Lamentations
Color me depressed. I have the same sense I had when I was five and tornadoes hit Batesville. It was sudden chaos. My kindergarten class huddled under a flimsy table as one of the three monsters that hit our town roared down the street outside our window. After it passed, there was silence and things moved in slow motion for what seemed like days. I suddenly felt very alone and though I wouldn't have said it this way at age five, vulnerable in a way I didn't know was possible. That night I was tired from all of the adrenaline rushes, but I couldn't sleep. For no specific reason, I wanted to cry.
I feel like that now, and I'm incredibly angry. My eyes have bags under them big enough to hold loose change. My friends, like me, are dumbfounded that our country chose the ludicrous facade of morality and security Bush represents over the promise of a more honest, compassionate and intelligent administration. Whenever I see John (my John, not Kerry), I have to choke back tears because of what is now written into state constitutions all over the U.S., including my home state of Arkansas.
As I sit here in the Indianapolis airport I can't speak to anyone. I keep looking around thinking, "six in ten of you were stupid enough to be fooled by Bush--again!" I know it sounds judgmental. At the moment I can't help it.
Now I'm headed to DC for work. I hate that I have to be any where near that poor excuse for a man. I hate the sound of his affected voice. I don't know how true Texans stand it. I hate his dismissive attitude, his razor-thin veneer of sincerity. I hate his absolute dependence on people more intelligent and mean than he is to fill his head with something to say that might possibly pass for substance. I hate that he has NO clue about the experiences and problems of the people who voted for him (much less the ones who didn't). And I hate it that those who voted for him expect him to understand their needs--him, for whom even the concept of an honest day's work is an abstracted myth at best.
If you think I'm making a bigger deal out of this than I should and feel the need to tell me so, I recommend that you don't and that you KISS MY ASS instead. Don't tell me that now that he has won, even if it was a fair election, that I should get behind the president and support him. That is like telling a black person in the 1950s to ignore Jim Crow and support the administration that allowed it. Bush won't help protect me and my family, so he and his can wander around in their drug-induced stupors alone as far as I'm concerned. If they can't face his presidency sober, what makes people think it will be better for the rest of us?
I don't care if you are a family member, colleague, or fellow Christian. If you imagine that another four years of the same illustrious mess we are in now is the best we can do for our country, you can't hear me and I can't hear you. You ignored the true concerns of this nation for the sake of what you think (how, I cannot possibly imagine) is a model of morality, security, or fiscal responsibility and voted for the worst president in our history--twice!
I feel like that now, and I'm incredibly angry. My eyes have bags under them big enough to hold loose change. My friends, like me, are dumbfounded that our country chose the ludicrous facade of morality and security Bush represents over the promise of a more honest, compassionate and intelligent administration. Whenever I see John (my John, not Kerry), I have to choke back tears because of what is now written into state constitutions all over the U.S., including my home state of Arkansas.
As I sit here in the Indianapolis airport I can't speak to anyone. I keep looking around thinking, "six in ten of you were stupid enough to be fooled by Bush--again!" I know it sounds judgmental. At the moment I can't help it.
Now I'm headed to DC for work. I hate that I have to be any where near that poor excuse for a man. I hate the sound of his affected voice. I don't know how true Texans stand it. I hate his dismissive attitude, his razor-thin veneer of sincerity. I hate his absolute dependence on people more intelligent and mean than he is to fill his head with something to say that might possibly pass for substance. I hate that he has NO clue about the experiences and problems of the people who voted for him (much less the ones who didn't). And I hate it that those who voted for him expect him to understand their needs--him, for whom even the concept of an honest day's work is an abstracted myth at best.
If you think I'm making a bigger deal out of this than I should and feel the need to tell me so, I recommend that you don't and that you KISS MY ASS instead. Don't tell me that now that he has won, even if it was a fair election, that I should get behind the president and support him. That is like telling a black person in the 1950s to ignore Jim Crow and support the administration that allowed it. Bush won't help protect me and my family, so he and his can wander around in their drug-induced stupors alone as far as I'm concerned. If they can't face his presidency sober, what makes people think it will be better for the rest of us?
I don't care if you are a family member, colleague, or fellow Christian. If you imagine that another four years of the same illustrious mess we are in now is the best we can do for our country, you can't hear me and I can't hear you. You ignored the true concerns of this nation for the sake of what you think (how, I cannot possibly imagine) is a model of morality, security, or fiscal responsibility and voted for the worst president in our history--twice!
posted by Troy at 8:25 PM
3 Comments:
Thank God we have 49% of the country that understands. We shoudl remind ourselves of this.
It has been so wild to be in DC and then here in Portland, Maine. Both were voting at about 90% for Kerry. People are literally in shock. My friend Dana who brought me up here to work for a couple of days walked me through an exhibition on the birth of the U.S. In one of her galleries she had put quotes on the walls (2 weeks before the election) from famous Americans. One was from the writer Pearl S. Buck that said "People who have never had their freedom threatened do not know how valuable it is." As we stood there looking at the quote I told Dana that a few years (months?) ago, I would not have understood that quote the way I do today. Rosie, you're absolutely right. We better be ready to fight and for a long time. This election was just the beginning for me and the civil rights thing even though the battle was started long ago. I'm embarrassed that it took me this long to care this much. But I'm there now. And so are a lot of other people.
I felt depressed too after that day. Just the mere thought that america voted that jackass back into office makes me sick..Great blog..
THC, glad you checked in. In this case misery loves company. But we do have a lighter side, too.
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