You know, for a media that is supposed to do a credible job of keeping track of anniversaries, I think they let this one slide by a little too easily... Are they trying to hide or forget something?
Five years ago tonight, I left my home secure in knowing that Al Gore had just been called the winner in Florida, and that, as every pundit knew, that meant he would be the 43rd President of the United States. I went to the church basement where I played basketball with the boys, and we joked jovially about how dumb George was, how close he had come to actually being our president, how the only people more clueless than him were the voters who pulled his lever. For two hours we ran on our chicken legs, happy to think of politics as a kind of friendly but not terribly important entertainment, and certainly nothing to worry or stress about, at least for another four years.
Politically speaking, those two hours were the last happy moments for me in five full years. Oh, and did I mention it yet? I voted for Ralph Nader.
I know this may not be popular with Neo-cons and 9/11 widows, but for me, that night five years ago has had a more lasting effect than 9/11. I also think the results have been far more catastrophic and profound for my country and the world.
Hyperbole? Look at my list.
- 9/11 itself. Would it really have happened if Bush hadn't been on vacation in Texas when the PDB came out that said: "Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S."?
- Iraq. No WMDs, no Al Queda link, nothing but Saddam. How many dead? 100 K? I have no words for this.
- Energy policy, aka No Oil Company Left Behind, record profits, record use of fossil fuels, record amounts of pollution.
- Kyoto Accords. Sayonarra. One of the first casualties.
- Gas prices. Wasn't Iraq supposed to be about the oil?
- Katrina. "Brownie, that's a heckuva nice shirt."
- Supreme Court. Cheer up, this one will last for three decades.
- Killing our language. "Clear Skies Initiative", "Healthy Forests", "Liberate Iraq"
- Where is Bin Laden anyway?
- Torture. Just thinking about this list.
I made a mistake five years ago, but unlike some people, I am able to admit it and reform my ways. I will never, ever, ever, vote for a third party candidate on the left in a National Election again. It is clear to me that America is the most dangerous country on the planet when in the wrong hands, and those hands are all too eager to grab power at the merest opportunity.
Still, why no media stories about that awful night five years ago? Have we let it slip from our consciousness so easily? Do tell.
For me, it has been a nightmare from which I never awaken. It goes on and on and on, thousands killed, a planet on the brink, an idiot figure-head, proto-fascists at the controls--how did that night go so badly?
Need another list?
- Butterfly ballots
- Felons list
- Tampa police check-points
- Paperless electronic voting
I am not a conspiracy guy, but looking back over five years, we have either been incredibly unlucky or there's been a whole lot of undemocratic, destructive, violent, hateful, mean, poisonous, uncaring, incompetent shit going on.
Weigh in.