Anywhere but here....
When Bush was allegedly re-elected in 2004, I cried. I railed against something intangible; namely, the shoddy forethought of American conservativism, the ability to be duped into believing that this man actually has the best interests of his country at heart. I started calling myself "The Future Canadian". I looked at rents and job listings in Thailand, Malta, and Samoa.
My friends, both Democrat and Republican, told me I was overreacting. "Don't go. This is your country. By leaving, you're giving up on your country." Eventually, I relented and settled in to the concept of four more years of getting fucked over.
But this morning, I'm back to fight or flight mentality, emphasis on the flight. I can't win. This country no longer supports me. There's only so much heartbreak a person can stand before they hit their threshold and I'm quickly reaching mine. South Dakota just banned abortion. Ten other states are now in talks to do the same. Inuit tribes are noticing the first real effects of Artic thaw and melting ice caps. President Bush is now saying that troops may be in Iraq long after 2008 -- when my brother joined the Marines two months ago, we fooled ourselves into believing that the 2006 mid-term elections may mean he wouldn't have to go, but now that dream has died. And my willingness to keep my head up is dying as well.
There have been others who continued to fight despite any advancements. Alice Paul, John Lewis, Martin Luther King, Jr. -- all of those people took the worst from the American government and came back for more. Apparently, they're made of stronger stuff than me.
I am proud to be American. I choke up when I start talking about the Declaration of Independence. But when frustration at the direction of the country starts to mount like heat in a crucible and no amount of liberal grit or legislation can break through the faith-based hubris of The Powers That Be, I want to start over in a new place. It won't stop the ice caps from melting, it won't bring my brother home from Iraq. But god damn.... it's got to be better than this.
posted by SpangledAngel @ 6:23 AM
6 Comments:
keep your head up hun..things aint esay living anywaer now adays..i hate my system here in canada and pretty much fell the same over our goverment as u do about bush..who i also think is a twat:D..it sucks having family over there..two of my brothers are there right now..who knows maby are brothers are frineds..werid eh lol..well hope things pick up for you..bush shall go down one day..i mean i he cant live for ever right??:D
GoodBye..so long..see ya..don't let the door hit you in the a** on the way out. I can't stand it when people give up ... if you believe in something stand up and do something about it. Don't just rant. That part of the problem with America today, we rant but don't take action. The people who took action in the last election was your depised "faith based" base. They felt the the country was headed in the wrong direction (insert your opinion here) and took action. Their actions resulted in conservative at all levels of the government today. Give them credit, they did not give up and leave. You want things to change then DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE, GET INVOLVED.
I agree. Don't make me blog slap you !!! ;-)
Sorry road rat. Just hang in there. I have been overseas and a little around the world and even though it gets hard to swallow what comes out of the government sometimes, nothing beats what we have here. I really mean nothing. There are things that are every day occurances to them, but should be world wide news to us in the shock and surprise of what is happening. So just hang in there. I have meet you, we have talked several times. You are made of alot more stronger stuff than you take credit for. Take care and stay beautiful in both heart and spirit.
Your wayward Marshal
Okay, "anonymous", I completely understand what you're saying. Desperation has a smell akin to rotting flesh and it's easy to get upset when people give up. Don't think I'm not angry at myself.
That having been said, I am involved. I attend as many events as my schedule permits, I donate what little money I can, I'm on an anti-hate committee. But haven't you ever felt a twinge of your efforts being fruitless? I don't mean all the time, but at least once? Seriously, I did everything I could before the last election but we still lost. Why? Electronic voting machines that were allegedly rigged and districts that made sure voting lines were too long. And with an administration hell-bent on pile-driving its beliefs past the checks and balances of the legislative system, doesn't it sometimes feel like all the canvassing in the world won't help if the other side is cheating?
That's not to say I'm giving up. I'm not. But sometimes I do like to daydream about a nice little shack in Costa Rica.
I'm wish you as always, darling.
And I disagree with anonymous up there. The blue-collar conservatives didn't stand up for what they believed in -- they were duped into voting for a man who doesn't honestly represent anyone's interests but his own because he brought a completely ridiculous social issue into the debate forefront. He manipulated a large group of otherwise intelligent people by latching his claws into an idea that their religion has beat into them their whole lives.
Not that I feel sorry for them -- these are people who need to shake themselves out of the stupor in which they live and start to think for themselves. The future of the world literally depends on our actions today. Glaciers are disappearing because we can't stop pumping toxic gas into the air.
Those who benefit from this dazed country of Bible-carrying gun-toters would piss themselves if these people on whose backs they stand one day stood upright and realized what part they play in the world.
We are not the ones who must change, nor should we be forced out of this country by our own frustration.
But how do we revive the masses? We all need to find the courage to link our names with revolution.
We have to wrestle the shovels away from the generation who dug this hole and start to repair the damage. It's not too late yet, but it will be soon.
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