I really don’t think most people want to hear what I have to say about the election. Elizabeth and my officemates have already had to endure that. So I will boil down my thoughts. I am truely disgusted by 70% of the people in this country. 30% of people who feel that Bush represents the direction this country should be moving. But far more so by the 40% of people who didn’t even bother to go and make a choice. At least Bush’s 30% believed what they believed (however stupid and misguided I may think it is) and did something about it. I hope that over the next four years I remember to ask anyone I hear complaining about the state of affairs if they voted; and if they didn’t I hope that I am only be moderatly rude to them. But we are we are now, however much I hate it.
So what do we do now?
I wish I knew. I am afraid of what this country will look like in 4 years. I am afraid that it will be changed so fundamentally that it will take decades to fix. I am afraid that an intolerant, past looking majority will continue to impose it’s moral views on me. Basically, I am just afraid. In conversation today, someone made the point that they thought this may be a point that in 30 years we look back on like McCarthyism. I hope we wise up sooner than that.
All we can do now is try to fight the good fight. I was waiting until after the election to make my annual donation to the ACLU. There are important fights that will be waged over the next years, and we can’t give up now. So I’ve made my contribution.
What happens next is really up to all of us. Don’t forget that.