New Beginnings
"So I would say you've got a part/What's your part? Who you are/You are who? Who you are"
So in light of the unfortunate new beginning granted to George Bush, I'm granting one to myself- a new form of procrastination. That's right, as if I wasn't provided enough procrastination by the blogs of other people, I've decided to join the crowd. I doubt this will be updated very often, I'm very lazy, and I can't really describe myself as having a lot to say, but then again I can't describe many other people that way and they have blogs so dammitt why can't I?!?
Anyway, the one thing that should be on everyone else's mind right now is the election. I'm sure it's not- just because they talk about it for weeks in other countries, why should we think about it for more than one day? But I personally spent today walking around in a complete daze. Watching my fumbling through physics lab must have been like watching Hellen Keller do paint by numbers. That may seem harsh, but it's okay she's dead now. But getting back to the election, the daze I felt was from such a strong combination of emotions- anger, sadness, fear, confusion, disbelief. I think that the disbelief was the strongest. Among the college democrat population, it really seemed that we had done enough to give this election to Kerry. I remember being up at 5 am freshman year to stand outside "Good Morning America" in the freezing cold, and holding up 'John Kerry for President' posters. At that point Howard Dean wasn't really in the race and it just seemed that we would back any potential frontrunner if only to get someone in the White House. The path from that day in early 2003 to last night seems incomprehensible right now. So much work went into naught.
Now going back to those wonderful lyrics at the beginning of the post, the only possible way to get over this is to take the positives out of all of it. "So I would say you've got a part." What I kept hearing over and over again from NYU College Democrats, and the other hundreds of Democratic influentials who inundated my inbox every day because I was on the John Kerry e-mail list, was that we couldn't wake up November 3rd thinking "I wish I had done more." That is exactly what I felt watching the election last night, wishing there was just some way that we could get to Ohio and get another 100,000 Democrats to go vote. The one conclusion I made today was that I can't let this happen again. There was more that I could have done and I didn't. We can't rely on other people to do the job for us, we must take matters into our own hands (and no, I'm not saying kill the president Mr. Ashcroft). That being said, Howard Dean pointed out today that a Democratic governor was elected in Montana, a traditionally Republican state, and that statistically, more people voted against President Bush than any other sitting president in American history. Now we just need to work on the people voting for him.
But this is where my ultimate frustration comes in. The Daily Show tonight provided the best summary of the situation I've seen so far. The issues that Bush voters found most important were terrorism and 'moral issues' (i.e. not letting the homos marry). The issues that Kerry voters found most important were Iraq, the economy, and education. If you look at the breakdown, not only of red vs. blue states, but red vs. blue counties, this makes you wonder if the people in rural and small suburban areas, specifically across the midwest, are legally insane. Manhattan and Washington D.C., where the majority of deaths due to terrorism since the inception of this country have occurred, voted 87% and 90% respectively for Kerry. Idaho, where the majority of people are actually potatoes, voted 68% for Bush. This means that the people who are voting on the issue of terrorism are afraid that Osama Bin Laden has a personal vendetta against corn. As Ed Helms so profoundly stated, "They could attack Nebraska, home of Car-Henge, or South Dakota, home of the Corn Palace." And as for the "protection of marriage" issue- calm down; no one's gonna force you to go gay. I once heard a comedian say that men are homophobic because they are so easily deceived by tricky salesmen ("Here. just hold this guy's hand, see how it feels, walk around a bit, no pressure"). It's amazing that in a country based on freedom we have people so eager to enact a prohibitive law in favor of a law that allows choice. If the current laws forced you to take one up the back porch once a month or something I could see what all the fuss would be for, but America- get over yourselves! No one is going to try to get you to switch teams. Go back to shucking that corn.
So if anyone's made it to this point, congratulations, you have a stronger attention span than I do. I personally have visited 16 other websites just while writing this. Perhaps I'll update this soon, perhaps not- exams and social obligations lurk in the near future. If you come here, feel free to leave comments, whether I know you or not. If you don't come here, well I'm not gonna say that you did contract herpes from that dollar you found in the street, but only I know the truth- you're gonna be wishing you came here bitches. That last sentence proves that it's officially late and I should be writing a paper outline. Sleep tight and enjoy the morning. Every day brings us something new to deal with. Enjoy for now.
So in light of the unfortunate new beginning granted to George Bush, I'm granting one to myself- a new form of procrastination. That's right, as if I wasn't provided enough procrastination by the blogs of other people, I've decided to join the crowd. I doubt this will be updated very often, I'm very lazy, and I can't really describe myself as having a lot to say, but then again I can't describe many other people that way and they have blogs so dammitt why can't I?!?
Anyway, the one thing that should be on everyone else's mind right now is the election. I'm sure it's not- just because they talk about it for weeks in other countries, why should we think about it for more than one day? But I personally spent today walking around in a complete daze. Watching my fumbling through physics lab must have been like watching Hellen Keller do paint by numbers. That may seem harsh, but it's okay she's dead now. But getting back to the election, the daze I felt was from such a strong combination of emotions- anger, sadness, fear, confusion, disbelief. I think that the disbelief was the strongest. Among the college democrat population, it really seemed that we had done enough to give this election to Kerry. I remember being up at 5 am freshman year to stand outside "Good Morning America" in the freezing cold, and holding up 'John Kerry for President' posters. At that point Howard Dean wasn't really in the race and it just seemed that we would back any potential frontrunner if only to get someone in the White House. The path from that day in early 2003 to last night seems incomprehensible right now. So much work went into naught.
Now going back to those wonderful lyrics at the beginning of the post, the only possible way to get over this is to take the positives out of all of it. "So I would say you've got a part." What I kept hearing over and over again from NYU College Democrats, and the other hundreds of Democratic influentials who inundated my inbox every day because I was on the John Kerry e-mail list, was that we couldn't wake up November 3rd thinking "I wish I had done more." That is exactly what I felt watching the election last night, wishing there was just some way that we could get to Ohio and get another 100,000 Democrats to go vote. The one conclusion I made today was that I can't let this happen again. There was more that I could have done and I didn't. We can't rely on other people to do the job for us, we must take matters into our own hands (and no, I'm not saying kill the president Mr. Ashcroft). That being said, Howard Dean pointed out today that a Democratic governor was elected in Montana, a traditionally Republican state, and that statistically, more people voted against President Bush than any other sitting president in American history. Now we just need to work on the people voting for him.
But this is where my ultimate frustration comes in. The Daily Show tonight provided the best summary of the situation I've seen so far. The issues that Bush voters found most important were terrorism and 'moral issues' (i.e. not letting the homos marry). The issues that Kerry voters found most important were Iraq, the economy, and education. If you look at the breakdown, not only of red vs. blue states, but red vs. blue counties, this makes you wonder if the people in rural and small suburban areas, specifically across the midwest, are legally insane. Manhattan and Washington D.C., where the majority of deaths due to terrorism since the inception of this country have occurred, voted 87% and 90% respectively for Kerry. Idaho, where the majority of people are actually potatoes, voted 68% for Bush. This means that the people who are voting on the issue of terrorism are afraid that Osama Bin Laden has a personal vendetta against corn. As Ed Helms so profoundly stated, "They could attack Nebraska, home of Car-Henge, or South Dakota, home of the Corn Palace." And as for the "protection of marriage" issue- calm down; no one's gonna force you to go gay. I once heard a comedian say that men are homophobic because they are so easily deceived by tricky salesmen ("Here. just hold this guy's hand, see how it feels, walk around a bit, no pressure"). It's amazing that in a country based on freedom we have people so eager to enact a prohibitive law in favor of a law that allows choice. If the current laws forced you to take one up the back porch once a month or something I could see what all the fuss would be for, but America- get over yourselves! No one is going to try to get you to switch teams. Go back to shucking that corn.
So if anyone's made it to this point, congratulations, you have a stronger attention span than I do. I personally have visited 16 other websites just while writing this. Perhaps I'll update this soon, perhaps not- exams and social obligations lurk in the near future. If you come here, feel free to leave comments, whether I know you or not. If you don't come here, well I'm not gonna say that you did contract herpes from that dollar you found in the street, but only I know the truth- you're gonna be wishing you came here bitches. That last sentence proves that it's officially late and I should be writing a paper outline. Sleep tight and enjoy the morning. Every day brings us something new to deal with. Enjoy for now.
posted by Mike at 7:25 AM
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