Posted by m1s1n (153.90.114.188) on November 03, 2004 at 17:47:31:
I liked this message about the election. It's in two-parts, so I will post both of them in here.
Part I:
Dear Moderate, Reasonable Republicans,
I know you like to vote for "your guy". I know you like it when "your team" does well. It's a good feeling, but it has no place in politics. Partisan manuevering benefits the politicians at our expense. They have you playing their game for them: you give the two-party system the power to repress all other voices, the power to be virtually indistinguishable.
Thanks to your blind willingness to follow party lines, you've managed to elect a fundamentalist religious nut job who is literally convinced that a magic man in the sky has more to do with his position within the White House than your vote.
In four years he took us from the most prosperous, peaceful time in the history of America to the worst economy since the Depression and an era of unprecedented fear and war.
But he is "your guy" so you voted for him. Way to go.
You needed to send a message to the leadership of your party. You needed to tell them that it doesn't represent you or your interests any more. You needed to draw a line, to reign in your own party, to make it sane again instead of the gross caricature it has become.
You failed.
Understand this. For the next four years, every bit of bad news that will come down the pipes; every death of an American soldier in Iraq; every terrorist act against our now openly aggressive nation; every slip in the economy; every backhanded deal that benefits the rich and hurts the rest of us; every afront to the rights and freedoms and of all men and women; and all the other atrocities and absurdity this administration has yet to enact, these are all on your heads.
Part II:
It has nothing to do with "my" guy losing. Neither candidate represented me. I don't care that one rich white guy got more votes than other rich white guy.
I'm just sickened that people don't seem to mind (or notice?) blatant disregard for human rights and truth as long as it comes from within their own party. Meanwhile, they will imagine all manner of incompetence and evil from the other side of the political fence. It's partisan politics that disgust me. Bush represents extremist fringes, the very wealthy and the medievally religious. But because of partisan politics, he has come to represent the Republican party. Many people voted for him, not because they believe in him or his policies, but because he's the Republican candidate. Similarly, if the Democrats put up a potted plant, I'm sure it would get the majority of Democratic votes. That's what's wrong with the entire modern American political system. Bush and Kerry are irrelevent to my disgust or anger. It's the willingless to blindly follow party lines that gets my blood boiling.
Political affiliation does not hold sway with me. Actions do. Mr. Bush's actions over the last four years have terrified me as a business owner, a lover of personal freedom, and a member of the human race. Maybe you disagree, and that's fine. That's good, because then a dialogue can begin and that's how politics is supposed to work. Groups of people who each have ideas on how to best run a nation, working together toward a better nation. What gets in the way (other than the politicians themselves, but that's a whole other series of rants) is every voter who only thinks in terms of Republican or Democrat.
If my words made you angry, good. That's what they were there for. Chances are you're young and impressionable. You have a lifetime of voting ahead of you. I don't care who you vote for as long as you are informed when you vote. If getting angry at me will help put you on the road to responsible voting, then so be it. If you voted for the candidate you honestly believed in after building an informed opinion of the choices at hand, then you kick ass. I might not agree with your choice, but that's not the point. Responsible voting is the only way to get our parties back. As long as there are significant numbers out there blindly voting based solely on party affiliation, this nation will continue to suffer.