Thursday, November 04, 2004

Fear and exclusion have won the day (but only for now!)

Somehow, the majority of well-meaning Americans have bought Bush's "strong and moral" image. Bottom line: the republicans used the extensive and close-knit religious institutions in this country to win and they did it well. They sold those vast populations on lies and innuendo and false claims about Kerry and the Democrats.

Oh well! Whining time is over. Now its time to figure out how to stop Bush from wrecking our country even further; to minimizing the damage the Republicans can do; and to getting someone sensible elected in 2008.

We need to start organizing NOW! If you care at all about the long-term health of the environment we live in, about the rights of all citizens, about the long-term problems of terrorism, crime and nuclear proliferation - then we all have common cause. I obviously don't have all the answers, but the bottom line is we need to do a much better job of dispelling the awful image of liberals, progressives and Democrats held by vast swaths of this country, and we need to do a better job of selling our vision for the future of our nation - one based, in my view, on inclusion, respect and love.

For my part, I definately need to do more - to get more involved, to make an effort to get out there and protest and fight for what I believe in. In that respect I failed miserably these past 4 years and hope I can do more to reverse that failure in the coming years...

We will have to fight tooth and nail for all this because with control of all branches of the government and soon probably also the supreme court, the conservatives will be deeply entrenched in power and by nature unwilling to give it up. My simple advice: start local, find a local cause and get involved - make the critical arguments to your friends and colleagues and get them involved! Stand up to the politics of hatred, aggression and fear!

Enough soapbox ranting for ya? ok, ok....

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