way a real leader should, and Congress refuses to hold him accountable, then I recommend sending as many GOPs home from the Hill as we can during the next midterm election. That usually gets their attention.
The hardest part of the whole process begins now; we have to continue making dissenting viewpoints heard through the yes men, and for that reason, I recommend getting familiar with how to get in touch with your representatives in Congress. It's not as sexy as volunteering for a campaign, but we have to do what we can to minimize the damage of another four years with a leader who doesn't listen to people if they're not perceived as on his side, a man who is presiding over the most secretive administration this side of Nixon, and has fought accountability at every turn. He has paid lip service to "freedom" while undercutting it in many dramatic ways. He won't admit that he's made even one mistake, and wouldn't change a single bloody second of our occupation of Iraq, indicating that he has no idea that things could've been done differently. And of course, there's the issue of gaining unprecedented world support and pissing it away on a dubious war. These were all preexisting conditions going into the election, and none of it has changed just because the polls are closed and 98% of the vote is counted.
We're being told is that it's time to stand behind the president and let the healing begin. However, one of the most basic rights in this country is the right to not support a leader if we don't agree with him. Anybody who doesn't see it this way has a vision of democracy which is irreconcilable with mine. George W. Bush will get my support when I feel he deserves it, and not a moment sooner. If, on the other hand, the man refuses to carry himself the way a real leader should, and Congress refuses to hold him accountable, then I recommend sending as many GOPs home from the Hill as we can during the next midterm election. That usually gets their attention.
|| Eric 4:20 PM#
