Election Hangover

okay, folks. put aside your sour grapes. it's time to recoup and read the hand-writing on the wall.

if the results of this election are legitimate:

that's a big if -- ohio and florida are the only states where the outcome differed drastically from predictions based on the exit polls. in 2000, the only state where that happened was ... ta da dum ... florida.

nevertheless, as barry goldwater once said, the next honest election in this country will be the first one. i'm done crying in my beer. it's time to figure out why the election went the way it did.

this election was unfortunately a referendum on gay marriage. all those bigoted ballot measures brought the evangelicals to the polls in a big way. john kerry is from massachusetts, the one state where gay marriage is legal. although he never voiced support for it, the republicans hung it around his neck.

i'm proud of masschusetts for doing the right thing. i wouldn't have it any other way. when lyndon b. johnson signed civil rights legislation, he knew the democrats were going to lose the south. it's never okay to look other human beings in the eye and tell them that the country just 'isn't ready' to treat them as equals. the nature of bigots is such that they are never 'ready' to give civil rights to the targets of their hatred.

the democrats also need to fully and adequately address the economic stagnation in rural america. they have lost touch with the white working class in this country, and this is killing them. the republicans have wooed them on god, guns, gays, and abortion. we need to win them back.

the youth vote didn't turn out. this was a failure on the part of the democrats. they did a great job of registering them, but not so great a job at getting them into the voting booth. berating youth and wishing a bloody death in iraq on them is not going to motivate them, and frankly, that's wrong. just wrong. no one should be forced into this war against their will. period. so, if a draft comes and some young non-voter needs help fleeing to canada, i will not turn my back on them. i will drive them over the fucking canadian border myself.

we also need to start starving the beast that funds this political machine. that means you need to put a cork in your consumer desires.

stop. spending. money.

or rather, start buying from locally owned businesses and start buying used. we need to boycott the republicans' biggest contributers. the next time you feel that you really must have that cute shirt, just remember that you're donating money to the people who want to fuck you over. you're probably also supporting a really shitty sweat shop employer in a third world shithole. if you must have a cute shirt, please buy from a socially responsible company, or buy from a thrift store, preferably one not run by a religious organization.

if we can't manage the discipline to change our shopping habits, then we don't have the discipline to win. period. learn to do without stuff. one instance where i'm willing make an exception is basic cable and internet access -- you need access to the mainstream media and the internet to be informed and engaged. besides, the fiscal policies of the wolves we've allowed into the hen house are going to hurt the country economically, and you may need to have a pile of cash saved, so the less you spend, the better for you, if not for the country as a whole. if you're worried about fucking the job market, buy from a locally owned business. it will be better for your community and our domestic job market than buying crap from walmart. it wasn't made here, and the money will flow out of your community.

and now for the unmentionable --

the supreme court:

we are going to see the most reactionary court in decades. we need to be prepared for this. not only are we going to see major challenges to the constitutionally protected right to abortion, we are going to see some well-organized attempts to pass a national ban. same with gay marriage. the republicans effectively have control of all branches of the federal government.

now the question is, what are we going to do about it? i think if we see a sustained and unrelenting attack on civil rights, it will be time to seriously start pressuring our state and local governments to refuse to comply. if that means threatening to secede from the union, i'm ready for that too. in fact, i kind wish the northeast were its own country anyway, but i know that's out of the question right now.

i think we may see a draft soon. what are you going to do if you are drafted? another possibility is that the political fallout from such a move would be so poisonous that they'll just run our military right into the fucking ground first. in that case, those of us who didn't actually vote for bush are going to be sitting ducks for the next terrorist attack. we need to be ready for this. i think our state and local governments need to apply some strong pressure to these asshats to improve our security and actually like... you know... fund it and shit.

anyway, buck up. this country survived the civil war, the great depression, world war 2, the red scare, the vietnam war, the cold war, and the reagan era. we will survive this too. i don't think we'll see life change much in the decidedly liberal states. the republicans have been building their political machine, their message, and their strategy for a looooong time. we just got started in the last four years. don't give up now. this really is a temporary setback. resistence is *not* futile.