It was a great day for American Theocracy.
The election is over and we're in a deep funk here at the Smith household. It's been a tumultuous 7 days around here.
A week ago I was in Belgium, talking to Belgians about their fears over another 4-year Bush administration. Sunday was the long Trans-Atlantic flight home. On Monday, we stayed up late watching C-SPAN with Bruce Springsteen introducing John Kerry at the last big rally of the campaign in Cleveland, Ohio.
That night, I could hardly sleep. Missouri has no early voting opportunity, so I had been eager to cast my vote for John Kerry for several weeks. At 4:30 AM on election day I was up and ready to go. I rode my bike throught the dark to the polling place and was there at the front of the line at 5:30. After so many months, to finally cast my vote for change was cathartic and exhilarating. On the way to work that day I blared Springsteen and sang "No Surrender" at the top of my voice. Life felt full of possibilities and hope, and later that night we settled in for the long night of election returns.
Virtually all of the states that were expected to vote a certain way did so without any real surprises, so it clearly was going to come down to Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. Pennsylvania went the earliest for Kerry and the jubilation amongst the faithful was palpable whenever those results were announced. The early exit polls in Florida looked good for John Kerry, but when the actual results came in, Bush clearly held the lead. It then came down to Ohio, but the lead for Bush was much higher than when he barely led Al Gore in Florida 4 years ago. It became clear as the night wore on that it just wasn't going to happen for Kerry.
On Wednesday, I think both candidates acted properly in their responses to the still-uncertain result. Bush could have declared an early victory but didn't, and Kerry could have called for a long, drawn-out recount but didn't.
Now, it's all over but the mourning. I feel sort of like the Chinese students in 1989 after the tanks rolled through Tiananmen Square and thumped the patriots who had been rallying for democracy. All of the excitement and potential for sending the country in a new direction has been replaced by a sad resignation that we are looking at 4 more years of "more of the same". More ideology over reason, more fiscal irresponsibility, more radical military exercises in fighting evildoing, more global warming, more jobs shipped overseas, more children left behind, more tax breaks for corporations and more tax breaks for the rich.
Hey , wait a minute..... WE'RE rich!
That means, more tax breaks for US!
More wealth! More riches!
Well, that's not so bad after all!
This realization (along with the vodka) is makng me feel a whole lot better!
I'm beginning to see this election in a whole new light!
What we have seen here is nothing other than a populist REVOLUTION!
The collective voice of the common man, the middle-class, the average Joe Six-packer who has banded together in unity with his other fellow red-stater brethren to shout out a clear message to the wealthy, liberal, intellectual, New York, Hollywood, latte-sipping wealthy elite, and that message is this:
"WE HAVE THE POWER in this country! NOT YOU!
WE RULE!
And we will USE USE OUR POWER time and time again for one purpose:
To LOWER YOUR TAXES!
And there's nothing you can DO about it!
WE WILL LOWER YOUR TAXES! Even if it means sacrificing our countryside, our lakes, river and streams!
WE WILL LOWER YOUR TAXES! Even if we have to go without health insurance or low-priced medications!
WE WILL LOWER YOUR TAXES, even if we have to sacrifice our own civil liberties and support state-sponsored torture!
WE WILL LOWER YOUR TAXES! Even if it means mortgaging the futures of our children who will someday bear the burden of paying off trillions in debt!
Debt we took on in order to be able to LOWER YOUR TAXES!
WE WILL LOWER YOUR TAXES! Even of we have to sacrifice our sons and daughters to fight your wars and fill the coffers of your corporations while avenging the President's family honor!
AND WE WON"T STOP THERE!
WE WILL LOWER THE TAXES ON THOSE CORPORATIONS! Then we will cut the taxes that you pay when trading the stocks of those corporations! And when you die, YOU WILL NOT pay any taxes on the your estates!
NONE OF THIS UNEARNED INCOME WILL BE TAXED!
WE will shoulder the greater burden for this country, NOT YOU!
And there's NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP US!
All we ask in return is that our government hates the stuff that we hate, like abortion, gay people, and embryonic stem-cell research!
THAT"S ENOUGH FOR US!
The don't even require that the Government actually has to OUTLAW gay marriage, abortion or embryonic stem-cell research, because, heh, heh, ... none of these issues really impacts our day-to-day lives at all anyway!
IT JUST MAKE US FEEL CLOSER TO GOD IF THE PRESIDENT HATES WHAT WE HATE!
THEN, WE WILL LOWER YOUR RICH, LIBERAL, EFFETE, INTELLECTUAL, LATTE-SIPPING ELITE TAXES, and there's NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!"
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Whew! Thanks, red-staters! I'm feeling a whole lot better now!
The real Grampa Smith is spinning.
Posted by: Jim Smith | November 05, 2004 at 08:51 AM
The real Grampa Smith is spinning.
Posted by: Jim Smith | November 05, 2004 at 08:51 AM
Just had the courage and the strength to visit and read. Brought back too many bad memories of election day mourning. Can you believe the Rice decision for Sec of State? Anyway. Four more years and it is over. Congratulations on your new found wealth. RE Dad's comment, Grandpa Smith was also rich.
Posted by: Zanny | November 19, 2004 at 09:40 AM