I can't remember the last time I felt this bad. Certainly there's nothing like the headache you get from crying yourself to sleep, but on top of that, I have the most profound feeling of dread beginning in the pit of my stomach and churning outward to my whole being.
As it turns out, polls are shit. I believed them, but I forgot that most people live in fear, and when fearful people are alone in a voting booth, they cling to what they know rather than dare to step forward. (And, as a side note, the Electoral College has got to go—or at least the winner-take-all part.)
Is it so much to ask that the President of the United States be at least as smart as I am?
I'm so very disappointed and scared and ashamed.
did i miss something? i thought ohio was still too close to call?
Posted by: kat | November 03, 2004 at 10:24 AM
i can't bear it.
Posted by: kat | November 03, 2004 at 11:44 AM
me too; I am left wondering just why this America my family has returned to is *nothing* like I remember. Queasy queasy feeling.
Posted by: Melanie | November 03, 2004 at 01:44 PM
*sigh*
Posted by: Mir | November 03, 2004 at 02:30 PM
Squoogy made me remember that it felt like this when Reagan was re-elected. There's this feeling like you don't really know or understand your own countrymen. Where are our priorities, America?
Posted by: pam | November 03, 2004 at 02:45 PM
I'm drained and disappointed and grieving. But as someone else said -- so he won. He's still evil.
Posted by: mayakda | November 03, 2004 at 02:55 PM
oh canada....
Posted by: kat | November 03, 2004 at 05:31 PM
Folks, I am the party pooper. IMO there is no reason to mope or hang your head. So he won, so what. If you care about issues you'll be involved in them regardless of who is in office.
The problems we face did not start with Bush, they preceded him. Terrorism, healthcare, social security, all of these things have been around for many years.
This just requires work and a consistent effort to push things in a better direction.
Posted by: Jack | November 03, 2004 at 07:25 PM
These are reasons why I am upset. It is the tone of the campaign, that fear-mongering and homophobia bring in the votes. It is the bullying behavior of Republicans, where they don't care to hear other voices or aren't capable of engaging in dialogue. It is that the electorate is intentionally misinformed and votes for the one they'd rather have to dinner instead of the one who would make good policy decisions. It is that bad judgment and bad decision-making are rewarded and the perpetrator is not held accountable. It is the enduring effects of Supreme Court decisions and the possibility that Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas or one of their ilk could be Chief Justice. It is the failure to consider long-term consequences, to respect the Earth, to make thoughtful decisions, to understand shades of grey instead of only black and white, to care about the impact of our actions on the least-advantaged among us, to want to work with others instead of insisting we know best. It is the arrogance and ignorance that appalls me. At bottom, it is the fundamental lack of respect that this administration shows to others and, yes, even its own citizens.
It is also that, in four years, the Democrats will only have a chance if they nominate a narrow-minded centrist from some hick state (it's okay, I'm originally from Florida), and that we will have to choke down our bile and plug our noses, all in the interest of reclaiming some shred of decency in America.
But other than that.... At least we in Massachusetts can rejoice in the utter failure of the governor and the state Republican party in their efforts to displace fair-minded, pro-equality legislators. Ha!
Posted by: Susan W. | November 03, 2004 at 09:08 PM
Karen, come back to the Bottle. We are gathering our strength. We are clearing our heads. The fight is fifteen rounds. You get knocked down. You get back up.
It's time to get back up. Already.
Posted by: ricky | November 03, 2004 at 09:51 PM
So very painful and hard to understand. Why do voters chose the USA Today version of a president? Why do they fear intelligence and multisyllabic words? The whole thing brings to mind a portion of an old Steve Martin sketch:
"Why is the only joy I know a dishwashing liquid?"
Posted by: Leah | November 03, 2004 at 10:24 PM
I worry especially about the supreme court being stacked with neocons (especially since the senate is stacked with republicans who can swiftly nominate them), the gays who simply want a decent and DIGNIFIED
life, and the loss of hope for all the people who could eventually benefit from stem cell research. What I DREAD the most is that smug monkey face for 4 more years. Gag me!
I wonder about this: What happened to the voice of the baby boomers? The Vietnam protesters, the university sit-inners? Have they all become their parents who looked so forward to the Lawrence Welk show on Sunday nights? WTF??
Posted by: Tonya | November 03, 2004 at 10:59 PM
So now the news outlets are asking, "Will [that idiot]* be able to unite the country?" Is anyone under the illusion that he and his cronies have any interest in uniting the country? Wouldn't that involve compromise? Wouldn't that mean that they would have to actually care about, or at least give lip service to, what we think? Geez.
(* Sorry, even after 4 years I still can't bring myself to say it!)
Posted by: Susan W. | November 03, 2004 at 11:16 PM
At the risk of being the meddling "furriner", can I say I'm sorry too? This is an election that will have consequences FAR beyond the state borders of Ohio (or whatever "swing state" did it). I'm sincerely hoping it won't be Iran that gets it next time. Or your "local" (as in US) civil rights.
Worriedly yours from the European fringe (geographically and metaphorically!), K.
Posted by: Karine | November 04, 2004 at 12:48 AM