Strategery

As coverage of the (god damned) elections started last night I placed and received several phone calls. Here are some highlights:
"Yeah, I'm on my way to the bar." -Melissa, NC
"All I know is that it's going to be cold in Canada." -Caroline, NC
"Finally!! We can get back to coat hanger abortions." -Katie, NYC

I had distinct fantasies of throwing my front door open at 2am on election night and as the street filled with the shouts of my joyously relieved neighbors I would blast 'Brand New Day' by Van Morrison and run around my yard singing into my wine bottle. And then me and my roommate and our neighbors would proceed to make a human pyramid because that's what carefree people do. Instead I spent the evening and the early morning of the election in front of the TV having a fit of spastic tics that I could only relieve through tedious house chores and by draining every vessel containing any remnants of alcohol into my gullet. This morning I woke up with a hangover and a clean kitchen and opted against Van Morrison in favor of 'Harder They Come' by Jimmy Cliff. And 'Many Rivers to Cross.' I mean, whatever, the whole album is good for down-on-your-(country's)-luck days... er, years? Fuck.

I have to say that I really thought Kerry could do it. I believed he was the guy. And not in the I-would-vote-for-a-ham-sandwich-as-long-as-it's-not-Bush way. Which, by the way, I would. But he impressed me during the Democratic nominee debates. Not as much as Al Sharpton, mind you, but I was on board. Before Bush did his victory lap this afternoon, every newscaster on the planet was projecting him to say, "The American people have spoken." Yep, they've spoken, and what they've said is that nearly half of the voting public wishes that Bush wasn't the guy in office. What a crushing victory.

So, what now? Sure, our economy is bad enough to affect generations that we can't even conceive of yet, and by the way you're not going to want to be (intentionally or accidentally) conceiving shit for the next four years unless you're prepared to live sans health insurance and to home school your kid because, well yeah, some Supreme Court appointments might be filled by some rather conservative justices. And yes, our country is at war and rapidly depleting human and social resources to fight terror, including the terrorists that take time out of their busy terrorist duties to dance, rosey-cheeked, across our TV screens to patronize our country. And maybe minimum wage isn't a realistic living wage and unemployment is devastating communities all over the country (hey, just send those people to community colleges!). And okay, so Social Security may or may not exist when we are old and riddled with diseases whose treatments couldn't be researched "ethically" according to an evangelical leader who was born again in the cafeteria of a Holiday Inn. I mean, is it really such a big deal?

Sigh. My hope is that people won't lose hope. I hope that leftist folks continue to demonstrate integrity by not abandoning the politics that are just. I think we will get through these next four years the same way we got through the last four: paycheck to paycheck, The Daily Show, biting sarcasm, extended international travel, pearls of optimism disguised as crippling cynicism, and lots and lots of drinking.

God Bless America.