On November 03, 2004, I wrote a letter to my friends and acquaintances to express some of my outrage at the results of the 2004 US Presidential Election. Time has a way of softening the edges, and I feel fortunate to be optimistic about our nation’s new leader. I think now is a good time to review what I said after the last election and determine how much of it I would still say today.
2004:
In the last 4 years, I’ve gone from making $25/hour to making $13/hour. I’ve lost 3 jobs. In a state that not only has lost more jobs in the last 4 years than in any 4 years in history (including during the Great Depression), but has lost more jobs than ANY STATE IN THE COUNTRY, my step-dad went from having a good-paying full-time job to a job paying $8/hour 25 hours a week. Now, both his job and my mom’s job are in imminent danger because they work in one of the programs that W has announced he plans to kill.
2009:
I am lucky enough to have improved my financial and employment situation considerably in the four years that have passed since the last election. I’m in the vast minority, however. Unemployment in the US has shown an increase of about 35%. We’re at the precipice of a financial apocalypse. Layoffs loom and nobody, it seems, is safe.
2004:
We’ve said a giant “up yours” to the rest of the world. Our civil liberties (that all his redneck supporters seem to love so much as long as it involves them flying the confederate flag and waving their guns around) have been stripped obscenely and that continues every single day. This is a man who preaches hatred, bigotry, intolerance, indifference, and elitism, yet calls himself a “compassionate” conservative. This is a guy who values money over morals, but only if it’s HIS money and someone ELSE’S morals. He allies himself with terrorists - make no mistake about that one. He brought this on himself, and 9-11 is the absolute, irrefutable BEST thing that could have happened to his administration. This man makes jokes about hunting for WMD by looking under chairs and behind curtains and in potted plants… meanwhile people HE sent to Iraq were dying looking for those weapons. Is that a “compassionate” conservative?
2009:
His legacy of hatred, bigotry, intolerance, indifference and elitism remains intact. His administration, perhaps moreso than any in US history, assembled a monarchy with him as King. His subjects, American citizens, were systematically stripped of constitutionally-granted rights. Through his use of ’signing statements’, he effectively circumvented those oh-so-inconvenient Constitutional statutes passed by Congress. This allowed him to thumb his nose at things that got in his way, such as habeas corpus. It allowed him to whittle away at affirmative action. It allowed him to have unparalleled carte blanche.
The WMDs were still never found, but that didn’t stop him and his party-mates from reminding us at every opportunity that our FREEDOM was being threatened. By the terrorists.
Overshadowing even Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay became synonymous with torture, and much of the world believes that George W. Bush and his administration should be held accountable for war crimes. People on all sides of the war continued dying; families continued being destroyed. We’ve accrued a national debt so immense that the average person is simply incapable of processing the enormity of the number.
His “War on Terror” has made America a global pariah; its citizens personae non gratae.
International travel, even within our own continent, became less convenient. It also became less attractive due to the threat of international terrorism. US Embassies were forced to evacuate Americans from foreign countries after receiving threats against Americans.
Not (seemingly) a lot of progress, erosion of rights, continued decline of global perception of America. Not a lot has happened in the last four years, but a lot sure did change.
2004:
With the lowest approval rating of any incumbent president in history going into the election, he is the first president ever to be the presumptive winner with less than half the country feeling he is doing a satisfactory job. It’s absolutely mind-boggling that he got as many votes as he did. What that says is that people are thinking “I don’t think this guy is doing a good job, but I’m going to vote for him anyway”. That’s hugely horrifying.
2009:
Americans made it abundantly clear that they can’t take one more day of the policies and practices that have plunged our nation into the sewer - and they’re sure as hell not going to take four more years!
Nobody wanted more of the same - not even members of Bush’s own party. Republican candidates ran for office on a platform of change, distancing themselves from the incumbent Republican POTUS. In elections throughout the country, candidates wielded support of Bush as a weapon. Democratic Senatorial candidate Jean Shaheen glibly pointed out in a campaign ad that her Republican opponent for Senate, John Sununu, had voted with President Bush as evidence that he would only offer more of the same policies with which voters had become frustrated. In ittttty bittttty letters it was noted that Sununu’s Bush-friendly vote was back in 2002 - when 9/11 was still a fresh-and-gaping wound and everyone and their cat supported Bush! (Interestingly, however, I don’t recall a campaign ad counter-strike in which it was pointed out that Shaheen had voted in favor of tax cuts proposed by President Bush.)
Change was the pervasive theme throughout the campaign. Americans knew we were on the wrong track. We felt out of control. We were suffering. A hopeful message of change inspired Americans to become active in the election.
Sad but true: I think things needed to get this bad before people would wake up and care enough to vote for what they wanted. It has become unacceptable to complain about the state of affairs in this country if you voted for a second W. term or worse, if you failed to vote at all in 2004.
2004:
This weekend I was visiting a guy who’s a NASCAR-loving Republican (is there any other kind?). This man, a die-hard repugnant-ican, said something this weekend that I kind of agreed with. He said that the people of the United States are essentially making up two countries… and we don’t want to live together anymore. That’s so true. I want nothing to do with those gun-toting, confederate flag-waving bigots who hide behind the Bible and use it as an excuse to hate and exclude and legislate anything with which they don’t agree. We claim one of the reasons for invading Iraq was “womens’ rights”. What about womens’ rights here? They’re LAUGHABLE. I’d be happy with everyone rights.
2009:
Bush propelled the “two nations” sentiment through his word and deed. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, he demonstrated an appallingly lackadaisical approach that bordered on “Let Them Eat Cake” mentality. The poverty-stricken, primarily minority-occupied wards hit hardest were blatantly ignored and to this day have not been restored. Throughout New Orleans, buildings remain boarded-up and abandoned. Many businesses never recovered as patrons and employees alike failed to reappear. It’s tough to come home when you’ve no home to return to. People were sick and scared and desperately needed a leader. All they got from this administration was the shaft and the finger.
His appointment of Samuel Alito and John Roberts to the Supreme Court may prove to be the most indelible legacy of his presidency. In so doing, he drastically shifted balance, bringing issues such as abortion and civil rights perilously close to disastrous regression. These appointments and the indulgence of this type of backward thinking within the administration and throughout the party create a political environment conducive to political mavericks like Senator Mark Obenshain of Virginia, who introduced a bill requiring women to notify police in the event of a miscarriage and criminalizing disposal of the remains before an investigation has been conducted.
Under Bush, we’ve witnessed more of the same “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” politics that extends far beyond the military. Lest he be ‘outed’ as a bigot, President Bush tacitly spoke of tolerance while blocking advances in rights for women, minorities, and gays.
In his 2005 State of the Union address, then-President Bush said “Because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should not be redefined by activist judges. For the good of families, children and society, I support a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage.”
So yes, it does appear that Bush and his supporters have a vastly different perception of and vision for America than I do. The country they’re creating is not one in which I want to live. Ever.
2004:
I’m not ashamed to be an American, but I am ashamed that our country is led by this reprehensible, vile excuse of a man. I am ashamed that Americans - even seemingly intelligent, respectable people - perceive these elections as sporting events. No fewer than 5 times last night, I heard sports analogies used by the media. “Bush hit one out of the park in Alabama” and “Kerry scored a touchdown in California”. The other day on the train, I heard one guy say to his friends “Why are we talking about the election? The RED SOX WON!!!” Um, wow. That’s so embarrassing. Maybe they should be sent off to slaughter in the Middle East.
2009:
I love the Red Sox, and I will always, always love the 2004 team (except for that bastard Doug Mientkiewicz). From February to November, Red Sox baseball is my raison d’être. That said, a Red Sox victory - even a World Series win after an 86-year drought - can’t even compare with the gravity of selecting the leader of our country.
Regardless of one’s political proclivities and preferences, I think it can be universally agreed that the renewed interest in and passion for our political system through this election is cause for celebration. Non-traditional voters made their way to the polls in record numbers. People stood in line for hours waiting to vote. Voters could be seen lined up around the block at voting locations nation-wide.
Early in the day, long before we knew the outcome of the election, I was literally brought to tears at the sight of so many people enthusiastically voting, the camaraderie among those waiting in line, and the pervasive sense that for the first time I can remember, the entire nation seemed to be taking this election very seriously. That alone signaled a positive change that I hope is permanent.
2004:
Never has there been an election where the choices were so black and white. Good and Evil. Forward and Backward. I’m absolutely dumbfounded that this choice wasn’t more clear to more people. I can’t continue to be around people who would support a man who is the very embodiment of literally everything I despise. Everything.
It may be juvenile. It may be manipulative. It may be ineffective. It may be unrealistic. Here it is:
If you support Bush, you are no longer my friend. Even if you do not support Bush and you did not vote against him, I have nothing to say to you. Do not write, do not call, do not email and do not visit.
How can I be friends with someone who is so fundamentally different than I am? When it comes down to it, Bush represents evil and hatred. Hopefully you’ve voted for the candidate who most closely matches your own beliefs. If your own beliefs lie with Bush, we are polar opposites and you’re not someone with whom I choose to associate. Didn’t vote? Inaction is action. By not casting your vote, you have chosen to allow that man to continue flushing us down the toilet. That’s even less condonable and understandable than voting for Bush. I can’t abide that, and I won’t cavort with those who passively re-elected that beast.
2009:
There’s room in my world for dissension; it’s healthy and only encourages one to think more about the whys of their convictions. I still firmly believe that if one abstained from voting, not only is that sufficient cause for revocation of one’s right to bitch, it also signifies that one is a parasite living, breathing, feeding on our society without reciprocating or making a contribution. In that respect, my position hasn’t changed a lot since 2004.
What has changed, though, is my outlook. For the first time this century, I am cautiously optimistic. I have a renewed sense of possibility for this country. I am again ready to travel outside North America without fear of disparagement or castigation. I am regaining confidence that civil rights - human rights - in my country won’t erode further. I feel lighter and brighter, and perhaps more importantly, I feel much more connected with the rest of America and the rest of the world. It’s as if America suffered some growing pains in our adolescence; we’re now ready to learn from our mistakes and move forward with the arduous task of cleaning up our messes, repairing strained relationships, and maturing into a stronger, richer, more perfect union.
I feel like I have come home… to my America. I’ve been homesick for a long time, and damn, it’s good to be home.
