WE CARE
I am pretty sure that the vast majority of you out there that are reading this share the same thoughts as I do, at this hour. It would be redundant to put those feelings into words, here.
What does need to be said, and to be considered, is what this election says about us, as a country, and as a people. The overriding message of yesterday's vote is that a slight majority of the american electorate just doesn't care.
They don't care about rising poverty- they don't care about millions losing their healthcare. They don't care about a government that is growing out of control in ways that causes even the fiscal conservatives within the republican party to quail and shiver. They don't care about children being denied education and flu shots. They don't care about Libraries, firehouses, and museums closing down. They don't care about our environmental legacy being sold off to the highest bidder. They don't care about their sons and daughters being shipped off to an ever-worsening bloodbath, in Iraq. They don't care about our reputation, as a country, and its place within the world. They don't care about the veterans that have fought for this country being cut off from benefits. They don't care about arsenic and lead in our drinking water, or that we've attained the dubious distinction of being the most wasteful and polluting nation on earth.
They just don't care.
And, as I said, a few weeks ago, that's the harshest fact behind the Bush presidency- as long as they continue pursuing their rapacious poliocies, and we continue to support them, we are demostrably a nation without a conscience. It frightens me, and shames to me admit it- but last night's results have proven this to be true.
How can a nation vote for four more years of a president that has plainly failed at everything he has attempted? The sad fact is- for some reason, people look at this guy, and they see him as one of their own. Never mind that he's the multimillionare son of Northeastern blueblood nobility that has coasted through life on the merits of his name, and a long succession of sweetheart deals, given to him by corporations in bed with his family. For some, strange reason, these poeple look at Bush, and see him as a kindred spirit of sorts- but the fault for that, can be placed, mainly on a lapdog media that has done so much to create a cult of personality around Bush for the past four years.
But, ya know?
The main difference between us, and that slight majority?
The difference is- WE CARE.
We care about our country, our communities, our environment, our children's futures. We may have lost, this time, but you know? I'd rather go down in defeat while caring, loving, and spreading truth, than win by turning my back on the basic concept of compassion, and poisoning the national discourse with fear.
And, despite what happened last night, I'm not changing. I'm going to continue to care, until my dying day. I am going to continue trying in whatever way I can to change things for the better, and, unlike the other side, I will go to bed with a clear conscience each night, knowing that I did the right thing- and that's something Bush and his constituency of the willfully ignorant will never be able to do.
Again, I want to thank each and every one of you folks out there for helping, visiting, chatting, and writing. Your kind words and generous contributions kept this site going for close to two years, and that's nothing short of amazing. Tamara, Donna, Peter, Therese, BCO guys- thanks so much for your kindness and generosity, when the site was short of funds. I am truly humbled. Thanks go also, to Don, who helped me out in my job searches. Thanks to Dennis Kucinich and Ched Ely, whose appreciation for my work allowed me to fulfil a life's dream, and work on a presidential campaign. Thanks to American Stranger and Symbolman at Takebackthemedia.com, who inspired me to do this kinda stuff, in the first place. Thanks to Greg Palast and Buzzflash for giving the site the exposure it needed, when it first went live. Thanks to Sanjay Tandon, for doing his part. Thanks to Hurricane for doing such a great job with the forum and chatroom. Thanks to the two roomies who have had to put up with an obsessive-compulsive political fanatic for close to two years. And, finally, thanks to Andrea, whose kind words and warm smile have gotten me through the toughest of times.
Thank you all so very much.
Buhsflash isn't going away- but I need to take a break- I need to get these now-irrelevant DVDs of the Boston convention out to those who contributed towards their making, and I need time to just think...
Until then- keep hoping, caring, and working, folks. We are the conscience of this nation, and we owe it to generations yet born to keep going, no matter the costs, or minor setbacks, that arise to thwart us.
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