![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
All of the Ashes Have Fallen
You know, I think as the country groans and settles into its trenches for four more years of the Bush Administration (Kerry has graciously conceded Ohio and the Presidency, saving us from weeks of dragging our feet...way to go, Senator, I admire you doing what you think is best for the country), I think I might just cling to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
postvixen for the rest of this election cycle. She has a very good perspective on the thing and it's a lot better than kicking at the ground and muttering 'conservative assholes' under our breath.
This morning's exhausted disappointment has given way to a weary, cautiously optimstic resolve. I'm not Pollyanic about the situation in which the US (and the rest of the world) finds itself by any means, but I don't necessarily think it's the end of the world. I suspect we might come Cuban Missile Crisis-close in a couple of instances, though. :P
Echoing Postvixen's post, one of the surprisingly good things to come out of the election results is we can stop expecting the government to be there for us, to protect us, to make sure we're well taken care of and that our interests are going to be taken to heart. We *know* that the Bush administration has an agenda that leaves a little under half the country (possibly more, people who voted for Bush are still going to be hurt by his policies) out in the cold. And with that knowledge comes a freedom and responsibility to look out for ourselves, our rights, and our fellow man. The government isn't going to help the elderly or poor; it's up to us to do it. We can *still* be democracy in action and good, decent Americans, by stepping up to the plate and doing whatever it is life brings us to do.
Later I hope to collect a list of non-profit and volunteer organizations that might be of interest to people looking for ways to help our communities and our country outside of the political spectrum. Bush won on a largely cultural-moral-social platform, so perhaps we can 'take our country back' by becoming actively involved in those ways.
Now free of election coverage, I am free to watch "Lost" tonight without campaign ads. Groovy.
postvixen for the rest of this election cycle. She has a very good perspective on the thing and it's a lot better than kicking at the ground and muttering 'conservative assholes' under our breath.This morning's exhausted disappointment has given way to a weary, cautiously optimstic resolve. I'm not Pollyanic about the situation in which the US (and the rest of the world) finds itself by any means, but I don't necessarily think it's the end of the world. I suspect we might come Cuban Missile Crisis-close in a couple of instances, though. :P
Echoing Postvixen's post, one of the surprisingly good things to come out of the election results is we can stop expecting the government to be there for us, to protect us, to make sure we're well taken care of and that our interests are going to be taken to heart. We *know* that the Bush administration has an agenda that leaves a little under half the country (possibly more, people who voted for Bush are still going to be hurt by his policies) out in the cold. And with that knowledge comes a freedom and responsibility to look out for ourselves, our rights, and our fellow man. The government isn't going to help the elderly or poor; it's up to us to do it. We can *still* be democracy in action and good, decent Americans, by stepping up to the plate and doing whatever it is life brings us to do.
Later I hope to collect a list of non-profit and volunteer organizations that might be of interest to people looking for ways to help our communities and our country outside of the political spectrum. Bush won on a largely cultural-moral-social platform, so perhaps we can 'take our country back' by becoming actively involved in those ways.
Now free of election coverage, I am free to watch "Lost" tonight without campaign ads. Groovy.