OK, Four More Years of ...

OK, the public has spoken. Four more years for Dick Cheney and his cute little sock puppet. The Republican campaign defined the issues, and painted Kerry into a corner, and Kerry played right into their hands by staying on the defensive throughout the campaign. His wonkish approach and wooden delivery -- fine for the senate but totally out of place in a rough and tumble presidential campaign -- probably didn’t convert a single swing voter.

We’ll never know whether Howard Dean could have defeated Bush, but he wouldn’t have allowed himself to be defined and painted into a corner. Dean had that secret ingredient that had been missing from the Democratic “leadership” for 3 years: a spine. He also isn’t a former senator. Only two senators in our history have gone directly from the senate to the White House; yet the senate produces most of the White House wannabes. A former governor (Dean) or former general (Clark) would have had better odds. It’s hard to think ahead to the 2008 election without being engulfed by nausea and claustrophobia, but: no senators, please.

From a global standpoint, we’ve got to be wondering how we look in the eyes of the world. The international community probably views the stereotypical American voter as a hopeless dumbf**k whose biggest vocabulary word is “Duuuuhhh!!,” followed closely by “Uggg!!” But that’s OK, let them laugh.

We have a president who has presided over the first net loss of jobs since Herbert Hoover; has turned a huge budget surplus into a record deficit; has staged a unilateral invasion of a sovereign nation, leading to over 1,100 American deaths and over 100,00 Iraqi deaths; and has alienated practically every ally we ever had -- and we vote him back in for four more years?!?!?!

Seriously, how would you explain this to a foreigner? A student who gets all Fs (and doesn’t work and play well with others) doesn’t get promoted to the next grade. If an employee screws up every job function that could possibly be screwed up, he/she gets fired. And yet...????...

According to columnist William Greider, things are expected to get worse during the next several years. Job losses, the deficit, environmental destruction, Iraq, al Qaeda: all are expected to get worse before they get better. This could all be a huge albatross for the party in power. So perhaps there’s a tiny silver lining in the election results; the Republicans’ standing with the voters may be irreparably damaged in a few years because of the *&$#&$#*# they’ve created. Meanwhile, what the Democrats need to do is -- to paraphrase the real estate cliché of “location, location, location” -- filibuster, filibuster, filibuster. Do whatever it takes to keep Pat Robertson off the Supreme Court.