The Silver Lining

I was driving home from work this afternoon, listening to an Al Gore interview on ATC on NPR, when it hit me.  There is quite a lot of good coming out of Bush's presidency.

Hear me out below the fold.

If we stick with the every-cloud-has-a-silver-lining analogy, the cloud would have to be the countless (uncountable?) deaths that have occurred since 2000.  Although there are many failures of Bush's presidency, these deaths cannot be undone, so they become the cloud.

The silver lining?  The rest of this diary.

The year is 1999.  I'm in heaven.  We have a brand new daughter.  This is what it's all about.  Where were you in 1999?  Remember that answer.

I know early on that I'm voting for Gore.  I've never voted for a Republican presidential candidate and this Bush guy?  No way. Didn't like his father, won't like him.

I go on with my life.  The election is background noise.

For a while.  

It's after the election that I get pissed.  It's then that I start to pay attention.

Sort of.  

I listen to claims of voter fraud, and try to wade through it all.  It's hard to tell what's the truth and what's, well, truthiness (--S. Colbert).  Then 9/11 happens.  I honestly wanted to get behind Bush.  I wanted to be proud of how he handled this.  I wanted to be wrong about him.  As time went on I saw that I was wrong.  He was far worse than I had imagined.  

I found [http://www.buzzflash.com] and became a daily reader.  I started to feel informed.  And I became angrier and angrier.  I started to write letters to the editor.  I engaged in fierce discussions,via the editorial page, with Bush  supporters.  I started to wake up wanting to know what had happened in the world overnight.  Every chance I got (have) I hopped online to check the news.  I started to care.

I've been known to say that before 2000 I was an active pacifist, but that now I'm a passive activist.  

George W. Bush has given me that gift.  Without him, I'd still be walking around in a daze thinking none of it had anything to do with me.  Instead of making things happen, I'd be letting things happen.

That's one part of the silver lining.

Another part can only be answered by you.  How are you different now compared to six years ago?  Where was kos?  Where was Ned Lamont?  Where will we be three years from now?  

One more thing.  Let's talk about Al Gore for a moment.  The man who, in his words, "used to be the next President. . . ."  No doubt, if he had been, things would be different in the world.  Probably for the better.  People like me probably wouldn't be paying attention.  But things would be better.  

But--if Al Gore had become President in 2000, he wouldn't have been able to make "An Inconvenient Truth."  His message would be reaching far fewer people.  They said on NPR today that the per-screen average for Memorial Day weekend broke a record held by "The Shining."  I think this is a big deal.  I think that he was able to make the movie is a big deal.  

And I think that Al Gore, or {insert Democrat here}, will come along in 2008 and start cleaning up Bush's mess.  

All except for the countless (uncountable?) deaths.

•  I feel silly putting a tip jar up.

  But I guess it's okay, since all the other kids are doin' it:)

  by fezzik on Wed May 31, 2006 at 02:53:11 PM PDT

•  I feel much the same as you do

  In 2000, I was busy enough raising 2 middle school age kids, working full time and managing some rental property we owned at the time. I tried to keep myself informed about the issues and the candidates, voted for Gore, but politics were not real high on my list of  priorities.  I always voted for the person, not the party; usually had some favored candidates, but pretty much felt that American life would go on as it always had for the most part, no matter who won.

  The 2000 election changed all that. The Florida vote count and the supreme court decision were very disturbing. I also though a lot more about the electoral college system and questioned the need for that. I felt Gore was cheated, and the voters were cheated.

  Like you, I tried to get behind Bush in the initial days and weeks following 9/11, but my heart was never really in it. I just couldn't trust the guy. My heart sunk when we began the airstrikes on Iraq. I prayed that our leaders were doing the right thing, but as time went on it became more and more apparent that that was not the case. I started reading.....a lot, and discovered the existence of the PNAC and its goals and other things about the administration that were highly questionable. And well....you know the rest of the story. I now read many sources from many viewpoints to get information. I write my reps with my concerns. I hope to get involved in the campaign efforts of those candidates I support. I pay attention. No politician will ever again have my complete trust. They will have to earn my support and respect with their every action.

  Never before have I felt such fear for our country, our way of life and for our future. I guess I used to take those things quite for granted.

  by joy221 on Wed May 31, 2006 at 03:52:16 PM PDT