Just When I Thought the Laughing Was Over ...

11/12/2012

I'm as ready as any American to put the election behind. Sure, I did some gratuitous end zone dancing, but it's understandable. I've been an active voter for 20 years and this is the first time where I got my way on all kinds of votes. The good guys won, the rape guys lost, and voters surprised me by voting for progressive issues all over the country, including marijuana and civil rights. Forgive me, Republican friends (I have some), for being a poor winner.

But in this new week I swore to put all the schadenfreude behind me. Then I read this article in the Washington Post. It's about Republican soul-searching in the wake of another loss. These stories are the rage now and this one is pretty typical. But it was this part that was awesome:

"Her calendar read “Victory Day!!” and she had planned to celebrate in the office by hosting a dance party and selling Romney souvenirs. But instead she was packing those souvenirs into boxes, which would be donated to a charity that sent clothes to South America."

Somewhere in Paraguay or Bolivia a village is going to get a shipment of Romney/Ryan t-shirts. Imagine a playground filled with kids who don't speak English getting mud all over their bright white Romney t-shirts, and they don't give a shit what the words mean.

This makes me happy.

4 Comments

Boris

11/13/2012 21:32:08

I've always regarded you as a discerning fellow. So, I am more than a little surprised that you are celebrating the re-election of this President. You voted for a guy who signed away the right to privacy of Americans via the NDAA, who continues to wage unconstitutional wars abroad that result in the deaths of thousands of innocent people, who authorizes drone strikes against individuals and refuses to see the inherent danger in legitimizing that kind of behavior, who persecutes drug users and ignores the LGBT and illegal immigrant communities while being hailed as a champion of civil liberties, who has failed to pardon Bradley Manning, Marc Emery and other political prisoners. You voted for him over a guy who would likely do all of the above exactly as the President has if given the chance, but you also voted for him over pro-peace, pro-liberty candidates like Gary Johnson and Jill Stein. I'm not saying that it wasn't pragmatic for you to vote for Obama to defeat Romney, but if you're going to be a good puppy, at least don't have a hard on about it.

David Jordan

11/13/2012 22:40:24

Hey, Boris. Thanks for commenting. You raise some very serious issues. However, one of my favorite sayings is "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." There was a lot at stake between the two candidates, including a lot of American lives if you believe the Harvard epidemiologists who say 40,000 or so Americans die every year due to lack of insurance. So, that should count for something amidst the mountain of other differences.
I didn't vote for Stein because I voted pragmatically, realistically, whatever you want to call voting for one of the guys who has a shot.

I publicly chose sides on the president, candidates in other races and various amendments. I took a lot of shit from the severe conservatives I work with and live amongst in a religious, militarized town. For the first time in my adult life, almost every vote I wanted came to be. I expected the worse, and it felt awesome. And I'm not going to let Debbie Downers ruin my schadenfreude.

As long as you vote for fantasy candidates you will be able to maintain you self-image as being above the fray. I'm not a robot. I gave a shit last Tuesday and would've been sad if everything had gone the other way.

Boris

11/14/2012 00:24:58

We would have been forced to provide healthcare to your 40,000 uninsured, death-prone Americans under either clown. Are you ignoring Romney's record in its entirety? What else was at stake (something real this time)? Where's the good?

Really? The ballsy, "Two-Piece, Thigh and Leg" David worried about taking shit from "severe" conservatives? You lie! You love it. You want them to be pissed off at you.

You don't think I'm happy about the demise of all the screwed up, right-infringing Amendments? But this conversation is about the President. My fantasy candidates don't murder people. Republicans are okay with murder so long as America has access to foreign oil. Are you okay with murder so long as Americans get health insurance?

Boris

11/14/2012 00:25:06