Election Day 2008

I have refrained from delving into the ongoing political campaigns that have consumed most media outlets for the past two years, simply because I don't feel that I possess the political astuteness required to speak (or to write) forcefully about the subject. However, today is the day that the long process at last draws to a close, and so I am choosing this special day to make a few comments about what this election means to me.

To anyone with the slightest attachment to reality, the past eight years with George W. Bush & Co. have been an unmitigated and appalling disaster. Their engagement in an unholy war, with the resultant loss of thousands of lives and billions of dollars notwithstanding, the Bush Administration has also led America down a very dark path of government duplicity, lies and coverups, flagrant disregard of the law (both domestic and international), and helped foster an atmosphere of arrogrance and greed that now has us in the grips of an economic meltdown that has left tens of thousands of Americans unemployed, broke, and homeless. And yet, according to an article in today's issue of Newsweek, President Bush is viewing his bad rep with equanimity and "characteristic good cheer", believing that history will absolve him of his dalliances with the darker side of power and human nature. It's easy to see that Mr. Bush is a man with no true moral compass, a man who, long ago, sold his soul to the power brokers who control him. It's even easier to paint Bush as a functional moron, boosted and manipulated by an ambitious family and a political party chock-full of calculating sycophants. Maybe it's a little of both, although I tend to doubt the "moron" label. Many years ago, right after Bush 41 left office, I was sitting in a private booth in the Astrodome at a playoff game between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros. Since it was a playoff game, the stadium was mostly empty, and as my friend and I watched, here came GHW Bush, surrounded by a phalanx of secret service men, and trailed by his two sons, George W. and Jeb. The elder Bush proceeded to climb up from the field into the box with an athleticism that belied his age; the two sons were not quite so agile, but the entire group made their way up the steps into our box. GHW Bush smiled warmly, shook our hands, and began talking to us like we were nephews he hadn't seen in a long time. In fact, he sat down right next to me and chatted amiably throughout the game. The two sons sat directly behind us and since the box was virtually empty except for my friend and I, and the presidential party, conversations were easily heard. At this point, I can't recall the conversation that took place behind us, but I do remember leaving with the distinct impression that both of these Bush sons were arrogant and cold, with Jeb being the more intelligent of the two. However, I did not leave with the impression that George W. was especially stupid. Less educated or "willfully ignorant", maybe, but not stupid. Hence my reasoning that, whatever his flaws, W is more apt to be in league with the forces of political darkness than being a brick short of a full load. But whatever the case, he's definitely NOT in touch with the reality of his sorry administration and the legacy that they are leaving behind. Historians may lie and attempt to burnish the reality of this era, but as long as there are those still around who lived through these trying times, the truth, as Fox Mulder stated, is out there.

Despite attempts to negate the connection, the road from George W. Bush leads directly to John McCain. As McCain himself once proudly announced, he voted with Bush "over 90% of the time". He can back away from that statement all he wants, but he can't back away from the truth. During this campaign, he has looked more and more like a desperate man latching onto anything that would keep his candidacy afloat. That includes everything from calling Barack Obama a "socialist" to accusing him of "consorting with terrorists" to bashing his "elitism". This coming from a man who owns so many homes that he's lost track of them, and who is as far removed from the "Joe the Plumber" blue-collar Americans as can possibly be imagined. And his negative diatribes have largely been mouthed by his sidekick, Sarah Palin, a venegful harpy masquerading as a cheerful hockey mom, and the current governor of Alaska. McCain's very choice of this woman as his running mate was a direct reflection of his desperation and cynicism. True, she's been embraced by the religious rightwing ultra-conservatives of the Republican Party, since she's anti-abortion, allegedly believes that God created the universe 6,000 years ago, shoots moose for sport (from helicopters, no less), and frowns upon same-sex relationships. But when was it ever in doubt that McCain would win the vote of that particular segment of his party? Many other Republicans are looking askance at his choice of this woman who may actually be as stupid as Bush merely acts. This woman who, under the right (or wrong) circumstances could wind up being President of the United States. McCain is an angry, war-mongering fossil whose arm gestures during his stump speeches remind me of old newsreels of Hitler or Kruschev hyperventilating during their spooky rants. He is also clueless about how to turn this economy around (witness his grandstanding behavior when he suspended his campaign to fly back to Washington to assist in the bailout negotiations, all to no avail). Still, the thought of a Palin presidency is, well...unthinkable, and I don't want to even go there unless, of course, I wake up tomorrow morning to find that something beyond my wildest fears has happened, and the McCain/Palin team has somehow co-oped the Oval Office. In that case, it would NOT be unthinkable for me to consider Europe or Canada as home, at least for the next four years.

There are a thousand reasons why I voted for Barack Obama and Joe Biden in this election, and most of them are readily apparent in the statements made on Obama's website and in his televised infomercial last week, so I'm not going to recount them all here. Suffice it to say that I believe wholeheartedly in Obama's cool and calm ability to take the helm of this very troubled country and set us in a new direction that will help us recover from all the ills generated by this last bunch of hoolilgans. It will take time. Our downfall didn't happen overnight, so I don't expect a rapid recovery. But, if given the chance, I believe that, if anyone can change America's course, it is Barack Obama. He's already changed history, despite doubts that a black man could ever come this far in American politics. Yet, he hasn't given up, and he gives me hope for all of us. His motto should be something we remind ourselves of every morning when we get out of bed and hear newscasters belting out more tunes of bad news while we fret over our inability to crawl out of our own personal quagmires. Instead of flinging open the window with the angry, old white man chant of "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore", we take a look directly into the mirror and say "Yes we can!", and assume responsibility for the choices we make, and for our own destinies. This is a historic day that will never be forgotten, and, now we have to see if the majority of Americans choose to look to the future or remain mired in the past.