Clear? Crystal.
Nov. 3rd, 2004 10:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fictionalAt some point last night, I saw Barack Obama say, on television, that the American people are not an ideological people. He said they were a practical people. I don't know what America he was talking about, but I wish I lived in it. Certainly, we were told resoundingly last night that this was not the case here.
Ideologues are frightening, of whatever stripe. They cannot be reasoned with through logic, they are not pragmatic, they do not look after their own best interests. That is who we are living among. It is not even the fact that the Democrats lost both the house and the senate last night that concerns me, it is the manner in which it happened. People do not care about scandals, or stupidity, or bigotry. People last night emphatically voted against their own economic interests. The majority of Americans voted for the religious right, because of 'social issues'. Because they wanted to support a 'wartime president'. Because they think that gay people, brown people, liberal people, non-American people are sub-human. Those are the facts of the case, and they are undisputed.
I want to live in a nation of practical people. I do. They might be evil, I might disagree with their policies. But at least I would understand them. It would make sense in my head.
The Republicans have figured out, (or genuinely believe, which in my opinion would be worse) that by espousing the ideals of the Religious Right, they can sweep the board. They get the centrists, and the 'moral majority'. The Democrats have not been able to do so, despite their move to the center and their attempts to woo the religious which continue to alienate true leftists. I see one of two things happening in the near future. Either the Democrats will have to join the 'moral majority' even more publicly and vocally then they have already. Or they will continue to be shunted off to an increasingly thinner border on the (slightly more) cosmopolitan coasts of the country. Either way, we lose.
I am not going to make any large statements about leaving the country: it would be ridiculous melodramatic grandstanding. But understand, it is not out of any patriotic alignment, or feeling that we need to heal the wounds, or any faith in the democratic system. What this election has further confirmed for me is that I do not know this country at all, besides the small corners in which I live, and the small groups of people I know personally. The rest of the country is apparently full of ignorant backwoods bigoted cretins, and apathetic assholes. This was always my fear, and it was proven to me last night. And I suppose that means they deserve what they get, though I am truly sorry that they are dragging us along for the ride. Last night I was filled with outrage, this morning I am cold.
I am not leaving the country - it would not be practical. I am staying here, in my city (which is not nearly as frightening as the rest of the country, admittedly), in my life. I will go to school, I will study, I will see my friends. If the situation deteriorates significantly, I will of course rethink. But till then, I'm staying right here. Those of us who care for one another, will look after each other with compassion and support. That will have to be enough, because it was made obvious last night that no one else will.
Ideologues are frightening, of whatever stripe. They cannot be reasoned with through logic, they are not pragmatic, they do not look after their own best interests. That is who we are living among. It is not even the fact that the Democrats lost both the house and the senate last night that concerns me, it is the manner in which it happened. People do not care about scandals, or stupidity, or bigotry. People last night emphatically voted against their own economic interests. The majority of Americans voted for the religious right, because of 'social issues'. Because they wanted to support a 'wartime president'. Because they think that gay people, brown people, liberal people, non-American people are sub-human. Those are the facts of the case, and they are undisputed.
I want to live in a nation of practical people. I do. They might be evil, I might disagree with their policies. But at least I would understand them. It would make sense in my head.
The Republicans have figured out, (or genuinely believe, which in my opinion would be worse) that by espousing the ideals of the Religious Right, they can sweep the board. They get the centrists, and the 'moral majority'. The Democrats have not been able to do so, despite their move to the center and their attempts to woo the religious which continue to alienate true leftists. I see one of two things happening in the near future. Either the Democrats will have to join the 'moral majority' even more publicly and vocally then they have already. Or they will continue to be shunted off to an increasingly thinner border on the (slightly more) cosmopolitan coasts of the country. Either way, we lose.
I am not going to make any large statements about leaving the country: it would be ridiculous melodramatic grandstanding. But understand, it is not out of any patriotic alignment, or feeling that we need to heal the wounds, or any faith in the democratic system. What this election has further confirmed for me is that I do not know this country at all, besides the small corners in which I live, and the small groups of people I know personally. The rest of the country is apparently full of ignorant backwoods bigoted cretins, and apathetic assholes. This was always my fear, and it was proven to me last night. And I suppose that means they deserve what they get, though I am truly sorry that they are dragging us along for the ride. Last night I was filled with outrage, this morning I am cold.
I am not leaving the country - it would not be practical. I am staying here, in my city (which is not nearly as frightening as the rest of the country, admittedly), in my life. I will go to school, I will study, I will see my friends. If the situation deteriorates significantly, I will of course rethink. But till then, I'm staying right here. Those of us who care for one another, will look after each other with compassion and support. That will have to be enough, because it was made obvious last night that no one else will.
