Andrew's Wandering Mind

10485.1

Now, here’s my 2-cents worth from the reality-based camp with some observations on recent events and postings. Predictably, I’m going to agree with some folks more than others and that’s ok. That’s part of the conversation, that different people find different things important. I’m not going to throw anyone out of the country because they’re not like me.

What a great day for Florida. Pressure’s off us this year for any questions regarding the election. Or at least that’s what we were thinking while everyone was watching Ohio. No offense to anyone from Ohio, it was just your turn this year.

What a decent day for America. Really, on a larger scale. No matter who won the election, the transition (or retention) of power was going to be smooth and peaceful. As much as I am disappointed by the outcome of the elections here in the US, I am glad that each time we do this, we make our decisions with touchscreens and #2 pencils and words, rather than bayonettes and road-side bombs. As much talk as there is of divisiveness, there’s no real serious danger of tanks rolling in the streets.

If the largest complaint that someone has against a candidate is that he’s changed his mind on some issues over the years after getting new information, I think I can handle that. I would hope that for most of us over the age of 10, life has showed us that what we “knew” wasn’t always so, and it’s ok to learn from that and move on. However, for those who are concerned that changed opinions on issues are a sign of weakness, I believe President Bush might disagree:
*Notice that the Education President has become the War President.
*Nation-building was bad in 2000 (“I’m not so sure the role of the United States is to go around the world and say ‘This is the way it’s got to be.” -2000), but it’s good now (read the news of Afghanistan and Iraq).
*Osama Bin Laden? Wanted “dead or alive” in Sept 2001, but on March 13, 2002, we heard “And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him.”
Whether it’s oil prices, gay marriage, or campaign finance, Mr Bush has had his share of significant changes of heart. Let’s please not use the “flip-flop” argument.

I find it interesting that the same party who decries a mischaracterized “global test” as a dangerous infringement on US sovereignty can then point to Senator Kerry and object that he’s not following the orders of the Pope in Rome when setting his policies. While the Roman Catholic Church does object to female priests, gay marriage and abortion, it is also against capital punishment, last I checked. As Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000, George W Bush oversaw more than 150 executions. Where’s the Church’s moral outrage there? The Catholic Church is also anti-war, except in the case of carefully-defined “just” wars. The invasion of an oil-rich nation whose president we didn’t like and the murder of 15,000 to 100,000 civilians does not count. Let’s please not use the Catholic argument.

More people voted for President Bush than for any candidate in American history. True. This is a mandate? Hardly. Three observations:
First, in 1992, 1996, and 2000, there were stronger 3rd party candidates who won millions of votes, so that no one person took over 50% of the vote. Our friends in much of the rest of the world will recognize this as a normal situation.
Second, the population of the US is higher than it ever has been and turnout was higher than in recent elections, so it follows that the winner will have more votes for him.
Third, and quite significantly, never have there been as many votes Against a Sitting US President. Ever. By 15,000,000 votes, this was by far the largest vote against an incumbent president. That link is here. Let’s please not use the “mandate” argument.

It’s been said that “moral values” drove this election. Ok, that was the largest issue identified for people voting for Bush, with 22%. Iraq and terrorism were close behind with almost 20% each. That still leaves 78% of people for whom moral values were *not* the significant driving force. Now, I won’t go into a lengthy discussion of the moral values of providing a healthy environment and social safety net for future generations or the moral values of invading a country and securing the oil fields before the weapons stockpiles, but I will note this: Jon Stewart, a comedian who has a news-based TV show, observed that Manhatten, the city that suffered most from the September 11th terrorist attacks, and a city with a significant gay population, voted overwhelmingly (80%) for John Kerry. Massachusetts, the only state in the US with full legal recognition of gay marriage, and the nation’s lowest divorce rate (2.4 per 1000 people per year) voted decisively (62%) for John Kerry. And there was no local backlash. All of the Massachusetts state representatives who voted for a law showing a more inclusive definition of marriage were re-elected. All of them. States where terrorism and gay marriage (why are these even in the same sentence?) actually happen didn’t vote out of Fear of these issues. It was in states like South Dakota, where gay and lesbian people are nearly invisible and terrorism is honestly not a realistic concern, that the Fear campaign worked (60% for Bush). There were actually TV commercials in some states that suggested that metaphorical Wolves were in the forest, coming to get you if you didn’t vote the right way. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around this thought process.

Speaking of gay marriage, I do need to point out that not all of the eleven states passing amendments to their state constitutions banning same-sex marriages (and in some cases, civil unions and other types of legal arrangements between two people) are in the South. Most, actually, are not. Southern states affected include Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, while Northern and Western states were Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon and Utah. Bigotry is not just a Southern concern. Nor, unfortunately, is it just a Republican concern. Michigan and Oregon are “blue states” meaning that their electoral votes went to Kerry, and Montana elected a Democratic governor, yet the marriage bans passed handily in all three places. These are exceptions of course, but we need to be careful of oversimplifying a 22% values reading in a poll. So, let’s please not use the Southern Republicans are out to bash gays argument.

While I do have fear for human rights, the environment, peace processes, and the US Supreme Court, I voted out of Hope. And Hope I still have. Hope that we, as a nation, will learn to work better with the rest of the world to make it a better place for all of us. Hope that the politics of using a minority as a scapegoat for divisiveness is recognized as having no place in our modern society. Hope that for the health of our youth, we realize that providing more information is better than less. Hope that we find a stable economic solution for the security of our retirees. Hope that health care access for children is never again sacrificed at the altar of tax cuts for the wealthy. Hope that sound science will not be trumped by religious ideology in the classrooms of Wisconsin, Kansas, and Texas, nor in the halls of Congress. Hope that we can find new sources of energy without causing irreparable damage to the world we all share. Hope that people of all of our faiths will become more comfortable in their beliefs so that they will not feel so threatened by variety that the laws of the land must be changed to espouse restrictive dogma. Hope that, for all the talk of division, we realize how much we truly have in common, and that this is a pretty nifty corner of the world to call home, when we work together to care for it.

Thanks for reading this. Consider it part of the mental processing for myself. Take from it what you will. It’s been interesting seeing the reactions from different parts of the world on different news sites. Now, I’m going to sit back for a little bit and grab some popcorn. Then, it’s back into the process of making sure there are many voices in the conversation locally.

Cheers,
Andrew