Long view.
I didn't vote today. I've already given my excuses in the long form, so here's the short - I don't believe in voting where you don't live, so I didn't vote in Missouri where I'm registered. I didn't know my Texas address till it was too late to register here. The night's winding down and I'm reading election posts, watching election reports, and going back and forth with some friends/otherwise on boards I haunt from time to time.
At the end of the day, the results don't really mean that much to me. People are still way too focused on the whole "us vs. them!" themes that come along each election. Things I wanted to see happen have happened and are hailed with the idea that "We're saving this country!" because of course everyone who doesn't share your philosophy is a waste of humanity. It's just such a waste of time - many people who dislike Bush are so frothing at the mouth over him that they're willing to take any "Not a Republican" step as a movement into nirvana. Taking back the House or Senate is nice and all, but alot of people quickly fail to recall how Republicans had practically gone into revolt against Bush this past year or so. The idea that things are suddenly going to "just change" now is the most dangerous kind of laurel-fiesta-having that I can imagine. Bush, Cheney, and whomever they want inside their little treehouse have made leaps and bounds towards isolating both themselves and their power from the outside world. Now instead of having to deal with the stark reality of Republicans fighting Republicans over their own insane foray into playground politics, those at the top can now just repeat the litany of "they're just out to get us!" when a Democrat-controlled body fights the administration.
Not that the change of power is a bad thing. It's just not the alpha and omega if you're looking for a change, guys. It's barely a first step at this point.
I'm happy that I have alot of friends that don't agree with me on several political topics. I think affirmative action is nice in theory but nearly useless in practice. I think public schools are rotting from the inside out and taking the country's youth with them. I think the government only has the right to legally descriminate between minors and adults - sex, race, sexual orientation, and religion should never enter into it. I think Social Security is a busted system that Bush certainly has no idea how to fix. I'm pretty sure that there are people reading this that don't agree with me, but as long as you and I can both accept we're trying to figure out what's best for people without hurting anyone, we're fine. The minute that we adopt the idea that those who don't share our view are destroying the country just because they're on the "other side", no matter if your side is D or R or WTFever, we're only cultivating the situation that this administration used to wrench control away from anyone besides themselves.
At the end of the day, the results don't really mean that much to me. People are still way too focused on the whole "us vs. them!" themes that come along each election. Things I wanted to see happen have happened and are hailed with the idea that "We're saving this country!" because of course everyone who doesn't share your philosophy is a waste of humanity. It's just such a waste of time - many people who dislike Bush are so frothing at the mouth over him that they're willing to take any "Not a Republican" step as a movement into nirvana. Taking back the House or Senate is nice and all, but alot of people quickly fail to recall how Republicans had practically gone into revolt against Bush this past year or so. The idea that things are suddenly going to "just change" now is the most dangerous kind of laurel-fiesta-having that I can imagine. Bush, Cheney, and whomever they want inside their little treehouse have made leaps and bounds towards isolating both themselves and their power from the outside world. Now instead of having to deal with the stark reality of Republicans fighting Republicans over their own insane foray into playground politics, those at the top can now just repeat the litany of "they're just out to get us!" when a Democrat-controlled body fights the administration.
Not that the change of power is a bad thing. It's just not the alpha and omega if you're looking for a change, guys. It's barely a first step at this point.
I'm happy that I have alot of friends that don't agree with me on several political topics. I think affirmative action is nice in theory but nearly useless in practice. I think public schools are rotting from the inside out and taking the country's youth with them. I think the government only has the right to legally descriminate between minors and adults - sex, race, sexual orientation, and religion should never enter into it. I think Social Security is a busted system that Bush certainly has no idea how to fix. I'm pretty sure that there are people reading this that don't agree with me, but as long as you and I can both accept we're trying to figure out what's best for people without hurting anyone, we're fine. The minute that we adopt the idea that those who don't share our view are destroying the country just because they're on the "other side", no matter if your side is D or R or WTFever, we're only cultivating the situation that this administration used to wrench control away from anyone besides themselves.