the day after

[ciroccoj]

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.

Comments

[hallucinateme.livejournal.com]

Through all of my anger and the animosity that is building at the people who voted for him and his political machine that worked to hard to suppress the votes of others, I have to thank you for this post.

It's interesting to me to see the views of others on the outside and it's funny because that is one thing (among many) that this Administration does not do. The song says that 'No Man is an Island', but they are doing their damndest to make us into one. We *are* standing alone and it's the fault of these incompetents who have supplanted our government. They weren't voted in there. They were placed there.

So how fair is it for our men and women to die in Iraq to ensure that the Iraquis are allowed to have their vote counted, yet people in urban areas here in the US are being actively disenfranchised?

Sorry to go on in your journal. Thank you again for this post and thanks for your hugs. We truly need them.

*hugs*

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Sorry to go on in your journal.

Go on anytime :)

Thank you again for this post and thanks for your hugs. We truly need them.

You're welcome. Glad it helped.

BTW, can I get a link to your political journal?

[ninja-kat.livejournal.com]

I know how disappointed and upset _I_ am over this election and I'm not American - I can only imagine how much worse it must be.

I second your thoughts and extend my sympathies and hugs to all those like-minded Americans.

[jenniferjames.livejournal.com]

::hugs back::

And a hearty amen to everything you said.

((Jim))

[(Anonymous)]

I offer you ~~~virtual chocolate~~~

One of the nice things about not watching tv is not getting emotionally involved in this election. I have been able to be fairly distanced from it. I have a passionate opinion, but I don't feel wrung out. I haven't had my emotions manipulated by the music and words and images of the press. I haven't put my life on hold to watch the agony of results slowly pouring in while listening to the godawful commentary of pundits.

Sarah

Re: ((Jim))

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

I haven't had my emotions manipulated by the music and words and images of the press.

Oh, god, me neither. I was working on my ADR paper and Law Review article and checking the CNN website every fifteen minutes or so. I can't imagine watching it live; I probably would've gone to get some of Chris' homebrew and become royally drunk for about the fourth time in my life.

Thanks for the chocolate :)

the election

[(Anonymous)]

This election was incredibly sad. I am sitting here listening to Kerry's concession speech and feeling more in the dumps than I was this morning.

A lot of us in America are worried that Bush's election is a big fuck you to the world. I don't feel that way! I care and want to continue to try to get America to do right by our own citizens and the world community. Almost half our citizens didn't vote for Bush and don't support him or his policies.

thank you for your words about considering what happens if we leave. (My first comment to my husband this morning is maybe its not too cold in Canada).

I can't recall if I registered for your journal or not.
- Kathy (kpeal)

Re: the election

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

I don't feel that way! I care and want to continue to try to get America to do right by our own citizens and the world community. Almost half our citizens didn't vote for Bush and don't support him or his policies.

I was almost in tears during Kerry's speech. Taking the heartbreak of this situation and trying to see some good in it was tough, but somehow he managed to get at least some glimmers of optimism there. And I hope people can keep a hold of what he pointed out: that at the beginning of the race, nobody believed anybody would stand a chance against Bush. The fact that it was close should count for something.

I can't recall if I registered for your journal or not.

I'm not sure what you mean - is that a reference to my comment about my f-list? I edited that because it didn't reflect what I actually meant, which was "to any Americans who didn't vote for Bush."

There isn't any registration for lj journals; you can read whatever public posts are put out there. "f-list" refers to other livejournal users who you declare to be "Friends" (a term I dislike - some of my dearest friends don't have ljs, which means they can't be my "Friends"). Declaring another lj user a Friend just means that when you want to have a read through other people's ljs, you click on your Friends button and there they all are. You don't have to go look for each individual blog.

[bast2.livejournal.com]

i'm not an american on your flist, but i am an american with the same sentiments as those on your flist.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

i'm not an american on your flist, but i am an american with the same sentiments as those on your flist.

Sorry, I didn't mean to be exclusionary, but I guess I was. I'll reword it to say what I actually meant.

And I'm sorry, bast2. This is a lousy day all around.

[jessebee.livejournal.com]

Hugs back to you, cirocco, from down here in the southeast USA, where a truly appalling number of my fellow citizens have proved their bigotry to the n-th degree. Me and mine are battening down the hatches and looking for ways to weather the coming storm. Worse things may be on the way, but by the gods we're going down kicking if we go down.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Worse things may be on the way, but by the gods we're going down kicking if we go down.

Times like these are the reason why the two-term limit is such a wonderful idea. So that even if you do go down, you can come back up in four years and try again.

what we really deserve

[animaltalker.livejournal.com]

is for the freaking Democratic party to get its act together and realize that the American people are moderates! Americans are not ultra liberals, nor are they rich blue bloods. Americans liked Slick Willy even if he couldn't keep it in his pants because at least he didn't seem to be looking down at them. He'd lived the American dream, he'd come from poverty. Maybe Bush is likable because he's not the A student and because he's overcome an addiction. People with a bit of insight know he's a puppet with some very scary handlers but to gullible people he looks like a man who is loyal to his friends. the powers that be in the Democratic party had better wake up and smell the coffee and get a clue about who the American people are and what truly motivates them or they are going to be beaten election after election and the two party system is going to become a fallacy.

I hate it when the American people get what they deserve.

Re: what we really deserve

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

realize that the American people are moderates! Americans are not ultra liberals

Which of Kerry's beliefs do you think were ultra-liberal? I'm asking out of genuine curiosity, not to challenge or put down your statements in any way.