Escaping The Firestorm Into Black Rain

Despite my (hopefully) non-partisan speech yesterday morning, I have to say that I am very disappointed with the way the election turned out. In many ways, it's a small relief that the choice is *clear* this time, with Bush picking up 51% of the popular vote according to many projections, and little to no rumblings of voter fraud or intimidation by the Republicans. If you notice, though, a lot of the redistricting efforts put forth by the GOP certainly worked in their favor; *three* Democratic legislators lost their races yesterday in Texas, furthering the country's shift to marked, resolute conservatism.

I'm not sure how many states where the question was on the ballot, but to know that *11* of them voted very easily in favor of changing the state's constitution to make gay marriage illegal (and in many cases, civil unions) is quite disheartening as well. Jim Bunning in KY won his Senate race despite serious questions after his mental health after a series of very odd statements and actions targeted at his opponent and wife. Tom Daschle lost his seat to John Thune, becoming the first Senate leader to fail to win re-election in around 50 years. Republicans control the Senate, the House, and very likely the White House, making it almost assured that Homeland Security and other federal agencies will be able to do more in the way of privacy violations to "protect us from terrorists," the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge will open up to drilling for oil, perhaps made easier by the fact that the Arctic shelf is melting faster than we thought, and that we're still going to be locked into a long, vague "War on Terrorism" with an ever-growing, rotating cast of villains.

I've known for a long time that this country was shifting closer to blanket conservatism, though I had hoped it was just because liberals were being quieter. It was my hope that people like Molly Ivins were the rule rather than the exception, that by and large we were just thoughtful and quiet, letting conservatives fill the airwaves with noise and condemnation for the half of the country that doesn't share their views. Now it looks like conservatives are shouting louder because there actually *are* more of them, and America is being remolded in their image not because they're using 'dirty politics' to gain the upper hand, but because people want us to present that face to the world.

Much of the good-will expressed towards the American people, and the perception that the will of the government is not necessarily our will, will disappear in the coming months and years. We *had* the opportunity to change our leadership to something that presumably fit the image we wanted to represent, but instead we *chose* Bush. He may have 'stolen' the election in 2000, but this time around, the President was supported by a majority...a razor-thin majority, but a majority nonetheless.

I must now face the fact that America, for the most part, doesn't share my belief in an individual's equal right to pursue happiness. It's my perception that America is now a land ruled by fear of what might happen, distrust for their fellow men (and full-blooded Americans, for that matter), a land that would give up its liberties and sons and daughters to fight in a never-ending war against people who may want nothing more than the opportunity to rule their own lands without foreign influence. (Disclaimer: This is pure speculation on my part -- it's entirely possible the insurgents want to rule the world, too.) When it comes right down to it, I don't think America and I have the same dream any more.

With all of the available information that we have access to, with our knowledge that Bush went to war based on false ideas, with the knowledge that employment is down, our high-quality, high-paying jobs are being shipped overseas only to be replaced by minimum-wage entry-level positions, with the FBI investigation into possibly shady dealings with Halliburton, with the record of incompetence and domestic economic disaster that Bush has left behind over four years, 51% of the country still breaks for him? This is bewildering to me.

But, if Ohio stands the way it's leaning (and it's looking like it will), then that's precisely what happened. My disappointment extends well beyond the Presidential election -- the fact that so many congressional seats fell towards Republicans is extremely disheartening as well. Combined with the fact that there was a full legislative sweep in favor of banning gay marriage, it's becoming clearer just what a lot of Americans are thinking.

From this point on, I still resolve to do my best to affect change around me, but I can no longer expect my government or my fellow Americans to do the same. It's become apparent to me that many of us simply don't care -- about the startling reports of our environmental fears becoming reality, about the capriciously tight oil supply and the need to develop alternative sources of energy, about basic rights being taken away by the Patriot Act and other 'counter-terrorism' measures, about our standing in the world community and the fact that we're often mentioned in the same breath as China when it comes to human rights abuses. We *want* Bush. We *want* the country to be headed this way. As a country, we're conservative and broadly fundamentalist Christian; as an individual, I have to get used to playing the role of minority and dissenter, where it'll be an uphill climb just to fit in to the new American model. I thought it would be easier to blend into the melting pot as I got older, but it's just not going to happen.

And, as a harbinger of things to come, my mother just called to ask for more money. It's going to be a very long four years.

Addendum

postvixen has cooked up a really spicy meatball that bears reading; it's a lot closer to what I was thinking than I thought. <:)

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 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.