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A Heartbreak Hotel of the Mind- The Day After The Election |
Current rating: 0 |
by Scott Satterwhite
Email: mylxine (nospam) hotmail.com |
03 Nov 2004
Modified: 01:59:09 PM |
Last night, like so many people across the globe, I joined in the election night hoopla. And also, just like most of the globe, my heart sank quicker with each passing states results.
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Last night, like so many people across the globe, I joined in the election night hoopla. And also, just like most of the globe, my heart sank quicker with each passing state’s returns.
I'm no fan of John Kerry, but I'm 100% against Bush. I like certain aspects of Kerry, mostly his past with the Vietnam Vets Against the War, but I haven’t been too impressed with his present. Criticisms aside, if Kerry had one thing going for him it was that he was no George Bush Jr. For me and for a lot of people, that was enough for now. The Bush years sucked to say the least and a lot of people wanted some change. Even if it’s more of the same thing, it wasn’t a neo-con more of the same thing. I spent months fighting with it and arguing about my problems with Kerry with friends, but in the end I really wanted to see Bush gone.
Around one in the morning, it became apparent that it wasn't looking good for the anti-Bush crowd. There's a bar about a block from where I was watching the results that had promised to give a free beer to those who voted in the election. In that same bar a few weeks before, one of the owners had drunkenly announced if anyone voted for Bush that they could never come in his bar again. I don’t know if that was a promise or not, but it seemed like it would be a sympathetic place to watch the world crumble. I spent the rest of the night drinking and watching CNN for a glimmer of hope. Ohio was still holding out on its electoral votes. Whoever won those 20 electoral college votes would win the presidency. Kerry hadn’t conceded yet and Bush hadn’t claimed victory yet. There was still a little hope.
I kept watching the television, hoping that maybe something would happen that would lift up my spirits. Maybe the results would be contested and Bush would have to go back to Texas in a few months. But two hours later as the bar was closing, it was still up in the air. But realistically speaking, it was looking bad for Mr. Kerry.
I walked home with a friend, got something to eat and went to bed. My roommate's TV next door was blaring the 24 hour news coverage from the room he was sleeping in. I fell asleep listening to the radio.
Earlier the day before, I had heard about a rally that was planned the next morning whether Kerry won or lost the election. I figured in the morning that I could get up early, check the Internet for any breaking news, and then I'd go and see how the troops were doing.
When I first got to the park, I couldn't see anyone until I got closer. Then I found a few people. Heads down, sitting on park benches, still wearing their Kerry shirts. I'm not a Democrat myself (not a Republican either), but I knew many of these people from different anti-war actions over the past few years.
"Is this commisseration corner?" I asked as I walked up the half a dozen or so beleagured Democrats. My friend Susan laughed and I sat down next to her and we spoke.
"How are you doing?" she asked.
"Crappy," I said.
"Me, too. But you know, it's like the Alamo," she said. "You can't give up." Being from Texas, the Alamo has always been a mixed image. Brave people fighting to the end for a noble cause (at least from a high school history perspective, maybe not realistically, but I understood the reference). But they all died in the end. It might be part of that "American Underdog" thing people talk about. Go down with the ship.
"We have to look at all the good work that we've done locally. I mean, this was the most organized I've seen this area the whole time I've lived here. It was really something."
I agreed. It seemed that Kerry had a chance here if you looked at all the signs. It was worrisome enough for Bush to come here twice (once for the Hurricane, but still...). Cheney came here, too. They felt they needed to solidify thier hold on the area and it was inpart because of some of these people here. The same people sitting on the park benches in the north side of the park, still wearing their Kerry paraphanalia.
It was a sad scene. One I imagined was going on all over the country. Maybe the world. The massive letdown after a long and gruelling campaign. Which is a part of the problem of electoral politics. So much energy goes into a few people. What happens when they lose?
For now, we sit in the park.
"We owe it to ourselves to be devestated," my friend said.
The gathering didn't last too long. Not much to say, really. One person had to help pack up the Kerry headquarters, while another looked for volunteers to help with packing. I had plans so I couldn't help, but as I left another friend gave me a big hug.
"Don't give up yet. There's still a little hope. We still have the Ohio recount."
I didn't have the heart to tell them the breaking news I saw just before I went to the park. Kerry had just conceded the election. It was over. |
This work is in the public domain |
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Re: A Heartbreak Hotel of the Mind- The Day After The Election |
by Helen
hhudson (nospam) alum.emory.edu (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
03 Nov 2004
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I feel sick and sore, like I've been punched in the chest and gut. I feel like I'm moving through thick mud as I go about my daily chores, unmindfully. I want to engage in every escapist behavior I can afford (and some I can't), in order not to think about the apparent fact that a majority of my neighbors (at least those who voted)--whom I must love and live alongside--really do prefer the world that Bush et al. are creating with our complicity, compliance, and complacence.
I am heartsick.
I trust that my grief will turn to righteous anger, and that this anger will lead to renewed resolve and energy for what lies ahead. We must resist the repression, injustice, and continuation of atrocities done by this administration in the name of the citizens of the United States.
Let's not be paralyzed indefinitely by the devastation. There's too much to do.
Peace to all. |
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Re: A Heartbreak Hotel of the Mind- The Day After The Election |
by Scott
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
03 Nov 2004
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Well said, Helen. There is a lot for us to do. |
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Re: A Heartbreak Hotel of the Mind- The Day After The Election |
by Kevin
kmgrimes1 (nospam) cox.net (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
04 Nov 2004
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Yes Scott,
There's lots of work to do.The positive,if there is one, is that the administration that created this mess is responsible for cleaning it up. Hopefully,people will be sick of their policies after four more years. I myself can't count on that since both parties are in bed with the same corporations and the majority of the country is ok with invading other countries and killing people that didn't have anything to do with 9/11. It's up to us, the citizens, to use our voice, while we still can, to speak out against this war and the idealogues behind them.
Patriot Act II is coming soon to a town near you and who knows, until it's too late, what civil liberties we will loose with its passage. So this is not the time to spend lamenting over our misfortune. There is a much bigger struggle looming on the horizon. |
