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November 04, 2004

The Spirit of America

I spent all of yesterday morning hoping and praying that the inevitable wasn't going to happen. I put in my contacts, took a quick shower, and drove to school with my fingers crossed, giving a silent cheer for every Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker I happened to see on the highway. I listened to the local radio stations debate the possiblity of victory within Ohio, as one DJ called the situation a complete "Hail Mary" strategy to winning the electoral college. I fought to keep myself awake in class at 8:30 in the morning, when discussing lighting techniques in film was definitely the last thing on my mind.

I was still very hopeful as I walked across campus, my feet touching the chalked up pavement that still read "STUDENTS 4 KERRY" in runny blue letters that had been melted in the election day rain. By the time I sat down in Drake to take a nap in the couches that faced the river, I was entirely optimistic. There were still uncounted votes left. There was still time. It might not drag on quite as long as it did four years ago, but the whole thing would be sorted out. And in a couple of weeks, all those votes would be counted and headed with a "K" on the top of each ballot, and we'd all join hands and sing "Kumbaya" on top of the mountain.

But all that stuff was burned to the ground as soon as I walked into my second class of the day.

"Kerry conceded," our TA told us bitterly. "It's all over."

I felt as though I'd been drowned in the middle of a tidal wave. How could it be over? Who said so? When? Where? Why? I was ready to fight this time. There wasn't the same kind of confusion that left me speechless from the last election anymore. I knew how to work the courts, how to call out the lawyers, how to check for hanging chads. I was ready to dig deep and stand my ground against voter fraud and provisional ballots. I was willing to win Ohio back for Kerry, all by my-unrealistic-self.

Now that I think about it, I guess conceding early was probably the best thing for everyone. We're already a country sharply divided among blocks of red and blue; we didn't need another month long debate over a statewide recount. Kerry was the bigger man in this situation, giving up his effort in order to move the rest of us along to our daily lives.

But that still doesn't make me any happier.

If you voted as a Democrat, great; I love you unconditionally. If you voted Republican, fine. At least you voted. But at least have a valid reason for voting the way you did. And this goes for all parties, Democratic, Republican, libertarian, Green (Ugh, Nader), and all the rest. Don't place your votes in one candidate unless you're really willing to put up with just about every damn thing they may pull while in office. Don't vote for Bush if you don't want to see innocent people decapitated in a country that has no desire to recieve help from Americans. Don't vote for Kerry if you feel he's weaseled his way out of the abortion issue. Don't vote for anybody unless you're ready and willing to deal with that candidate for better or for worse, 'til death do you part.

I'm not upset with either the right-wing evangelicals, or the gun-toting NRA representatives. They have every right to their opinion, and I'm more than willing to listen to their side of things. I'm upset with the people who voted out of fear. Fear losing the right to dictate what they can or cannot do in their own states, in their own neighborhoods, and in their own lives. Fear of knowing that at any minute, their homes could be bombed to shreds, or that anthrax could show up in their mailboxes. Fear of feeling that the government has more rights than they do as individuals. Fear of losing their right to worship, and their right to live within their traditional family circle.

Maybe these people don't realize it, but that's exactly what they voted for when they checked "Bush" on that ballot. The people who are so concerned with losing state sovereignty and individual rights are the same people who chose to ban all forms of gay marriage. Isn't that a form of restricting rights and denying equality? Just what kind of threat does a gay couple pose to you, the heterosexual man and wife? They don't want to bomb your buildings, they don't want to steal your jobs, and they don't want to smuggle drugs in from South America. They want to live with the same amount of respect that you get for being Mr. and Mrs. So-and-So, with an average of 2.5 children. So what, it's not a Christian way of life? I'm a Christian who doesn't feel that homosexuality is great, but that doesn't give me the right to use my religion to stomp all over everyone else. Separation of Church and State, my friends. Separation of Church and State. If being gay is so bad, let God handle it. Don't try to bring on Armageddon by making it harder for people to get on with their daily lives.

I also find it ironic that the states that Bush carried were also highly concerned about the threat of terrorism, and the agenda for national security. These are places like Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Idaho... The list goes on and on. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but if I were an American-hating terrorist, I wouldn't be planting bombs in someplace like Idaho. Sure, that might cause the next great potato famine, but it's not going to do any damage. People who should really be worried about this kind of thing are piled up in places like New York, California, Illinois, DC, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Terrorists aren't dumb. They know how to hit us where it hurts. And that certainly isn't Butte, Montana, or Fargo, North Dakota. These people are worried about international threats, and yet they didn't give more than a sigh when the US Embassy was bombed in Kenya, or when Israelis and Palestinians are killing each other on a regular basis. It's all relative, people.

You say you don't vote Democratic because you've got a fear of Big Government? What about the Patriot Act? How is it that we can permit people to be stranded on Guantanemo Bay for years at a time without due process? It's in the Bill of Rights, for crying out loud. You can't just suspend habeas corpus because you're worried that every Tom Dick and Harry--oh, excuse me--every Osama, Muhammed, and Saddam is going to smash planes into skyscrapers. What did we learn from the Japanese internment of WWII, or the Red Scare of Joe McCarthy? Apparently, nothing. It's the same kind of mentality that assaulted the former Cat Stevens on a plane this fall. Cat Stevens, people. Next thing you know, Celine Dion and Colin Farrell are going to be on the list of possible suspects. The Patriot Act is really nothing more than a modern Big Brother proposition, allowing everyday, untrained citizens to run around crying wolf. We shouldn't live our lives looking over our shoulder for suspcious activities. Let the CIA and the FBI handle that. That's what they're there for.

And what about religion? There were plenty of Bush supporters who said that Kerry's stand on abortion defied Christian principles. Well, that's all well and good, but we're not here to make all Americans into good little Catholics, or Baptists, or Methodists, or Protestants. I personally hate abortion. Except in cases of rape or incest, I can't understand how anyone would be so desperate as to want to kill another human being. But I can't play God with other people's minds and bodies. I don't have the authority to reach down and smite women who take the morning-after pill or who wait in lines at abortion clinics. If you're a person who's really in tune with God and religion, you ought to understand that one of the best things about being a human being is that we have free choice. Let God deal with all the black and white issues. Stop bombing abortion clinics and start supporting adoption centers if you're that opposed. You don't have the right to restrict and prohibit what someone can or cannot do with themselves.

For me, this election was very personal. My mother and some of my cousins lost their jobs during this presidency. One of my oldest cousins was almost killed in Iraq. And now that my brother's filled out his Selective Service form, I'm just about ready to lose it. Having George Bush in office has seriously affected my everyday life. I think about politics in a completely different way now, and believe me, it isn't positive. I'm confused and upset, but I at least I know where I stand on the issues. If you don't agree with me, I don't see how you could complain, seeing as how you've given your pretzel-choking President another shot at running this country into the ground.

I was pissed as God knows what by the time I got home last night, and I guess it really showed on my face. Dad told me that this whole election has been a good and a bad thing for everyone.

"The bad thing is, George Bush is your re-elected president, April," he told me over a plate of pork chops. "The good thing is, he can't do it again."

And he's right about that. Never, ever again.

posted at 3:10 p.m.

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