All right, that's IT!!!

It is November 3, 2004. I am tired, cranky, and thoroughly pissed off. I have been sitting here - struggling to figure out how 300 million allegedly sane people have managed to elect George Bush to a second term in office.

I am not even going to go over the reasons. Obviously, reason had nothing to do with this. I hope that the slim majority of the voting populace remember all of this 4 years from now... when we're paying $4 a gallon for gas... when a woman's right to choose whether or not to bear children has been taken away... when federal agents are invading states (as the DEA will no doubt do to California's Medical Marijuana System)... when the death toll in Iraq reaches 10,000 (is there any doubt that we'll still be there?)...

News pundits have been chirping that this election came down to... surprise!... values. So which family value was it that turned the tide? That good old American lust for blood? The good old American Value of forced servitude to the Military? The good old American value of doing what you're told?

Most pundits didn't want to say the truth... that America has decided to fight the war against islam (and, let's face it, that's what it is...) on a level of equals. The only way to fight a fanatical sect of Islamic religious preverts is by making America a fanatical sect of Christian religious perverts.

Time after time I have to listen to supposedly intelligent people say "hey, he stands up for what he believes in!" It doesn't matter that he's completely WRONG... all that matters is that he sticks to his guns, never letting meaningless things like "truth" and "facts" get in the way. Thank God Hitler wasn't running - now there's a guy who stood up for what he believed in!

Honestly, sometimes I wonder if you people ever have an original thought in your heads. It seems as though a very small cadre of TV personalities, shock jocks, and Televangelists provide all of your lines and do all of your thinking for you.

I am deeply embarrassed and ashamed of this fucking country. We are the laughing stock of the entire world - and very deservedly so. The stupid have won. Ignorance has triumphed over intelligence. One can hope it is only temporary, but my gut says that things have changed now, and, in many significant ways, America will never be the same.

I hope you fuckers are happy. please do me one small favor... take one long, last look at the Constitution... before you destroy it...

P.S. To some of you, let me say... please don't take this rant personally. I'm sure that you are very nice people. I said before that I wondered why you elected Bush... that's not really true. I know why you did what you did.

The truth of the matter is that, despite your "tough talk" and wrapping yourself in the flag and militarizing just about everything, you are SCARED. You are deeply concerned about the state of the country. You are worried about your job. You are worried about whether you can make it on your ever diminishing pay. Some of you may even worry about terrorism.* I am worried about all those things, too... but George Bush is not going to a damn thing to fix any of these things, and he will, in fact, make things much, much worse. Neither the Republicans nor Democrats have any real desire to even acknowlege the existence of this basic fear.

The terrorists of 9/11 sought to knock us off our perch, to turn us into a cowering, fearful society. We may put on a tough act, but, for the most part, the terrorists have succeeded. They have won.

*about terrorism - most of you I believe are sincere about fighting terrorism, but, I'm afraid you have some real assholes in your ranks. There are people among Bush supporters who consider New York and Washington DC to be only slightly below Bagdad in a list of targets. Enemies of America can take some solace in the fact that they will usually not be treated much worse than we Americans treat eachother. Whether that red & blue map turns from representing regional moral concern to the boundaries of a new Civil War will depend on your boy's arrogance and his ability to bring America together. Needless to say, I am not too hopeful....