Alack and Alas
Although the election just concluded has clouds hanging over it much like the one four years ago, what with questions of chads, provisional ballots, "spoilage," and the like in the voting in Ohio, along with the fact that evil doings had been anticipated there for a long time, once again far too many Americans voted for the Republican hoodlums.
Taken together, all these victories for the Republicans amount to one huge loss not only for the U.S. but also for the world at large, and it's yet another act committed in the long story of humans' inhumanity to humans.
It's impossible for me to understand how anyone living in the Bush states -- I live in one of them -- can be proud of being an American at this moment.
Oh, well. I can't say that I'm not used to seeing this seemingly inexorable slide of the country closer to the black pit of which Abu Ghraib is the truest symbol. In my lifetime it's happened often, ever since the Eisenhower days.
The U.S. has a huge problem, in harboring so many voters with enough meanness of spirit that they continually tolerate and choose these Repubs. But in the general euphoria of being the "lone superpower," they are completely unaware of this.
Maybe the much smaller stage occupied by the Greek tragedians several millennia ago allowed them to see such a thing more easily and clearly. They made a big point of showing how this malady developes, and they gave it a name -- "overweening pride" or "hubris." It had -- and has -- a high degree of fatality.
Taken together, all these victories for the Republicans amount to one huge loss not only for the U.S. but also for the world at large, and it's yet another act committed in the long story of humans' inhumanity to humans.
It's impossible for me to understand how anyone living in the Bush states -- I live in one of them -- can be proud of being an American at this moment.
Oh, well. I can't say that I'm not used to seeing this seemingly inexorable slide of the country closer to the black pit of which Abu Ghraib is the truest symbol. In my lifetime it's happened often, ever since the Eisenhower days.
The U.S. has a huge problem, in harboring so many voters with enough meanness of spirit that they continually tolerate and choose these Repubs. But in the general euphoria of being the "lone superpower," they are completely unaware of this.
Maybe the much smaller stage occupied by the Greek tragedians several millennia ago allowed them to see such a thing more easily and clearly. They made a big point of showing how this malady developes, and they gave it a name -- "overweening pride" or "hubris." It had -- and has -- a high degree of fatality.
posted by Carl (aka Sofarsogoo) | 10:37 AM
7 Comments:
OT, but dude! I'm glad to see you post again--was worried about you. Tried sending some e-mails to your old addy, but I guess it's no longer operative.
Back on topic: chin up. I'm sad, but optimistic. All struggles involve setbacks. We'll only lose if we lose hope. It's still our country, and we still can carry on the fight.
Carl! YOU'RE BACK! YOU'RE STILL WITH US! THANK GOD! Or, as UU's like me might say, thank Whom it May Concern! :)
Back on-topic: no one denies the depth of the doo-doo (to use George H.W. Bush's phrase) in which the U.S. and indeed the world find themselves after Bush's election (I still refuse to say "re-election"). The U.S. has had presidents with bad judgment before (don't make me name names!), but never before now a president with an ideologically driven army of advisors and cabinet members all of whom not only have bad judgment, but who also take the specifics of their bad judgment as articles of faith.
That said, it's not quite as bad as it could be.
For one thing, however many times Bush and his cronies say the word, he does not have a mandate. Fifty-one percent is not a mandate. That fact will not change how he governs, but it will change our prospects for the future.
For another, Kerry and the Democrats, for all their flaws (our flaws; I'm still very much a Democrat), built one hell of an organization. We mustered more votes against a sitting president that have been seen in several decades... more votes for Kerry, I've read, than elected Ronald Reagan. Given the nature of the opposition... hostile, lying, mean-spirited... that's no small accomplishment. And while we're all a bit depressed right now, it gives us a base for what must be done next. The saving of the nation does not cease just because we lost an election.
Again, Carl, I can't tell you how glad I am that you have rejoined our community. Welcome back!
All I know is, that any friend of N. Todd and Steve Bates is a friend of mine. Welcome back!
--tinheart
Hello Carl, good to see you back. I've dropped in from time to time, and will do so more regularly in the future.
"Hubris," yes. Sadly, pathetically, tragically, yes. And unfortunately, as in Greek drama, the results are often fatal to more than just the arrogant main characters.
I may come to be boring on this topic, but we're in a war now--a war declared by the far religious right. And in war, both sides lose. Even if the "good guys" win, they inevitably do things for the sake of winning that hang over them personally, and as a nation, for years, if not generations.
God (or Whom It May Concern) help us now.
Welcome back, Carl.
There are just some things that defy rational explanation. That's the only explanation I can come up with.
Thanks for writing again. Missed you.
Welcome back! I was thinking maybe our slower then molasses in the winter chess match NTodd and myself are playing was an example you chose to follow........
SO glad to see you back, Carl! I'll take any opportunity to celebrate I can, and this certainly ranks right up there.
I heartily second what everyone else said - especially Steve. It's not all bad.
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