Don't need a weatherman...

by Ben Kearney
November 6, 2002

CHICAGO, IL - It was early on election day that I could see which way the wind was blowing, so I decided to go to bed and get as much restful sleep as I could instead of staying up late and waiting for official returns. This morning I picked through my inevitable depression in full view of the cable news channels. While focusing as hard as I could on what the various media luminaries had to say about this election-turned-sporting event, I consoled myself with the knowledge that there is a reason for this, that we got what we deserve.
     Even during the Reagan-Bush years, the Republican administration in power seemed to care to some degree about whether or not they really carried people's hearts and minds. They really wanted voters to be philosophically on their side, at least to some extent. But this administration only seems to be mindful of winning, as if that is all that matters, now or in the future. George W.'s transparent treatment of the voting population as just one of many tools he must manipulate to increase his power and further his imperial aims is just one opening the Democrats can exploit during the next two years--if they so choose. Americans are not politically inspired right now, not even folks who routinely take the time to go to the polls every two years. Instead, we are afraid. And this is just where Bush and his band of brigands think we should be.

A s usual, we are hearing all kinds of accolades and congratulatory back-slapping via the media for Bush and others for doing such a good job of convincing 1 out of every 5 eligible voters to come out and support their "agenda". Big deal. Newt Gingrich did a better job of galvanizing the emotions of his highly homogeneous group of numbskulls with his political agenda in 1994. All Bush has done is successfully make this election the most important domestic priority of his administration so that he can do whatever he wants with even less resistance from Congress, and do so in the name of a refreshed "mandate" from the American electorate. Bush now believes that we have finally elected him president, compared to two years ago when we failed to do so. Expect to see the Texan strut a little bit now.
     In the wake of this election, there is much criticism of the Democratic Party and its failure to connect with voters on the issues and give them a reason to vote against President Bush. So many of them wavered just enough to become almost invisible on the issues. They were so afraid of being characterized as being soft on terrorism that they tried to tip-toe around issues so as to be nearly indistinguishable as candidates in the first place. I hope they feel as stupid as they look. But what I do not hear is anyone bearing witness to the reality that once again our elected governing bodies have been determined by an acute minority of the adult population. I don't hear anyone lamenting the fact that a majority of the people in this country will once again spend the next couple of years uninvolved, unrepresented, and uninspired by any sense of responsibility and involvement in social affairs.

H ere in Chicago, the headline on the Chicago Sun-Times roared "Democrats Romp!" When I saw this I wondered how many detached and isolated Chicagoans assumed that this headline referred to a Democratic romp at the national level, their ignorance of the ways of power and influence a guaranteed right in this America. Our denial level seems to be redlining these days---as if what we are experiencing on this planet is not actually real life, but something less essential and less crucial than that. Life is about to become all too essential and crucial in this country.

©2002 Ben Kearney