Debriefing

Ugh. It's finally over, but I certainly don't feel very good.
So far, I have pretty much kept politics out of this blog, but I just don't think I can do that anymore. It's too overwhelming.

For months it has been going on.
Ad after ad after ad, speeches, rallies, tons of mail - both snail and e, and of course the final push to get people to the polls to vote. And vote we did. But for what? I am left with more and more doubts about whether things were valid. Now, don't get me wrong - I am not a journalist, conspiracy theorist, or some sort of insider - but it looks like an awful lot of people seem to have been disenfranchised.

Black box voting with no paper trail (and this was supposed to correct the Florida hanging chad/butterfly ballot fiasco from 2000???), the Ohio native Diebold president and his promise to "deliver Ohio to bush (small b intended)," challenges & harrassment at the polling places, 58,000 missing absentee ballots (Florida again...deja vu), and then there's the provisional ballot thing. I thought the idea was to make sure that we didn't have a repeat of the last election!
And it's pretty depressing to think that people were actually stepping out of the voting booth wondering if their vote will be counted... And with all this, they don't even bother to look at provisional or absentee ballots, let alone count them - including those from members of the military laying their asses on the line in Iraq, Afghanistan, and wherever else these folks might be. Aren't they curious what the soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors have to say? I know I am...

And what does this say about the direction this country is headed in? He claims he has a "mandate." Frankly, I don't see it. A landslide indicates a mandate. This was no landslide. And I feel a bit sorry for the true Christians, who I believe were conned into thinking that he is a representative for them. He specifically used them (just as Rove told him to) just like he used so many others. He appealed to people's fears, and twisted them against the whole country; pushing wedge issues to bring evangelicals to the polls. Guess it worked, though. I hope "the architect" and the swiftees enjoyed the kickbacks. The swiftees in particular should really be ashamed of prostituting themselves like that. I'm sure that McCain can relate to that stab in the back...the architect did that to him, too. He just used different people on that one.

It's sad, really. To think that you can scare people into voting a certain way. Well, not that, really... I guess the true sadness is the fact that (assumably) half of the country did it.
Americans - the people who are supposed to be the most free and independent people in the world - allowed the media and the spinmeisters to dictate their opinions to them. I thought we were supposed to think for ourselves; be inquisitive, investigative, and thirst for the truth? Ah, well - it's too late for that now.
And as this country rolls back the clock on our personal freedoms, civil rights, privacy, and the environment, I hope that we remember what we've done. It's no holds barred - a lame duck will try to do anything he wants, and with no checks and balances in the house, senate, or judiciary, we're all going to pay the price - one way or another.

The question becomes "What can we expect for 2008?" Will the problems of the voting booth be corrected? Will the votes of all Americans (who bother to vote, anyway...) finally be counted?
Of course, one must realize that change is in the hands of those in power, and if the systems in place are responsible for putting you in power, where is the impetus to change?

Think about it.