Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
I suppose it was a bad omen that the morning the votes were still being counted, the girls found some dog shit at the park and handed it to me. How they managed to find it I don’t know. But hey, how did so many Americans manage to overlook four straight years of lies and deceit? I can hardly believe it–we just got handed another four years of dog shit.
Alternet columnist Lakshmi Chaudhry, summed up my feelings precisely:
Or at least that’s the message I get from all the talk of “unity” and “healing” in the media. Now that the Democrats lost the political equivalent of the Super Bowl, I just need to shut up and put up. Anything less would just be typical liberal whining and bitterness. That I am afraid of what will happen to my country in the next four years is dismissed as just sore loser behavior. That I care about what will happen to my right to choose as a woman; the healthcare I can afford; the air I breathe; the soldiers I’ve spoken to – all this is just partisan obstinacy?
In California, we’re also stuck with the Governator. And in my county in particular, they voted down a microscopic tax that was to help keep the libraries open more than once a week and buy books more recent than 1979, AND gave farms here the ok to grow GMO frankenfood. Hey…people? What’s wrong with you? You turned down a county-wide sales tax of one-quarter percent—for what? I hope you enjoy all those pennies you saved, cuz you’re gonna need ‘em to drive to Santa Barbara’s organic markets and libraries. Dumbasses.
I posted a picture on Flickr that I took several years ago when I was visiting in Washington DC. The last comment was, “And fuck USA.” As disappointed as I am about yesterday, I am heartened that not everyone bought the bullshit. No, at least half of America got it right. Half of us don’t think it’s right to bash immigrants. Half of us aren’t hostile to gays. Half us know that it’s a shame we’re one of the last and only leading industrialized countries who fail to provide the least amount of health care for its citizens. And half of us know that Bush has done nothing but lie about the war in Iraq, and that this is as unacceptable as the thousands of soldiers who are dead because of his lies.
But the fun is just beginning. Osama has promised that. Have you read his missive? Some of it…actually makes a lot of sense. “Let us not forget one of your major characteristics: your duality in both manners and values; your hypocrisy in manners and principles. All manners, principles and values have two scales: one for you and one for the others.” Chomsky’s been saying it for years. But he’s not flying planes into our skyscrapers, so people ignore it.
Well, buckle up folks. The next four years is gonna be Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.
Well, one hope is that it’s a case of things getting bad before they get better. In a way, you’re lucky. At least you can recognise your opponents. We thought we voted for a left-of-centre government in the UK, and they still went into Iraq and filled the airwaves with lies and spurious justifications. There’s nothing like a Labour government for outright betrayal. Imagine how it’d be if Gore was president and you’d still gone into Iraq!