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At least it's over.
Nov. 3rd, 2004 06:56 pmI guess I'm not the first to write about being depressed today, and I'm sure I won't be the last. Honestly, I've never expected Kerry to win, though. It was just a feeling I had, and it started before they started talking about it being a close race. I kept thinking there was hope, and I would love to be pleasantly surprised, but I couldn't get that expectation of victory in my heart. Probably my psychic tendencies revealing themselves--or, as I'm afraid is more the case, my utter lack of faith in the intelligence of humanity revealing itself.
Look, I wasn't the biggest Kerry fan in the world. I liked him; I was committed to the reponsibility of electing him as president, but we weren't close or personal friends. There were things about him I wasn't wild about, but I remain staunchly in love with what he stands for--namely, an America that doesn't treat its women, its minorities and its poor as second-class citizens, an America with economic growth and a shrinking unemployment rate, an America that doesn't invade countries and lie shamelessly about the reasons. I'm under no illusions that Kerry's America would be paradise, but I know that it would be a better place. It's simple statistics--no place else to go than up.
I woke up before my alarm went off this morning. As I was lying there in bed, watching CNN, a smirking reporter/analyst/politician (or whatever he was) was discussing the strategies of the Democratic party, and how in this election, they have laid the groundwork for a cultural phenomenen that will eliminate them from ever being a governing party, or some such nonsense. Then I hear four or five times that the main issues in this election were morals and Iraq, and basically implied that Senator Kerry didn't have a chance next to the moral paragon that is our esteemed leader. And I'm lying there, still vulnerable from sleep, and I'm wondering.. morality is what won Bush this election? Is this little bastard telling me at six in the morning that my values are questionable because I don't believe in the propoganda being fed to us by the president?
As it happens, this was a hit below the belt for me, because I think there is sometimes a fine line between being open-minded and accepting of everyone.. and of just not being willing to stand up for what you believe to be right and wrong. It's something I worry about because I am, in so many ways, very different from my old-fashioned family, which causes me to constantly reevaluate what I think and what I believe. For example, I was raised to think that homosexuality was wrong, and bad, and evil. I accepted that; for it was The Way. When I was old enough to think for myself, I realized that I didn't agree with that at all, and now it makes me cringe to see that other people still believe it. I'm writing this mainly to given an example on how I am different from my family, and to let you know why the issue of open-mindedness and morality is a tough one for me sometimes when discussions come up. My mom gives me that mother-look sometimes, and I know that she's thinking that she raised me better than to believe in [insert one: gay marriage, abortion, interracial dating, shacking up, gender equality.. okay, that one isn't fair, but we do have heated disagreements upon occasion as to what is appropriate and not appropriate for a woman.] But I believe in these things--I believe strongly in the concept that everyone is alike and deserves a fair break. I believe that if it doesn't hurt someone else or yourself, it's probably okay. I believe that love is more important than barriers, and I believe that God is real and good, and I believe that honesty and integrity are important characteristics for people to have, and how dare they tell me that those values are immoral?
Do you know what the definition of a liberal is? A liberal is "a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties." I think that bears repeating. Progress and reform and civil liberties. So tell me why "liberal" has become such a nasty insult during this election? Tell me why we're living in a world where the worst thing you can think of to say about someone is that they're in favor of progress and reform and civil liberties? I am as proud to wear the label of liberal as I am to wear the label of feminist, and it makes me very sad to think of the political arena which has allowed this to happen.
Look, I wasn't the biggest Kerry fan in the world. I liked him; I was committed to the reponsibility of electing him as president, but we weren't close or personal friends. There were things about him I wasn't wild about, but I remain staunchly in love with what he stands for--namely, an America that doesn't treat its women, its minorities and its poor as second-class citizens, an America with economic growth and a shrinking unemployment rate, an America that doesn't invade countries and lie shamelessly about the reasons. I'm under no illusions that Kerry's America would be paradise, but I know that it would be a better place. It's simple statistics--no place else to go than up.
I woke up before my alarm went off this morning. As I was lying there in bed, watching CNN, a smirking reporter/analyst/politician (or whatever he was) was discussing the strategies of the Democratic party, and how in this election, they have laid the groundwork for a cultural phenomenen that will eliminate them from ever being a governing party, or some such nonsense. Then I hear four or five times that the main issues in this election were morals and Iraq, and basically implied that Senator Kerry didn't have a chance next to the moral paragon that is our esteemed leader. And I'm lying there, still vulnerable from sleep, and I'm wondering.. morality is what won Bush this election? Is this little bastard telling me at six in the morning that my values are questionable because I don't believe in the propoganda being fed to us by the president?
As it happens, this was a hit below the belt for me, because I think there is sometimes a fine line between being open-minded and accepting of everyone.. and of just not being willing to stand up for what you believe to be right and wrong. It's something I worry about because I am, in so many ways, very different from my old-fashioned family, which causes me to constantly reevaluate what I think and what I believe. For example, I was raised to think that homosexuality was wrong, and bad, and evil. I accepted that; for it was The Way. When I was old enough to think for myself, I realized that I didn't agree with that at all, and now it makes me cringe to see that other people still believe it. I'm writing this mainly to given an example on how I am different from my family, and to let you know why the issue of open-mindedness and morality is a tough one for me sometimes when discussions come up. My mom gives me that mother-look sometimes, and I know that she's thinking that she raised me better than to believe in [insert one: gay marriage, abortion, interracial dating, shacking up, gender equality.. okay, that one isn't fair, but we do have heated disagreements upon occasion as to what is appropriate and not appropriate for a woman.] But I believe in these things--I believe strongly in the concept that everyone is alike and deserves a fair break. I believe that if it doesn't hurt someone else or yourself, it's probably okay. I believe that love is more important than barriers, and I believe that God is real and good, and I believe that honesty and integrity are important characteristics for people to have, and how dare they tell me that those values are immoral?
Do you know what the definition of a liberal is? A liberal is "a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties." I think that bears repeating. Progress and reform and civil liberties. So tell me why "liberal" has become such a nasty insult during this election? Tell me why we're living in a world where the worst thing you can think of to say about someone is that they're in favor of progress and reform and civil liberties? I am as proud to wear the label of liberal as I am to wear the label of feminist, and it makes me very sad to think of the political arena which has allowed this to happen.
