Esoteric Bowl

Mouse on a wheel
assumes progress;
Despite what it may feel,
Mouse on a wheel;
Unaware of what is real,
further to digress;
Mouse on a wheel,
assumes progress.

Attorney General John Ashcroft has decided to leave the Bush administration. There are many rumors surrounding the reasoning behind Ashcroft’s departure. Some reports point to his recent health problems, while White House sources are claiming that he was often too overtly political and not a team player.

Perhaps the entire truth for this untimely split will never be known, but sources closest to the breakup suggest that it had something to do with her.

No coherent thoughts today, so instead I’ll ramble more than usual and see where it leads.

Yasser Arafat is in a coma. Yasser Arafat is not in a coma. He is; he isn’t. He is; he isn’t. Okay already! Can everyone at least agree that he’s sleeping really, really, soundly?

To any of the jurors of the Scott Peterson trial that may be reading this: Have pity on us all! For crying out loud, convict or acquit, but do what you have to do to end this thing. The quicker this trial is over and done with, the sooner the media will stop force-feeding this case down our throats and then they can move on to the important issues of the country, like the Michael Jackson case.

I realize that Michael Moore has made a few movies and has won some awards, but when did it become necessary for him to share all his thoughts on every issue of the day? Dude, give it a rest already. Each time Michael Moore speaks, a red state voter is born.

Last night I saw Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi being interviewed by Lou Dobbs. In the brief interview, Ms. Pelosi cited scripture, referred to the environment as “God’s creation”, and let it be known that she is a “devout Catholic”. That’s all well and good, but it appears that many politicians are reading far too much into the recent exit polls. I imagine this is a sign of things to come in America, where all politicians will discuss the major issues with a moral and religious tone attached. I suppose now both teams will attempt to show who is holier-than-thou.

Happy Tuesday!

I decided on Saturday afternoon that I would walk over to the new WalMart to see what all the fuss was about. Yes, it’s a few miles away from home, but the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and my toes were feeling happy.

I had heard that the WalMart structure was big, but “big” doesn’t come near to describing its size. It’s frickin enormous! The entire structure is several blocks long. I tried to take a photo that would show the complete size, but I don’t think it’s possible to do from ground level.

Anyway, I decided to go inside and have a look around. The place was packed with people, I mean packed! Every register had a long line and every isle that I walked into had a standing crowd. The deeper into the store I went, the more uneasy I began to feel. I started feeling flush and it became somewhat difficult to breath and it felt like the walls were slowly closing in on me. I had to get out! I bobbed and weaved and twisted and turned through the maze of people, trying to get out of the store as quickly as possible without actually running and looking like a complete fool.

Ah, fresh air. Whew, that was a close one. I have no idea what that was all about, or how I could feel so closed-in within a place so big. I really need to get out more.

In the past few days there has been a great deal of talk and much has been written about what the Democratic party should do to rebound from the election loss.

It has become fashionable for the pundits to cite a post-election poll, which according to them, shows that one voter in five said moral values was the most important issue, and that eight out of ten of those voters supported Mr. Bush.

Not surprisingly, there has been a great deal of knee jerk reaction to this data. Bush supporters have insisted that this data shows that the “Liberal Elite” is out of touch with the majority. At the same time, some Democrats have suggested that certain issues should be abandoned from the Democratic platform, while other Democrats are calling for a need to close the cultural gap by further blurring the differences between themselves and Republicans.

It doesn’t shock me that Bush supporters would cite moral values as a key issue. Not because red states have a higher degree of moral values than do blue states, but rather because it became clear that Bush supporters could not rest their hat on a single domestic or foreign policy accomplishment of the Bush administration. Moral values is the one issue that is vague enough where no raw data is required in an argument to support Mr. Bush.

During the election, a lot of attention was given to the Anti-Bush voters. These were individuals that would have supported a potted plant against Mr. Bush. A lesser known and obviously more motivated group were the Pro-Bush voters, those individuals which cared less about Bush success and failures, and more about his reelection.

In an election where an overwhelming majority of voters had long decided on their candidate, it mattered little what one candidate did or said during the campaign; minds had already been made up. In the end, the reds were more motivated to get to the polls than were the blues. It’s important for Democrats to examine why this is and to seek the lessons that can be learned from this defeat, but changing the platform is not the answer.

Abandoning the core issues of the party is not only wrong, but it is wrong-headed. Republicans would like nothing more than to see the Democratic party morph into Republican-Lite. It wasn’t that long ago when Republicans were citing similar moral values as their justification for opposing Equal Rights. And it wasn’t too long ago when Republicans pointed to the Liberal Elite as being out of touch with the majority when Democrats were marching in the streets for Civil Rights.

It is essential that Democrats stick with their platform and remain loyal to their base. Adopting like-minded intolerance into the party will not win the hearts of more voters, instead it will do the opposite.

If Democrats are to rebound, the leadership of the party needs to hold strong to the platform and not allow themselves to be intimidated into compromising the core issues that brought them into the party. It is also crucial for the Democratic leadership to continually stoke the fire of the party to maintain interest in the issues while expanding and mobilizing the base. Mr. Bush has made it quite clear that more of the same is on the way. Because of this, it is essential that Democrats follow events closely and continue to educate themselves on the issues.

Sad. Frustrated. Angry. Disillusioned. Pissed Off. Speechless. Battered. Bruised. Disgusted. Cynical. Bewildered. Philosophical. Acceptance.

Ah well, the majority has spoken.

I had hoped that the election would put an end to this emotional roller-coaster, but that’s not the case. The ride continues. The results of this election are difficult to accept, but I’ll get there.

I imagine there are some that are packing their luggage at this very moment, moving out of the country and seeking asylum in a distant land. I can’t say that I blame them, but that’s not an option for me. Besides, few distant lands have open-arms for Americans right now.

I suppose there’s always the option of depression, calling my old friend Jack Daniels and cutting myself off from the rest of the world. To be honest, a good depression does sound tempting, and it wouldn’t take much to get into a dark funk. But in reality, I know that depression isn’t going to get me anywhere.

Yes, it’s also tempting to throw my arms in the air, buy myself a Don’t blame me - I voted for Kerry t-shirt, and proclaim that I no longer give a shit. But the truth is, I still care.

Although the election is over, our young men and women are still in Iraq and Afghanistan. Millions of people still don’t have health care. Osama is still out there. Millions of people remain jobless. The national debt continues to soar. And the many other problems that we faced yesterday are still here today.

If my cause was worth fighting for yesterday, then surely an election cannot not change that. Yes, it would have been much easier to forward the cause with a new administration, but that’s not the way things worked out. I’ll just have to dig my feet in the sand a little deeper and continue the fight.

Just give me a few moments while I get over this one.

One day. It seems like it’s been a lifetime in waiting for this day to come. But the dawn of that day is upon us.

Tomorrow, like millions of others, I will cast my vote in what could be the most important election of our lifetime. There are those that insist that my one vote wont make a difference, but I couldn’t disagree more. Not only will my vote be a vote for John Kerry, but the vote I cast tomorrow also holds a significant message as well.

That message is a defiant and resounding NO to the Bush administration and to future administrations that aspire to be like them. My vote says no to the politics of deception and lies, no to playing on the worse fears of the American public, no to the policies of blood for oil, no to the neocon theory of an American Empire, no to corporate theft of our resources, no to an irresponsible and unaccountable government, and no to the willingness of trashing the Constitution of the United States.

In this election, it is not only important for John Kerry to win so that America can return to the ideals upon which this nation was created, but it is critical that he win decisively so that the message can be heard loud and clear.

I urge everyone to cast their vote tomorrow for John Kerry, and let the message be heard.