Nov 3, 2004
For months I’ve been refusing to let myself imagine today.
The shock, the despair, the unbe-freeking-lievableness of another 4 years of this administration was simply too much to bear thinking about while there was any hope of a different outcome. With some vodka and a very long day behind me, 1:30 am CDT today left enough of that hope (stretched as it became as the night grew long) for a few hours of more or less uninterrupted sleep. Of course, this morning rather quickly came to the current situation, in which the electoral triumph of the Bush administration is a fete accompli and that hope that has sustained and grown over the past 4 years faded.
So here we are. What now? For the 48% of US voters and the overwhelming majority of non-US observers who have seen the first GWB term as an extended binge of regrettable policy decisions, politically extremist pandering, shameless cronyism, and deceptive “leadership”, what is the next move? Where do we go with the energy that has been built up over the past few years behind the overwhelming but now deferred warrant for regime change?
I’ve heard a number of mutterings of “… gonna move to Canada …” from politically like-minded friends and co-workers today. Indeed, the “Dude, where’s my country” sentiment is persuasive — it’s an understatement to describe a 3+ million popular vote margin in favor of GWB as disorienting and unwelcoming. I’ve felt (and expressed) the urge to expatriation myself – it is comforting to imagine living someplace where the idea that people should be able to enjoy fruits of our collective progress like health care and shelter is accepted as just basic decency.
As disappointing and disheartening as Nov 2 2004 was, 49% of the country voted to send Bush back to Connecticut (er, Texas). Thousands of people volunteered weeks or months of their lives to join together in an effort to reclaim our country. Millions waited in long lines for hours yesterday to make their voices heard. I stood with over 80,000 people in Madison last week to hear Kerry — less than twice that number would have made the difference in Ohio, and consequently the electoral college.
This is too close a fight to run from.
Jon’s 4th of July post this year was a welcome reminder for me — the US is a young country, and one based on a revolutionary idealism powered by individual conscience and conviction. I’m not ready to give up, which is what that would be for me (no offense to my good friends who recently relocated northwards intended — I hope that comfy guest bed is still available!). And even should today’s grim situation deteriorate and already thin hope continue to weaken over coming years or decades, I think there are worthwhile attempts yet to be made to (literally or figuratively) bring Canada here, as Jon so aptly put it while scooping what I had planned for the rest of this post … 😉
first i’d like to tip my hat to Josh for starting this blog. it is pleasing for me to read your blog and Jon’s blog and hear the things i’m feeling said clearly. i spent last night having a two hour conversation with my housemates about the terrible depression we’ve all been in. through this talk, we reached much the same conclusions as you have. although this was a devastating loss, it was close. we almost defeated, for the first time in history, an incumbent president during wartime (invasion time??). that is a big accomplishment. we all need to mourn a bit, but then we need to channel the energy of this election toward positive efforts. this country is young, and there is room for change. we’ve just got to work everyday to make it happen.
Josh – you can’t let Jon scooping you bother you (as I recently learned), he’s up all night these days. Additionally, even though the temptation to run is huge, I went back and read my “Why I Work” poem and felt hypocritical enough to stay – for now.
Here’s the thing that still gets me – putting aside for a moment romantic notions about what we’re fighting for – I am left with a good look at the faces of WHO I must fight for…and I don’t like those f*ckers very much right now.
(Are we swearing on this blog or not?)
As everyone knows, I don’t scoop–I shovel. 🙂
Great to see you in the blogosphere! Ha ha, I said that, and it’s true!
In all seriousness, I’m really looking forward to seeing you around here now. I’m adding you to my peeps list post haste. And thanks for the complimentary linkage.
G: That’s what I’ve been thinking about lately. It looks like we should really be fighting for ourselves and the right-thinkers at the moment. I feel like Lisa sometimes, assenting to marrying a carrot. “Yes, questioning where the HMX went means I hate our troops.”
Empire, ignorance, and greed have united with caprice and given the Dark Side of the Force the upper hand at the moment. Fall back to Tatooine! These are not the ‘droids you are looking for, Mr. Storm Trooper. Save us Barak Obama! You’re our only hope!
God, it’s such a shame George Lucas kept going with that series…
The guest bed is of course available to all who need a rainy respite from the stresses of the south. All in the shadow of British Columbia’s beautiful Coast Mountains.
The argument could be made that we have run from the fight. We voted–does that count in our favor? Besides, its CANADA. Its not France or New Zealand or some country that doesn’t share a border.
There is a long and glorious history of people deciding to give the US a break for a while. I think the Republic is resilient and will probably bounce back, and I’m not sure I can do a whole lot in, say, LA, that I can’t do here.
So yeah, a break. That’s what it is. Come visit.
Matt – to be clear, I really didn’t mean to be talking about you (running away, or not, or whatever). Rather, my point was only what I’d be doing were I to decide to move at this point in time. I’d argue that since you guys not only decided to move, but actually did so before the recent unpleasantness, it’s a different matter altogether. Plus, you’re like productively engaged, and so forth … 🙂
Well, the fact that we moved before the recent unpleasantness does perhaps make a difference. I’ve been getting a little (all in good fun) dose of “so you left the country” type comments. And since we all know how seriously I take things, I’ve had to turn this over in my mind some and by now I’ve come to the conclusion that, yes, we have left the country. The evidence on this point is pretty overwhelming.
The guest bed beckons. There’s a second single bed too.
Is the “Jesus” of this so-called “Jesusland” the Jesus of the Jefferson Bible (also called “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth Extracted Textually from the Gospels”)?