Thursday, November 04, 2004
the will for change
Let's get one thing straight: George W Bu$h does not have a mandate. He won by 4 million votes. Nationally 58-60% of the population voted. Slightly over half voted for Bu$h, which means that about 30% of the country voted for him.
Out of that 30%, many voted for him based on his ability to successfully make them think that John Kerry is a flip-flopping, baby-killing traitor and that the war in Iraq was fought as part of the war on terrorism. So, at least some portion of the 30% of the country that voted for Bu$h did so based on propaganda and misinformation.
Just like during the run-up to his war on Iraq when he dismissed protesters as "focus groups", the president today dismissed at least half the country when he said "the people made it clear what they wanted". No, the 30% who voted for you made it clear that Rovian tactics worked. Mr. President, your ability to bamboozle the American public is unquestionable. Your ability to divide the country is staggering. Your ability to successfully run the country however, has yet to be proven.
None of this exonerates Democrats from being out of touch with what drives at least 30% of the population to the polls. We can't take back our government if we are only reacting to Rove's strategies or if we stay in our urban enclaves and bitch about the stupid people in the red regions (although it certainly feels good to do so).
Every single person who voted for Kerry needs to get out and start talking with people who voted for Bush. We are not outnumbered by much. And feeling smug and smarter than them certainly didn't work to bring us a new president. Obviously we need some different tactics. Maybe not this week, since we're very angry with those people. But we need to figure out what it takes to bring the people together, and I've always believed that the only way to do that is to get out there and talk to people who see things differently than we do.
One positive step you could do? Contact the Northwest Earth Institute (a local non-profit) about starting up a discussion course in your home, workplace or church. Invite your friends, but also your neighbors and co-workers. The discussion courses provide a way to think on your own beliefs and actions while discussing new ideas with other people in the group. It's not about consensus, it's about dialogue and reflection. And those are two things that we are desperately in need of now.
¶ 11:05 AM
Let's get one thing straight: George W Bu$h does not have a mandate. He won by 4 million votes. Nationally 58-60% of the population voted. Slightly over half voted for Bu$h, which means that about 30% of the country voted for him.
Out of that 30%, many voted for him based on his ability to successfully make them think that John Kerry is a flip-flopping, baby-killing traitor and that the war in Iraq was fought as part of the war on terrorism. So, at least some portion of the 30% of the country that voted for Bu$h did so based on propaganda and misinformation.
Just like during the run-up to his war on Iraq when he dismissed protesters as "focus groups", the president today dismissed at least half the country when he said "the people made it clear what they wanted". No, the 30% who voted for you made it clear that Rovian tactics worked. Mr. President, your ability to bamboozle the American public is unquestionable. Your ability to divide the country is staggering. Your ability to successfully run the country however, has yet to be proven.
None of this exonerates Democrats from being out of touch with what drives at least 30% of the population to the polls. We can't take back our government if we are only reacting to Rove's strategies or if we stay in our urban enclaves and bitch about the stupid people in the red regions (although it certainly feels good to do so).
Every single person who voted for Kerry needs to get out and start talking with people who voted for Bush. We are not outnumbered by much. And feeling smug and smarter than them certainly didn't work to bring us a new president. Obviously we need some different tactics. Maybe not this week, since we're very angry with those people. But we need to figure out what it takes to bring the people together, and I've always believed that the only way to do that is to get out there and talk to people who see things differently than we do.
One positive step you could do? Contact the Northwest Earth Institute (a local non-profit) about starting up a discussion course in your home, workplace or church. Invite your friends, but also your neighbors and co-workers. The discussion courses provide a way to think on your own beliefs and actions while discussing new ideas with other people in the group. It's not about consensus, it's about dialogue and reflection. And those are two things that we are desperately in need of now.
¶ 11:05 AM
