personal : 2004 election
First, the fun stuff
This election generated a huge amount of intelligent & hilarious internet
content. Here's a smattering.
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Bush's 100 Mistakes - pick & choose!
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Bush's Resume (be sure to see the attached page)
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Bush & Kerry sing "This Land Is My Land"
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"Dishonest Dubya" Lying Action Figure!
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Design your own Dubya!
Now, the personal sadness, stated well...
From: David Miller
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2004 2:10 PM
Subject: Election Thoughts
As I sit at home today, sick to my stomach both from the election and a bug, I ponder my future as an American. I don't mean that I am moving to Canada, no matter how attractive that looks at the moment, but in a country where over half of those who voted, voted for a man, his values, his fears and his version of world politics that I fear are a threat to the very democracy I love, I ponder how we can come together and move forward.
I also ponder what it means to be a democrat. There is a
line from the West Wing (the early years, when it really did have the
heart and soul I related to), Leo says this line when talking to Bartlett
in New Hampshire after getting rid of his slick handlers during the first
campaign, "I'm tired of it. Year after year after year, having to choose
between the lesser of who cares. Of trying to get myself excited about the
candidate who can speak in complete sentences. Of setting the bar so low I
can hardly stand to look at it." Where are they, where are the smart,
idealistic, charismatic, honest, willing to put their ass on the line in
their words and in their deeds, leaders for tomorrow? Not just the Howard
Deans, who was not a bad guy but he was motivated by anger, righteous
anger, but anger nonetheless.
Sure, it is easy to now say that Hillary is the logical choice, it is all over the Internet already, but that isn't who I am talking about. I am talking about the people in this country that know that science and discovery are our collective future, that faith is a personal choice and not one to be imposed on others, who realize that there are many people of many backgrounds and many races, who will soon be and are already becoming the majority in this country. Where are our future leaders who will set the bar higher, not pander to the middle and still be able to get elected. I still believe that package will come with a hefty dose of idealism and truth. That we need someone who can energize the base, but build a strong enough vision that others will want to join. It won't be an election, it will be a movement. Something that people will want to join, be on board and help create.
That is what I have been pondering. The lack of vision. Not vision about saving Social Security, or when and how Iraq will have their elections, but a vision about what the world of the 21st Century could look like, how the people of this country can use what's left of its place in the world to build a safer, better world for our future that doesn't always start with white men "going to the mattresses" (a Godfather reference for those who don't get it), in other words, not always resorting to war and violence as the answer in a complex world.
I am sad today, but my wise and wonderful girlfriend assures me that there still is a future. Children will still play, we will still enjoy the sunsets off the cliffs in San Diego and Starbucks will still serve a crappy cup of decaf. But I must say this, I had hopes for this election. My hopes had a lot less to do with John Kerry being President than they did with waking up today to see that there was a new start for America. I had the hope that the majority of the people in this country would vote to reject fear, anger and the self-serving use of a specifically defined god. I had hopes that we would at least being moving in the right direction as opposed to the one that we are unfortunately already in.
Well it didn't happen. It didn't happen so today I take a solemn oath. Today I say that there needs to be a new vision for America and it can't be the same retread of 20th century democratic thought. It has to be a vision, a cause, a movement, that connects real meaning and hope for our world's future, to the millions of voters who could have made a different choice if given the proper motivation. I am not sure today what all this will look like, but I will work the best I can to find it and to tell others when I see it. Yes, today I make that pledge and I ask that you do so too. We need to move past our history and into the future, it won't be easy, but to me it is the only choice we have.
Relax for the rest of the day, go get a cup of Peet's coffee or something, we can start all of this tomorrow.
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