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Edited on Sat Jul-10-04 01:20 PM by ZombyWoof
I feel it's time for a little encouragement, to keep the burst of optimism and hope we were given this week some more momentum. Enough through November? Well, I don't know. We have a convention ahead. We have the media onslaught to master. We have many weeks to go. But we need a good word on behalf of those of us who seek to end the Bush reign. I will be satisifed to get through the weekend on a good note.
I reject the defeatist blather coming from our very own ranks, ready to hand the keys to power over to the worst criminal gang to ever infest the government in its 228 year existence and make it 232.
It isn't about the polls - the margin of error, or even the historical precedents of incumbents trailing this late in the game.
Register to vote, and urge others to register. We'll argue polls later. History doesn't respect precedent, and we must not take our surge for granted.
It isn't about the Great Divide in America of blue states and red states, urban or rural, southern, northern, midwestern, or anywhere else.
We have enough divide among ourselves.
Molly Ivins said you gotta dance with what brung ya, and I don't care if you think John Kerry is the worst dance partner you ever met on the floor - some think he is the best, others are in the middle, and others will watch our feet as he leads. Many will not dance at all, and can instead watch Bush burn down the dance hall.
If you don't welcome the opportunity for change, the chance to exile Bush and his cronies, or just to have a president we can honestly disagree with - a president who will not arrogantly dismiss your concerns... then what the hell are you waiting for?
As a supporter of Dennis Kucinich, I can honestly tell you Kerry was far from my first choice, let alone second or third.
So you might say, "Well Zomby, are you supporting the ticket we have as a vote against Bush? Don't you want to be FOR something?"
And I reply:
We can have both, if we want it. We can vote against Bush AND work for dialogue and democracy again by supporting John Kerry and John Edwards. We'll work for solutions, results, and yes, inevitably, learn about the great American art of compromise when we don't always get what we want. If you noticed, compromise and the craft of statesmanship have all but died under Bush. No matter what you say about Kerry, he will bring more than a modicum of seriousness and purpose to the White House again. He will fight the Republicans on issues of taxation, business, and healthcare. We will leave No Child Left Behind behind. We will have a sound domestic energy policy again. If we want it bad enough.
We will also have to clean up the mess left to us in Iraq. We will have to repair our damaged friendships with long-time allies.
Even if you want to dwell on the IWR, remember: At least Kerry and Edwards will own up to their responsibility for it. Would Bush or Cheney ever do the same?
Does the arc of a person's record of public service matter to you? Can one vote disproportionately undo the balance of good from the rest? I say, resoundingly, no.
We can argue the IWR later.
If we had chosen Wesley Clark or Howard Dean as our nominee, I would be saying the very same things.
We will argue later about having the candidate of our dreams.
This isn't about the latest Gimmick of the Week produced by the media for your consumption, which handily distracts us from the important issues of the day.
It isn't about winning for the sake of winning.
It is simply about enough of us not satisfied with the status quo; we're enraged, discomforted, alienated, or just plain tired of what is. We dare dream about what could be. We know this nation has done better, and can do better again.
We will not be defined by a perpetual war or the fear which is marketed with it.
As liberals, we seek change, and reject a status quo that divides the nation further, costs billions in our taxes, costs too many lives abroad, and leaves us adrift, no compass, no life raft, and no beacon to take us home.
The triumph of liberalism is our history of reform, struggle, and progress. When enough people, regardless of ideology, are tired of the America that is, and want a better life for ourselves and our descendants, we change it. We fix it. We love America enough to continually strive for its improvement. We are the patriots who hold fast to the ideals of liberty, equality, and the pursuit of our dreams. Happiness, it has been called. I like having that as a choice, and an inalienable human right. I know you do too.
When the changes of the past become the status quo, and the entrenched conservatism of the present, we change things again. Or at least, we should.
When we don't, we allow the forces of reaction to take over.
Folks, they have taken over.
We must be mindful of our history, even as we look forward. Too often, we dismiss it at our peril. We live under a regime which scorns the past, while recklessly plundering forward with arrogant disregard of the consequences. The Republicans are the party of collective irresponsibility, as it were. What did we expect of a party that extols greed and selfishness as virtues? For once in his career, Bush told the truth when he sneered, "Who cares what you think?" That is on the current White House seal.
We live under a regime that mocks the opportunities of the underclass with empty promises of job growth. We live under a regime that mocks the rights of women and the sanctity of their bodies and minds.
We live under a regime that wages war for profit, while cynically exploiting our very real grief and outrage over an attack on our sisters and mothers and fathers and brothers of New York City, Washington D.C., and western Pennsylvania. Their lives have been exploited perversely. We know that, or millions wouldn't be flocking to see Michael Moore's film exposing this raw truth.
Haven't you had enough of this?
John Kerry and John Edwards are no saviors. They are politicians, and mortal human beings bound to fail us and disappoint us many times.
But we the people, seeking a more perfect union, should give them a chance to lead, and more importantly, a chance for us to lead them.
Out of this present darkness, quickly.
We will win, but you have to want it bad enough.
Win now, for there will be time enough for debate come late January next year and onward.
We will win, because I firmly believe enough Americans want change, to reject Bush and everything he has wrought, and to regain their confidence and optimism in ourselves and fellow travelers.
We will win.
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