Wake up Call
By Daniel M. Miller
written November 3, 2004
I am not writing you (the Democrats) to say ha-ha, I told u so or anything of that nature. I am sure you are just as surprised as I am, that the Republicans had such an overwhelming turnout and victory (the popular vote, the electoral college victory and gaining more power in the Congress), even I didn't see that all coming. It is sad that we cannot have an important election without it ending up with lawyer involvement and similar methods of undecided outcomes in the balance. I find it so strange that in such a divided environment that our nation is in, you can see such a one-sided representation of it in government. I am obviously not happy that we will be stuck with this Republican agenda and administration again and probably see it even more aggressive in time to come, but sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better.
As a person that doesn't like the agendas and platforms of either the Democrats or Republicans, I hope people use the results of this election as a spring board to really look outside of the generic two party system and the typical ideological monotony that we see in campaigns in and out, over and over. Isn't everyone sick of empty promises, lies and rhetoric? Apparently not, because they keep coming back for more.
The entire 'anyone but Bush' notion is not strong or good enough to run a nation and gain popular support under the current system. Without serious takes on issues, a strong enough leadership, and party support to really make change, you will not see reform. The Democrats’ lack of leadership, unsuccessful campaigning, and inability to reach new voters has cost them another election and will serve as a huge blow to their party and its future.
I hope this election serves as a wake up call to enrage our population, to tear down old line thinking and transform our political system into a new social engagement, to make the serious changes necessary for our nation’s long term security, survival and well being. In 2000, the Democrats scapegoat was Ralph Nader...i.e., the spoiler. In 2004, who's the new fall man? Unbeknown to everyone, it is the same person/group that was there the whole time: the Democrats who are themselves are to blame for their own losses, lack of support or failures to successfully win.
We already know Bush and his Administration won't be back in 2008; let’s use that time to collectively gather and formulate a serious alternative to both the Republicans and the Democrats. With proper leadership and steadfast attitudes, we can make the future of our nation more equitable and uphold the democracy we wish to believe our country should adhere too. Maybe this election will serve as a wake up call for many Democrats and Independents to the way in which religion has become so integrally involved in our government and is only growing more entwined with time.
This election should serve as a slap in the face to Democrats. 2000 was not a spoiler’s step away from victory, it was a mere anomaly of what could have been if they gained enough popular support especially amongst 3rd party voters. Their failure to reach a leftist leaning, issue specific based voting assemblage has left them losers two elections in a row and it is no ones fault but their own. If any serious lessons are to be learned from their defeats, it is that they need to broaden their base voters to including such arenas like the Green Party, Independents, and similar 3rd Party voters. By incorporating and encompassing such issues and measures to their own platform, they would gain enough support to overtake the well gathered Republicans.
As a 3rd Party voter and supporter, I honestly feel this election should be a kick-start for Democrats to encourage their party to reach a broader base of ideas, issues, and stands in their platform in order to overtake the Republican religious right. The Republicans have common threads through their platform which reach to all of their constituents. The Democrats have lost their vision of their foundations which has cost them a stronghold at power or even a serious contention of it. It is time for the Democrats to rebuild their platform while including fringe issues (anti-WTO, anti-NAFTA, anti-WB, anti-IMF, etc).
Looking towards the future of partisan politics, the Republicans after 2008 will have a more divided constituency due to candidates such as Bill Frist, Rudi Giuliani and similar. Such candidates believe in pro-choice which will divide the Republican voters, where Bush had previously brought them together. On the other hand, if the Democrats rejuvenate their platform by reaching out to new voters and ideas, their base will grow and only get stronger with time. If the Democrats become stubborn and refuse to incorporate 3rd Party voters and ideas, they are likely to suffer the same defeats we have already seen.
Look around our nation and see us for what we are. The Electoral map looks closer to the civil war states in opposition (the North and West vs. the South and Midwest). We live in a nation in which the Republican majorities are religious zealots and they vote with such notions as their guide. Separation of church and state is long dead. The administration is slowly but surely passing agendas under religious morals, beliefs and the like. The religious conservatives in our nation have blended politics and religion and mask it as 'morality'.
An easy way in American society to denominate citizen approval is by consumer and public relations appeal. Even if most would disagree, we are all consumers of products, entertainment and habit, more so than political affiliation; yet they do coincide. The film ‘The Passion of the Christ’ out-grossed profits and viewers of ‘Farenheiht 9-11’ in our simplistic society. I do not recall America nominating a deity or basing its political decisions upon religious design, but somewhere along the line, the ladder has occurred.
‘In God We Trust’ is no longer just a passing phrase on monetary values. We like to decipher ourselves from our enemies or unruly brutes by our level of order and tolerance, yet they grow strikingly similar. There are other groups I can think of that attribute political motivated action through religious morals. They are the ones we call fundamentalists… or terrorists. Our nation has been taken over by zealots and they are defaming our democratic principles.
Our citizenry cares more about gun control, stopping abortion and stem cell research and promoting religion than it does about our economy, world security, social security and the environment. Our United States have veered strongly away from what our founding fathers based it upon. In fact, we have moved closer to what they predicted would ruin our democracy: privatized power and removal of separation of church and state.
Bush created a war under false pretences, went from a large surplus to a massive deficit, has not fulfilled his promise to create jobs, and removed many important environmental policies that protect us all; yet he won the popular vote in our nation by 3 plus million votes. Such realities should really make you take a step back and look at the political and social spectrum in our country. It is not a pretty sight.
Bush's war on terror stated the doctrine that, 'you are either with the terrorists or with us'. It appears that the terrorists and aggressors of our own nation have spoken and chosen their cohort to carryout more injustices both home and overseas. Our democracy has become hijacked by the religious right, led by Bush. It is hard to fight religious ideologies overseas (terrorists) and call them evil, while our own side has marked itself with religious beliefs and justifications for following just fixations.
In Noam Chomsky's book, "Pirates and Emperors, International Terrorism in the Real World", he tells this story, attributed to St. Augustine. A captured pirate was brought before Alexander the Great. "How dare you molest the sea?, said Alexander. How dare you molest the whole world?" replied the pirate and continued: "Because I do it with a little ship only I am called a thief; you, doing it with a great navy are called emperor." This is a concise summation of terror, power and control in the world, led by our government.
Let this election serve as a lesson to our citizens. Propaganda and fear can work to build, ensure and maintain power. The longer we buy into the media and look towards the privatized warmongers (the two major parties in their current form), the longer we will suffer under their grasps. Until the people of this nation create a serious social movement to take back freedoms, rights, and stand up for the necessary issues (removal of corporate interests from Washington, campaign finance, equitable world economy, etc), nothing will seriously be addressed in our country and the playing field will never be balanced or fair. We too will suffer from the policies of our government; 9-11 and the polarizing of our nation in the world are two obvious examples of such.
I cannot say that I am disappointed or shocked that our nation is in such turmoil or in such a sad state of affairs. When you look to a dry well for water, you will always be disheartened. I hope this election will be remembered as a turning point for our nation, the moment that infuriated and uplifted the citizens to fight against the type of hypocrisy and injustices our nation has come to represent and purport. The next four years under Bush will probably be more aggressive and more harmful than his first term, but we must stay strong and keep our sights on the long term. Things sometimes have to get worse before they can get better. Remember the 2004 election, not as the time you almost won, but as the time to wake up!
written November 3, 2004
The Election is over. I voted for Ralph Nader and refused to support Kerry or Bush because I would never vote for a man I do not believe in, one who fails to posses the issues and causes to those that I hold dear. Many would say that is a wasted vote, but I believe the only wasted vote is one not cast (there is still only about a 52% voter turnout in our nation)."He who troubleth his own house, shall inherit the wind."
I am not writing you (the Democrats) to say ha-ha, I told u so or anything of that nature. I am sure you are just as surprised as I am, that the Republicans had such an overwhelming turnout and victory (the popular vote, the electoral college victory and gaining more power in the Congress), even I didn't see that all coming. It is sad that we cannot have an important election without it ending up with lawyer involvement and similar methods of undecided outcomes in the balance. I find it so strange that in such a divided environment that our nation is in, you can see such a one-sided representation of it in government. I am obviously not happy that we will be stuck with this Republican agenda and administration again and probably see it even more aggressive in time to come, but sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better.
As a person that doesn't like the agendas and platforms of either the Democrats or Republicans, I hope people use the results of this election as a spring board to really look outside of the generic two party system and the typical ideological monotony that we see in campaigns in and out, over and over. Isn't everyone sick of empty promises, lies and rhetoric? Apparently not, because they keep coming back for more.
The entire 'anyone but Bush' notion is not strong or good enough to run a nation and gain popular support under the current system. Without serious takes on issues, a strong enough leadership, and party support to really make change, you will not see reform. The Democrats’ lack of leadership, unsuccessful campaigning, and inability to reach new voters has cost them another election and will serve as a huge blow to their party and its future.
I hope this election serves as a wake up call to enrage our population, to tear down old line thinking and transform our political system into a new social engagement, to make the serious changes necessary for our nation’s long term security, survival and well being. In 2000, the Democrats scapegoat was Ralph Nader...i.e., the spoiler. In 2004, who's the new fall man? Unbeknown to everyone, it is the same person/group that was there the whole time: the Democrats who are themselves are to blame for their own losses, lack of support or failures to successfully win.
We already know Bush and his Administration won't be back in 2008; let’s use that time to collectively gather and formulate a serious alternative to both the Republicans and the Democrats. With proper leadership and steadfast attitudes, we can make the future of our nation more equitable and uphold the democracy we wish to believe our country should adhere too. Maybe this election will serve as a wake up call for many Democrats and Independents to the way in which religion has become so integrally involved in our government and is only growing more entwined with time.
This election should serve as a slap in the face to Democrats. 2000 was not a spoiler’s step away from victory, it was a mere anomaly of what could have been if they gained enough popular support especially amongst 3rd party voters. Their failure to reach a leftist leaning, issue specific based voting assemblage has left them losers two elections in a row and it is no ones fault but their own. If any serious lessons are to be learned from their defeats, it is that they need to broaden their base voters to including such arenas like the Green Party, Independents, and similar 3rd Party voters. By incorporating and encompassing such issues and measures to their own platform, they would gain enough support to overtake the well gathered Republicans.
As a 3rd Party voter and supporter, I honestly feel this election should be a kick-start for Democrats to encourage their party to reach a broader base of ideas, issues, and stands in their platform in order to overtake the Republican religious right. The Republicans have common threads through their platform which reach to all of their constituents. The Democrats have lost their vision of their foundations which has cost them a stronghold at power or even a serious contention of it. It is time for the Democrats to rebuild their platform while including fringe issues (anti-WTO, anti-NAFTA, anti-WB, anti-IMF, etc).
Looking towards the future of partisan politics, the Republicans after 2008 will have a more divided constituency due to candidates such as Bill Frist, Rudi Giuliani and similar. Such candidates believe in pro-choice which will divide the Republican voters, where Bush had previously brought them together. On the other hand, if the Democrats rejuvenate their platform by reaching out to new voters and ideas, their base will grow and only get stronger with time. If the Democrats become stubborn and refuse to incorporate 3rd Party voters and ideas, they are likely to suffer the same defeats we have already seen.
Look around our nation and see us for what we are. The Electoral map looks closer to the civil war states in opposition (the North and West vs. the South and Midwest). We live in a nation in which the Republican majorities are religious zealots and they vote with such notions as their guide. Separation of church and state is long dead. The administration is slowly but surely passing agendas under religious morals, beliefs and the like. The religious conservatives in our nation have blended politics and religion and mask it as 'morality'.
An easy way in American society to denominate citizen approval is by consumer and public relations appeal. Even if most would disagree, we are all consumers of products, entertainment and habit, more so than political affiliation; yet they do coincide. The film ‘The Passion of the Christ’ out-grossed profits and viewers of ‘Farenheiht 9-11’ in our simplistic society. I do not recall America nominating a deity or basing its political decisions upon religious design, but somewhere along the line, the ladder has occurred.
‘In God We Trust’ is no longer just a passing phrase on monetary values. We like to decipher ourselves from our enemies or unruly brutes by our level of order and tolerance, yet they grow strikingly similar. There are other groups I can think of that attribute political motivated action through religious morals. They are the ones we call fundamentalists… or terrorists. Our nation has been taken over by zealots and they are defaming our democratic principles.
Our citizenry cares more about gun control, stopping abortion and stem cell research and promoting religion than it does about our economy, world security, social security and the environment. Our United States have veered strongly away from what our founding fathers based it upon. In fact, we have moved closer to what they predicted would ruin our democracy: privatized power and removal of separation of church and state.
Bush created a war under false pretences, went from a large surplus to a massive deficit, has not fulfilled his promise to create jobs, and removed many important environmental policies that protect us all; yet he won the popular vote in our nation by 3 plus million votes. Such realities should really make you take a step back and look at the political and social spectrum in our country. It is not a pretty sight.
Bush's war on terror stated the doctrine that, 'you are either with the terrorists or with us'. It appears that the terrorists and aggressors of our own nation have spoken and chosen their cohort to carryout more injustices both home and overseas. Our democracy has become hijacked by the religious right, led by Bush. It is hard to fight religious ideologies overseas (terrorists) and call them evil, while our own side has marked itself with religious beliefs and justifications for following just fixations.
In Noam Chomsky's book, "Pirates and Emperors, International Terrorism in the Real World", he tells this story, attributed to St. Augustine. A captured pirate was brought before Alexander the Great. "How dare you molest the sea?, said Alexander. How dare you molest the whole world?" replied the pirate and continued: "Because I do it with a little ship only I am called a thief; you, doing it with a great navy are called emperor." This is a concise summation of terror, power and control in the world, led by our government.
Let this election serve as a lesson to our citizens. Propaganda and fear can work to build, ensure and maintain power. The longer we buy into the media and look towards the privatized warmongers (the two major parties in their current form), the longer we will suffer under their grasps. Until the people of this nation create a serious social movement to take back freedoms, rights, and stand up for the necessary issues (removal of corporate interests from Washington, campaign finance, equitable world economy, etc), nothing will seriously be addressed in our country and the playing field will never be balanced or fair. We too will suffer from the policies of our government; 9-11 and the polarizing of our nation in the world are two obvious examples of such.
I cannot say that I am disappointed or shocked that our nation is in such turmoil or in such a sad state of affairs. When you look to a dry well for water, you will always be disheartened. I hope this election will be remembered as a turning point for our nation, the moment that infuriated and uplifted the citizens to fight against the type of hypocrisy and injustices our nation has come to represent and purport. The next four years under Bush will probably be more aggressive and more harmful than his first term, but we must stay strong and keep our sights on the long term. Things sometimes have to get worse before they can get better. Remember the 2004 election, not as the time you almost won, but as the time to wake up!
posted by Daniel M. Miller | 1:16 AM
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