Don't blame me, I'm from Illinois

[altivo]

Well, I knew that given a choice, Americans would once again pick the selfish, shortsighted, and narrow-minded. But I tried not to believe it.

Those of us who are old enough to remember 1972 probably recall the buttons worn by some of us afterward, that said in plain letters: "Don't blame me, I'm from Massachusetts." These were a reference to the fact that Massachusetts was the only state with the gumption to vote against Nixon.

And of course, Massachusetts was wise. Nixon eventually resigned out of embarrassment when the dirty laundry got aired. I expect to soon be wearing a button that says something like "I did not vote for him."

Remember this in a couple of years, when the military draft has been reinstated and your civil liberties have been curtailed by overzealous agents of Homeland Security. Or if you go abroad and find that Americans are now more hated by the rest of the world than ever before.

Comments

Halliburton Uber Alles

[animist.livejournal.com]

Next we are going to hear talk about "A Mandate" and all that. I guess America likes war. The only question now is where we invade next? Iran? I expect a draft. It would now only give W enough soldiers to police the world, it would solve the unemployment problem.

Re: Halliburton Uber Alles

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The US is about to get what it deserves, no question about it. In this direction there are more landmines than the nation has faced since the Civil War. What I find really frightening is the attitude of the electorate, which is shockingly similar to that of Germans who kept Adolf Hitler in office. This is not to say that W himself is equivalent to Hitler (he's neither insane enough nor bright enough) but the consequences could easily be similar.

Those who will suffer most from a draft stayed away from the polls in large numbers. They could have settled this the other way. Those who will suffer most from internal terrorism, the invasion of privacy and the persecutions that are going to come, were too busy supporting hate votes against minorities.

The impact on the Supreme Court will be staggering. The Constitutional checks and balances, already weak, are going to be non-existent before long now.

(Don't blame me, I'm from Illinois.)

Re: Halliburton Uber Alles

[animist.livejournal.com]

Well, those kids who complained about politics on LJ and said that one party is no different from the other... they can go fight for W's War. Especially the Nader voters. Serves them right.

Damn, I feel bitter right now.

Re: Halliburton Uber Alles

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*hugs you and cries, being more frightened than bitter*

[dakhun.livejournal.com]

The US is about to get what it deserves, no question about it. In this direction there are more landmines than the nation has faced since the Civil War. What I find really frightening is the attitude of the electorate

As a Canadian, I'm nothing more than a concerned bystander in all of this, and there is nobody on my friends list that whole-heartedly supports Bush and everything he has done (though 2 I know did vote Republican). So that makes it hard for me to complain about the results of the election on LJ, but I want to. What you said pretty much sums up what I'm feeling, but I was afraid that if I said it myself, it would sound more like a threat than as the warning I would intend it to be.

Regardless of how Ohio turns out, and even if Kerry wins in the end, the American electorate is going to be judged by the rest of the world for increasing their popular support for Bush and for increasing the Republicans' hold on the senate and the house at the same time. All of the excuses, including "don't blame me, I didn't vote for Bush" or "my state didn't support Bush" just seem to ring hollow now because they've been used too many times.

But I feel your pain, and realise that there's not a lot you could have done to make things turn out differently.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

True, there was next to nothing that I could do that would have changed the outcome. I have the good fortune to be able to say that my state's electoral votes went to Kerry, but not being wealthy or influential in any way, that wasn't my doing. I'm sure that my own precinct and county went at least 60-40 in favor of Bush, in spite of my own and my partner's votes.

Illinois did elect a Democratic senator to replace a retiring (wack-o) Republican, but that was partly by luck. The Republicans' original nominee for the office was so embarrassed by a sexual scandal (heterosexual even!) that he had to drop out of the race. The party really scraped the bottom of the open grave to find a candidate, and in the end settled on a total nutcase whose number one campaign promise was that he would have the federal income tax repealed. Even the stupidest voter knows this can't be done unless some other means of funding the federal government is provided, which said candidate had no suggestions for whatsoever.

Otherwise, my vote did nothing at all. All the incumbents of either party in my districts were returned to office. Many were unopposed Republicans.

Buh ?

[favouritewindow.livejournal.com]

From a BBC news article:

Religion - rather than class, ethnic origin or education - has become the key determinant of voting in the 2004 presidential race, according to an exit poll conducted by the Associated Press news agency.

And moral issues were more important for voters than Iraq, the war on terrorism, or the economy.

...

Those against gay marriage, for example, voted strongly for Mr Bush, as did those opposed to abortion.

This is just... unbelievable. How can people view these issues as having equal importance as the war in Iraq? Thousands are dying and an entire country has been devastated, but never mind, we must vote Bush in, so that.... gay marriages aren't legalized. I really don't want to believe that religious mania is at such a high in the US that homophobia takes precedence to a bloody, senseless war... not to mention billions of dollars of taxpayers' money being wasted. Why bother with a budget in the first place, George?

Re: Buh ?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The BBC is (as so often) correct.

As you and I have discussed before, the educational state and political awareness of the average US resident is poor and declining. Iraq has little reality to most, other than as something they see on television if there is nothing more interesting to watch than the news. They don't know where Iraq is, except that it's on the other side of some ocean and so not immediately relevant to them. (Most couldn't point it out on an unlabeled globe or map.)

The ones most acutely aware of Iraq are those who have family members stationed there, or who have actually lost such family members. One might expect them to be angered and eager to bring the nonsensical thing to a close, but human psychology doesn't work that way. Just as happened with Vietnam, the families of those who are lost in these non-wars are mostly unwilling to allow anything that might suggest that their loss was unnecessary or in vain. So they join with the jingoists like the VFW and AmVets in deriding anyone who opposes the war as a "traitor" or a "coward." Consequently, the immediate families of war casualties probably supported the administration that caused their loss.

Beyond that, yes. Most voters who supported Bush did so because they thought he do one or more of:

• lower their personal or business taxes
• stop queers from getting "married"
• make abortion illegal again
• defend their right to own any firearm they choose, including, if they so desire, a semi-automatic assault weapon
• somehow magically keep "terrorists" off US soil, despite the utter failure of his administration to do so prior to 9/11.

They don't care what the rest of the world thinks of them or the US, as long as their cable TV service keeps working and the price of liquor and tobacco doesn't go too high.