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Each and every day since December 12, 2000, I have opened my eyes in the morning to see a world froth with pain, misery and sorrow. It was likely there before that infamous day in history, but so rarely are world events shaped with such crystal clarity as to know why these emotions exist.
It was on that day that the world changed, and not for the better. It was that day that made George W. Bush the winner in the Presidential election, and which started the downfall of good people everywhere in the world.
We have lived for almost four years under the reign of terror which has been the most illegitimate, the most rancid, the most lying and deceiving administration since even before the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s. President Nixon even had the decency to resign when the facts behind Watergate exploded--in this administration, there is no talk of resigning, no talk of absolution, only pointing the finger at yet another chump who will resign for "the sake of the cause."
This administration has had masterful liars in its employ. Joseph Goebbels would have been proud to have Karl Rove on his team! Ari Fleisher and now Scott McLennan would have upheld the Nazi coda very well, thank you very much. Their deceit and the deceit of almost every single member of this administration has managed to turn the United States into a war zone, no less dangerous as any skirmish in Iraq, Vietnam, Korea, or other foreign warzone. In many ways, the battles fought here are worse--they have split the country nearly down the middle, and produced enough hatred to scar our nation for many years to come.
Yes, the right will scream about our faults, too. And yes, we have them. But ultimately, the best test of which side is correct is run by peering into our future: are we better off with a distinction of class as the right-wing would have it: those 5% in the upper echelons of wealth controlling the other 95% of the country's population, with a lack of compassion for the environment, a lack of funding for public service, lost controls on pollution, the slaughter of animals, the lack of furtherance in scientific exploration, and most importantly, allowing that 95% of the country's population to lack basic services such as food, shelter and medical assistance? Under this continued regime, women would once again be relegated to a secondary place, much like the Taliban these peopleonce supported when it was vital to their secret agenda. The State would soon dictate to everyone that they MUST worship within the state approved religion, without regard to the personal beliefs of all. The United States would become a true oligarchy, without any of the merits which we have been able to claim for the past two hundred years. The Constitution would be a sham, and only the Second Amendment would be adhered to--reversing our nation back to the lawlessness that was part and parcel of the 1880's west of the Mississippi.
Most of us have been so angry for these past few years, simly trying to understand why there are people who will stick by this meglomaniac in the white house even now--even after all the scandals, the lies, the whitewashing of nearly every policy that was created to help ease the pain of those citizens living in abject poverty, who have nothing, not even hope to carry on, to deny them basic rights such as heat in the wintertime and basic medical help, and the unraveling of every good thing the United States once stood for.
Our meme for the past three years and eight months has been "anyone but Bush" and our strongest, most fervent desire has been to oust this imposter from his throne inside the white house, as he cowers letting all his minions to do his dirty work for him. Unlike some decent people who would surely have noticed this madman's instability, his cabinet of privileged, arrogant and immoral sycophants will galdly do what they're told. They believe in their cause, some so slavishly as to have sane people question their sanity as well.
We have come this far, despite everything. We have managed to oust the first in the Bush line, and now we must do the same to the coward in the white house now. We must overcome the threads of fear and hesitancy we feel, which have colored our own despair and frustration since the coup d'etat that was the 2000 mock election.
Daily polls, daily surveys, daily indicators of the race are not good for us to obsess over. There is a trend whenever the right wing issues some damning propaganda, regardless of the outcome. People are influenced, but ultimately, they must let their own choices come from whatever there is inside of them that speaks to common sense. If they lack common sense, so will their choice be made that reflects that lack of common sense. The right wing has mastered the campaign of dirty tricks, and uses everything in its arsenal to combat the truth and the true spirit of freedom of choice in this country. They have managed to make their party speak far more to the herds of the undereducated, those who hold strong and unerring beliefs, those with strong prejudices against other religions, other races, other belief systems. They have managed to use these tools to gain votes, even for those who might, on some level, know that their choice is based not on their betterment, but on their common hatreds, their common bigotries and intolerance.
I sigh every day now, wondering if people who are suffering without jobs, without health insurance, without hope and without the knowledge of the true agenda of the current administration will finally see the light and realize this. I wonder every day if the common decency that is in most people will overcome their hatreds, their intolerance and their stubbornness to help rid us of this abusive and arrogant regime. I hold a small candle toward hope that this, too, shall have a happy ending. I wonder, though, how far down do we need to sink before the base emotion of hate is displaced with others, such as caring, compassion and the desire to allow all to live as they please, without twisting others to suit our own beliefs and conceptions.
All I can do is hope.
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