As a result of being 60 years old, I've voted in many national elections. There have been times when the candidate of my choice didn't win, and I accepted the result, justifying it by thinking about winning the next time.
But this one is different. I don't think I've ever felt so unaccepting of an election result as I do now, ten days after. "Oh, we need to understand the other side, the Heartland," some say. "We need to appeal to different moral values," "we need to use the same tactics the BushRovians used." Bullshit, says I.
This election is different because there has been a revolution, and the left side of the voting public (anywhere left of moderate right) lost. The extreme, evangelical, neo-facist right has waged and won a political and social revolution in the United States of America. And the rest of us (almost one half - perhaps more) need to fight back.
This will not be business or politics as usual. This evil "group of folks" is going to go all out now to complete their ruination of this country as we've known it, and the real values that make us who we are. They will solidify their power in ways that will be difficult, but not impossible, to overcome.
So, my friends, don't wallow in pity, don't move to New Zealand, and most of all, don't give up. We need to be in their faces at all times, resisting, prodding the elected people on our side to stiffen their backbones and fight back.
And we need to organize. But we need to organize around a different strategy; electing a Democrat isn't the answer anymore. We need a quantitative change of direction in America, based on an examination of who we are and who we want to be in a global sense. We need to re-create a nation of, by and for the people, not one run for the exclusive benefit of multinational corporations and very wealthy individuals (this is a generalization, but you know what I mean).
So don't give up, that's the easy way out. Democracy - real democracy - is something we have to live, work and die for.
(written on November 13, 2004)
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Thanks for the URL Bryan. Looks like good stuff. I don't think we can rely on the Democratic Party to change this - the 2-party system has evolved into part of the problem, not the solution. One concern I had before the election was that people were too focused on electing Kerry (or anyone but Bush). That's was a short-term strategy. What's the long-term strategy for making real change in America? Electing Kerry (or anyone but Bush) should have been viewed as the first step in a larger, longer-term strategy. I'll keep tabs on PDA, maybe that's what PDA is about??
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