it’s too late at night for me to do this. but this is also too long for an away message at this point, so:
if you think this country will be “safer,” or “stronger,” if you’re “feeling goooooooooooooooood,” you have clearly forgotten the following (among many other things. these are just the ones i can’t believe right now):
- your safety — in the face of everything from terrorism to toxins — is in the hands of people who do not care about you unless you happen to be one billion dollars.
- just saying you’ve done something (like, say, accomplished a mission) doesn’t mean you’ve done it
- religion has no place in government
- your brains
we are no safer, stronger, brighter, freer, or braver than we were yesterday. what we are is more vainglorious, blind, bigoted (check out that gay marriage referendum–damn people are stupid), and frightened than i ever thought possible.
Jon Stewart may do “fake news,” but let’s put what he said tonight this way: the people most affected by 9/11–the city and state of New York–voted overwhelmingly for Kerry. What does that tell you about the sense of security Bush offers, when the citizens of this country who have the most experience with terror, the most trauma, the most tangible memories, and the most losses, vote to change leadership? Nebraska feels safer with Bush? Nebraska has no idea. Alabama feels safer with Bush? Alabama has no idea. Ohio feels safer with Bush? Ohio has no idea.
while checking a zillion away messages today, i came across this one, which i think everyone should probably read and consider. gay or straight, understand this argument for getting the heck out of dodge doesn’t seem like giving up–it seems like leaving somewhere you’re just not wanted. think of how you voted, think of how that feels:
scrolling through the barage of away messages is an interesting activity today…
a few are celebratory… i want to hate you but you’re on my buddy list so you’re my friend… and you might not have even voted specifically against the gay marriage ban… but i can’t help but feel like i’ve been stabbed in the back
many discuss the fact of becoming a second class citizen… i never knew a political issue could make me hurt this much
for the most part, people have discussed moving out of the country… it may be a joke but I have never thought about it as seriously as I am right now
I’ve always seen America as the place that allows me to feel however the fuck I want to feel and love whomever I want to love… I’ve never sympathized with John Wilkes Booth as much as I do today
After 9/11 a patriotic movement swept the country evoking feelings of freedom and to be thankful of our freedoms… I’m not feeling very free
I have to argue that you have no more idea than Nebraska or Ohio. I realize that you may disagree with who the rest of the country chose, but he is your president and you should respect that. I, for one, am glad this is at least over, so that you (and everyone else) can just be my friends again.
Hey guess what?
I didn’t say I had any idea.
And I would hardly think you and I haven’t been friends of late due to the election, whoever you might be, Captain Anonymous.
I’ve had about a day to think about it now, and the conclusion I’ve come to was probably inevitable but still very meaningful to me:
I’m not going anywhere.
God help me I love this big crazy palooka of a country. I think our political system is the best one currently in operation. And ultimately I can’t fault the heartland for choosing not to unseat a conservative President in wartime, even if I do believe the country’s heart is not in the war. I don’t think the re-election of President Bush is all that horrifying because I don’t genuinely think he’s a bad guy. Sure, I think his Vice President is pure evil. And the amount of ground the liberals have lost in the Congress scares me to death; Bush now has the opportunity to push a conservative social agenda that I hope and pray this country doesn’t actually believe in.
But I have to bekueve that it won’t happen. I can’t help but believe in the dream that was America, that for all our idiosyncrasies and our faults we will pull through and continue to strive for something better. To put it prosaically: America fuck yeah!
thank you.
that last post was exactly the point I was trying to make. I feel that people should have hope/faith in the government that america chose instead of complaining about it after the decision has been made. I guess I was just tired and cranky and conveyed a lot more hostility than I meant to. I also don’t like being told that I forgot my brains when I voted… it’s comments like that one that make me feel like friendships were strained during the election, and that make me glad it’s over. sorry about the anonymity, I was just too lazy to make an account. I voted for bush (but against the gay marriage ban, of course), and I hope you won’t hold that against me.
-Tricia
my mom thinks i look like a terrorist if i don’t post an addendum that my first comment, above, where i copied and pasted a friend’s away message, is not comprised of any of my own words after the colon (:) and that when my friend references john wilkes booth, he is referring to the lyrics written for john wilkes booth’s character in the musical assassins by sondheim, not the words of the actual dude who killed lincoln. these lyrics include things like “the country is not what it was when there’s blood in the clover/ how the nation can never again be the hope that it was.”
so i’m not a frickin terrorist, mom. don’t quote martha stewart at me.
From Jams..thanks for the explanation…it’s a good thing!