(no subject)

Oh, god. Waking up to Bush: 254, Kerry: 252, with Bush poised to take Ohio. I want to go back to bed.

the day after

I don't remember ever looking at election results with tears in my eyes. Even though it was expected and almost inevitable, it's still incredibly sad. One of the greatest nations the world has ever known has just shouted out one of the biggest "Fuck You"s in history, and the rest of us can only sit here and take it.

• Fuck You to the rest of the planet, who, except for some world leaders, were praying and wishing and hoping for some acknowledgement that we mattered to the US. That American citizens would stop and ask themselves why the rest of the world has turned against them, and where all that good will and compassion that we showed after 9/11 had gone. Why the same people who flew American flags and put their own flags at half-mast and held vigils and donated money and blood around the world now look at America with fear and disgust.
  
  
• FY to the environment, to small island nations disappearing, to African crops withering, to the Arctic melting, to Northern mothers unable to breastfeed their babies without poisoning them, to the fragile efforts of the world to salvage what we can from this mess. Because nothing matters as long as American voters can rest assured that if they save up, they can get a big-ass SUV and fill it up more cheaply than anybody else on the planet.
  
  
• FY to their own American poor, who are much worse off than in 2000, have lost jobs, have virtually no health care... but who cares. Certainly not the majority of Americans.
  
  
• FY to their own GLBT population, whose love and commitment to one another is an affront to the moral sensibilities of many of the same people who don't mind their own soldiers having a fine old time torturing Iraqi prisoners and taking pictures of themselves doing it.
  
  
• FY to their own soldiers, who will continue to die in Iraq.
  
  
• FY to New York state, who suffered the most on 9/11 but still, for some reason, voted for Kerry.

This list is just too long and depressing to continue.

I applaud those of you, American and otherwise, who are able to see something positive right now and who are putting out posts like minervacat's and jennyo's. I admire them, but right now I can't emulate them, because this is just too damn sad.

I will say this, to everybody who has posted about moving to Canada: America's loss would be our gain, and my guest room is wide open for you all. I'd even help with immigration stuff, because as lonejaguar and heathers know, it's not that easy a process.

But first, consider that America's loss of your ideals and passion and intelligence would be a big loss for us all. If you leave America, then the only people left driving the biggest economy and strongest military power in the world will be selfish, mouthbreathing idiots. Right now, they may be at the wheel, but you have at least a chance of pestering them until they drive to a few places you want to go just to shut you up. You have at least a chance of getting them to occasionally not drive over other people's lawns. If you leave, they'll just drive their damn tank over all the rest of us, with no second thought.


::hugs:: to you all, especially all the Americans who didn't vote for Bush. I'm so sorry, guys. You deserve better from your fellow citizens than this.

three reactions

• ( Transcript of George Bush's victory speech )
  
  
  
• ( Transcript of John Kerry's concession speech )
  
  
  
  
• heathers, you told offscreen it was OK link to your entry. I hope it's OK for me to do so too. And I agree - "Words barely express what we feel".