(no subject)
It's been quite some time since an update, but I figured theres no time like the present. When my friends list is buzzing with discussion of the election, I felt that I should contribute, even just a little bit.
There's probably no doubt in the mind of anyone who knows me that I was (and still am, I suppose) a supporter of the Kerry Edwards campaign. On election day I used my day off to work for the Democrats in my town and hold a Kerry Edwards sign to the joy or displeasure of passing cars. I planned a little get together for the election night results with friends, and I even decorated my living room with an american flag, and Kerry Edwards signs like "Help is on the way" and "The Real Deal- Kerry Edwards". But as the results came in, our hopes fluttered and then died. And as much as I had invested in the idea that the election would be drawn out and couldn't end this easily, I knew that it was all over. I knew that the republican's had taken Ohio, and I knew that no counting of provisional or absantee ballots would ever change that.
When I heard that Kerry had stepped down, I reacted with an inner pang of stress and worry for all of us. I could not believe that a cause that had obsessed to many people's lives for nine months was over in less than 24 hours. I guess when Tori celebrated with Kate (a friend of mines who's locker is two down from my own) on the victory in Ohio, it acted like a Catalyst. I muttered something about dead soldiers in tears, but decided to go no further. I was visibly moved by what happened, but now I'm ready.
Being depressed about this election isn't giong to help anything- there is way too much work to be done.
The next four years of our lives can either bring the worst out of our government, or the best out of its people. The President said on wednsday that he will work together to unite this country, but unfortunately Mr. President, you are too much of a walking example of what we are divided over. You have inherited a country in which 48% of its people will not be easily moved from our strict stance against you and your beliefs.
Bush's four more years is only the tip of the iceberg. With the republican majority in the House of Representatives and Senate, and the likelihood that he will be appointing up to four supreme court justices in the next four years, Mr. Bush has control in all three branches of our great goverment. The decisions he makes in the second half of his presidency will be echoed for decades longer. If he continues his path, our environmental itinerary will have to be put on hold for even longer, something that may not be able to be done for much longer. The problems abroad will grow exponentially, and our foreigng policy will get narrower and narrower.
We have seen what this man can do with the executive branch alone, just imagine what he can do in his next term. We need to take the power away from him, and our next oppurtunity is jsut around the corner. In the fall of 2006, we need to take back the legislative branch. And we need to start working now.
My trip to the UN on thursday, and an extensive political discussion both ways on the bus has made me feel a hundred times better about what happened. I have so much faith in my generation, and I have so much faith in the world abroad. I don't think we can outcast the red states, we need provide them an unfiltered look at what the administration has done, and what they will do in the future.
I have faith, but I didn't read it in any ancient book. I feel it in the world around me.
There's probably no doubt in the mind of anyone who knows me that I was (and still am, I suppose) a supporter of the Kerry Edwards campaign. On election day I used my day off to work for the Democrats in my town and hold a Kerry Edwards sign to the joy or displeasure of passing cars. I planned a little get together for the election night results with friends, and I even decorated my living room with an american flag, and Kerry Edwards signs like "Help is on the way" and "The Real Deal- Kerry Edwards". But as the results came in, our hopes fluttered and then died. And as much as I had invested in the idea that the election would be drawn out and couldn't end this easily, I knew that it was all over. I knew that the republican's had taken Ohio, and I knew that no counting of provisional or absantee ballots would ever change that.
When I heard that Kerry had stepped down, I reacted with an inner pang of stress and worry for all of us. I could not believe that a cause that had obsessed to many people's lives for nine months was over in less than 24 hours. I guess when Tori celebrated with Kate (a friend of mines who's locker is two down from my own) on the victory in Ohio, it acted like a Catalyst. I muttered something about dead soldiers in tears, but decided to go no further. I was visibly moved by what happened, but now I'm ready.
Being depressed about this election isn't giong to help anything- there is way too much work to be done.
The next four years of our lives can either bring the worst out of our government, or the best out of its people. The President said on wednsday that he will work together to unite this country, but unfortunately Mr. President, you are too much of a walking example of what we are divided over. You have inherited a country in which 48% of its people will not be easily moved from our strict stance against you and your beliefs.
Bush's four more years is only the tip of the iceberg. With the republican majority in the House of Representatives and Senate, and the likelihood that he will be appointing up to four supreme court justices in the next four years, Mr. Bush has control in all three branches of our great goverment. The decisions he makes in the second half of his presidency will be echoed for decades longer. If he continues his path, our environmental itinerary will have to be put on hold for even longer, something that may not be able to be done for much longer. The problems abroad will grow exponentially, and our foreigng policy will get narrower and narrower.
We have seen what this man can do with the executive branch alone, just imagine what he can do in his next term. We need to take the power away from him, and our next oppurtunity is jsut around the corner. In the fall of 2006, we need to take back the legislative branch. And we need to start working now.
My trip to the UN on thursday, and an extensive political discussion both ways on the bus has made me feel a hundred times better about what happened. I have so much faith in my generation, and I have so much faith in the world abroad. I don't think we can outcast the red states, we need provide them an unfiltered look at what the administration has done, and what they will do in the future.
I have faith, but I didn't read it in any ancient book. I feel it in the world around me.