But, sadly, apparently many people believe it is.
After a particularly divisive campaign, it’s all come down to this:
George W. Bush is our president for four more years.
Prior to the election I heard people say that they would be scared, should Bush win. I took that to be common political rhetoric and assumed that they were speaking figuratively, perhaps exaggerating some to make a point. Fair enough – we all do it.
Apparently I was wrong. There are people who are truly and deeply frightened by the prospect of four more years of a Bush administration. One person (intelligent, respectable) spoke to me of making sure that her family’s passports were in order because she was afraid they would have to leave the country at some point in the coming years.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Look, I’m not particularly fond of the guy or his positions myself, but if you honestly believe Bush will “ruin the country”, you’re giving him way too much credit. Not only does he not have that kind of power, (or smarts, for that matter), but the very system we live in is self-correcting.
I guess I just have faith that our system of government is stronger than any one person or party. Does that mean I don’t care who’s in power? Of course I care. But ultimately we live in a democracy, and a majority of the voters have, in fact, indicated that George Bush is their choice for president. And now we work in that reality. It doesn’t frighten me, and I just don’t get why or how it actually frightens anyone – except maybe the conspiracy theorists.
I am however, disappointed.
I’m disappointed in a system that gave us the Bush versus Kerry choice to begin with. In all honesty, I don’t really want either of them. Neither deserve to be president. Certainly neither are the best America has to offer. But it’s the choice we were fed, courtesy of each party.
So be it.
I told my wife before the results were announced that I knew I’d be disappointed this morning no matter who won. Because no matter who won, I’d feel like “we” lost.
But I’m not frightened.
Sheesh.
I agree. I was chatting with one person this evening who was laying out how she thinks that the US economy will completely tank within two years now, and how she needs to ensure that all her clients are non-US (she’s in Canada). I think she’s, um, overwrought? 🙂
Btw, I talk about some election stuff on my weblog too, though I haven’t posted anything post-election: http://www.intuitive.com/blog/
I think you are sadly misinformed. But that is not unusual. Our media is a corporite cheering squad for big money. How many black, poor, progessives own media outlets or have owned them with an ability to sway the masses like the hot talk fascists. And do you think Michael Powell gives a damn about a damn thing?
How trusting you are! You go to 7/11 and buy a slurpe you get a receipt. But such an important life changing event as deciding who selects the next four supreme court appointees and we dont get poot! Any business of import uses double entry accounting and is fully auditable. For the second time an election was stolen. Wake the hell up! At least peer once in a while at the anomalies in our “shistem” and consider what they are doing to “the least of these!”
So you’ll be moving to Canada then?
Consider what the alternative was….now THAT’S scary !!
I believe that you`re right about the democratic system is selfcorrecting. If not the powermongers would have been overthrown a long time ago.
Another addendum to the “democracy” is the flow of money and the FACT that if you tell a lie over and over again (and maybe include some likeable faces or voices), it CAN become the truth. Even in a small scale: tell a “story” about a person, not necessarily a lie, it could be fantasy, twist it to allow both storyteller and listener to form a “normality”- concept to which the subject reacts/is reacting “abnormally” and you have a common enemy. I consider myself reasonably sane, but also enough imagianitiv to concoct up such a thesis (which i have seen in action) to work to damn well. So I make use of Murphy`s Law: If anything can go wrong, it possibly will.