| I stopped. Looked squarely at the tree and in a calm and clear voice declared "voter suppression". Remember, folks, today is Election Day. That means that anything that goes even the slightest bit wrong can be considered voter suppression.
My stapler is out of staples. Voter suppression.
This iced tea is not exactly as cold as I would like. Voter suppression.
Try it. It's fun.
Seriously, though, you know, things were different four years ago. Check out what I wrote on Election Day in 2004 - the whole thing reeks of hopelessness. Things feel much different today don't they?
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Henning says:
Election Day 2004. Blee blee blee, blah blah blah, bloo boo bloo.
There is so much noise and nonsense coming from every direction, it's hard to even have the energy to consider anything. My biggest problem with the world and with this country is the way people seem to speak in absolute truths. The sickness in America is an unfounded belief that there is black and white in every situation. As long as people believe in a world of only good and evil with no middle ground, we are destined for pointless rhetoric and useless conversation.
Conviction is of little value to me. Steadfast resolve is an annoying phrase that means stubbornness. Taking a stand is not nearly as important as considering consequences.
I honestly don't know what is going to happen tonight. I don't know which candidate will win. I don't know if either will. How can a country be so divided about who to choose? It's a sham. We're in shambles.
You know, I went to schools, I'm a pretty intelligent guy in general but I know so little about what's REALLY going on that I am embarrassed. How is anybody supposed to know what to do? I watched the debates (or as much of them as I could stand) and all I saw were two pathetic people saying yah-huh and nah-uh back and forth. They were useless. In the end you just wound up favoring the person who seemed less despicable to you. Kerry formed full sentences, Bush whined and smirked at the audience (and what was that bulge in the back of his suit? why haven't I heard more about it?), but really neither of them seemed to say anything with any substance.
To me the choice is very clear. I can't imagine having to spend another four years seeing that smirking monkey zealot on the tv screen. I'll have to vote for John Kerry, Nader would be my first choice but I am just too scared of Bush. I'm sorry for selling out that way and cowing to the fear, but I was home sick during the initial invasion of Iraq way back and I spent hour after hour watching explosion after explosion and it was sickening. It was Bush who was dropping those bombs against the wishes of pretty much the entire human population. Dude, what's up with that?
Actually, it isn't Bush who scares me so much. He's just an older version of Ahsley Simpson who is lip syncing his way through life. It's the machine behind him that is scary. Men who have tasted the amazing things that they can get away with in this crazy world and are using their new powers in selfish ways. And nothing scares me more than the fundamentalist christian right.
So, I'm listening to Neil Young. A voice of reason set to honest music to try and undo some of the overwhelming distrust that I've been feeling thanks to being lied to by, I guess, uninformed talking heads for so long.
Tonight I will have a band practice and then a few folks will hang out and we'll watch the election results roll in. I'll probably tune into The Daily Show for that since (even though Jon Stewart goes out of his way to say it isn't so) the things they say seem to make more sense than what I hear anywhere else on TV.
I have no idea what to expect. Will Kerry win? Will Kerry lose? Will the litigation continue for months and start a civil war? How can a war be civil? It all seems so enormous and insurmountable and messy. Is anybody offering a glimmer of hope? Does it even matter who becomes president? Yes, it does.
I'm blabbering, I'm being overwhelmed. It's too big. I'll vote and then I'm going to concentrate on smaller things. Band practice. Snacks. Looking through old photographs. Turning on the lights during the dark days of early winter in New England.
Tomorrow will still be Wednesday. Leaves will still be all over the place. See you then.
That was four years ago. This is now. Go out there and vote! It's a small world.
2 comments:
It's hard to have hope. I want to be hopeful but the child who became aware of politics because watergate was all over the television is having a major case of voter suppression anxiety. Listening to oldies instead of talk radio.
Thanks for the hope infusion.
I feel better now, thanks again
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