Abraham Lincoln famously said that the hen is the wisest of nature’s creatures because it doesn’t cluck until the egg is laid. As those of us on the left side of the political divide continue adding up the victories the polls tell us we are sure to win across the nation come election day, I feel not a shred of joy, confidence, or ease.
In fact, I strain and struggle to keep my hopes from erupting into anticipation. Recent history has shown that this is, at minimum, a wise precaution.
We have only to remember the Rovian smirks and winks in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential debacle to be reminded that, democracy be damned, the Machiavellian Marauders will have their day. They seemed to know something no one else did, and boy, did they ever. Between Katherine Harris, Clarence Thomas, Bush’s first cousin at the helm of Fox News to claim victory prematurely, and who-knows-how-many other enemies of democracy working away beneath the population’s radar, it’s no wonder there was sound sleep in the suburbs of Waco that month. While the country and the world held their collective breath, wondering if the people’s will would be realized in the election of Al Gore, Shallow George slept like a baby. His stormtroopers were out and about, after all, fixing the election.
I honestly don’t think anything so trivial as the Constitution or the will of the people will get in the way of our sociopathic, paranoid Republican cabal this time around. Power, after all, is it’s own end, and the means to that end, when unstitched from the fabric of civil society, with its recognition of human corruptibility and its eminently civilized system of checks and balances, will surely run amok.
Nationalism will prevent us from seeing reality. Fear will be the cement that keeps the illusions intact. Saddam’s upcoming guilty verdict, as carefully timed by the Republican death-eaters as the release of the hostages on Reagan’s inauguration day so many years ago, will provide the plausibility factor when the election results bear no resemblance to the polls. The corporate-dominated media will abdicate its responsibility to tell the truth. No- it will MEET its responsibility – to make money and consolidate power.
And thanks to Diebold and the corrupt Republican congress, there will be no paper trail to follow when those of us foolish enough to believe in the people’s right to self-governance start to howl for recounts.
Once again, there we will be, left-wingers bringing a knife to a gunfight. God help us if the John Roberts Supreme Court is called on to do its duty.
As I sit here in my office at the mental hospital I can no longer be assured who the sane people are.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
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1 comment:
What I find disturbing is the remarkable ability of the Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. John Kerry's latest gaffe seems like a classic example. It becomes meaningless to parse what he "meant to say."
We have entered a postmodern universe where "everyone knows that politicians lie", it's the nature of the lie that determines the results... grace under fire, if you will. This is comparable about the mockery of W's inability to speak clearly from the goofier side of the left; this misses the real point that this guy does real damage each time he delegates a decision to Dick Cheney (I speak optimistically here).
Kerry's camp suffers from the same problem it always has; it is clearly out of touch with itself. Those who wrote the actual line in the speech should have known that a) Kerry would blow the joke, and b) that the joke itself is not very funny and is obtuse and possibly mean. It's ad hominem attack which does not seem to resonate well in reality. The idea that this war was created because Bush had "a poor education," misses the fact that he had all the educational opportunities in the world. It's just not a funny joke, and though I may or may not agree with the sentiment; it misses the point. It suggests that the opposition is stupid... the battle has already been lost if this hits the mainstream.
The Republicans may steal the vote in this midterm election, but it seems almost as if the Democrats want them to win, so they can play the game of the clever underdog. Winning seems difficult if you cant remember how you did it the last time; the GTL here is an exception to the rule. Most of us are fearful, and uncomfortable with the idea of regarding ourselves as authorities.
Until we begin to feel we have the RIGHT to win, lead, or make actual decisions, the left will continue to be at a steady disadvantage.
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