Election Blues

A few days ago I had predicted a John Kerry win and here we are and Kerry is hanging on by a thread called Ohio. I can't express how disappointed I am that George Bush is probably going to reside in the White House for another four years.

Watching the election returns all night I have wondered at the wisdom of Americans and how I'm beginning to feel like I'm becoming a minority (and I'm a white male) in this country. Have we really become a country that thinks it's OK to ravage another country (Iraq) without ANY evidence that they would attack us? Have we accepted that our federal government should be allowed to operate with high levels of secrecy from their own people? Has a person's (Bush) fake moral stance really fooled so many Americans?

Have Americans really decided that corporate control over our lives and a large influence over goverment is desired? Have the citizens of this country decided that running up huge debts is a good thing? Do people not understand that our national debt is financed by countries like China and Saudi Arabia that thus causes them to have undue influence over our dealings with these countries?

I can hardly believe that of 11 states that had ballot measures that defined marraige as between a man and a women that they all passed these measures. What do people fear? It is not like gays and lesbians are doing something horrible like killing each other, it is about love. We are such a homophobic country, besides being selfish in voting to not allow some simple rights, like being able to help their partner die without that person worrying about what happens to their property rights.

Was voting for Bush so much about abortion? Are these pro-lifers really thinking about what happens if abortion becomes illegal? Do they really want to start throwing women in jail for having an abortion? Are they ready for the old method of coat hangars and suicides? And they don't care so much about life that they support the death penalty (despite the evidence of innocent people being klled by the state) or the slaughter of innocent Iraqis virtually every day?

Is it really about terrorist fear? Osama bin Laden just proved he is still alive over three years after 9/11, Bush hasn't done anything about him that any doofus in office could have done. Fear of terrorism is so ridiculous, as if some poor lonely lady in the rural area of Ohio has a reason to fear something will happen in her neck of the woods. Was "vote for Bush, I'm scared" the motivation of his support?

I could on and on, yet I'm still feeling like I'm standing out of the mainstream of this country and I haven't moved my stance in years. It is the country that keeps moving away from me. I look at some of the other races around the country and wonder what is wrong with peoples brains. Case in point is Republican Jim Bunning for senator in Kentucky.

Bunning once compared opponent Dan Mongiardo's physical appearance to one of Saddam Hussein's sons, and claimed his wife wound up "black and blue" after an unsubstantiated encounter with Mongiardo's staffers at a political picnic. He also refused to participate in one debate and would only appear in another by camera and used a telepromter. Apparently all a Republican has to do to win in Kentucky is say your opponent looks like a terrorist.

As saddened as I am feeling in this early morning I just have to remember that the world didn't implode and that if Bush is declared the winner than we will just have to endure more degradation of our stature as a country. I also will certainly be motivated to fight on for my beliefs. On the other hand maybe we will have a miracle and Kerry will somehow be declared the winner, but I'm not holding my breathe. I will accept that it was not to be, but I don't have to be silent for the next four years unless dissent becomes illegal.