Drowning in the Current

by Bob Baxley. Proudly representing .00000000016% of humanity

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Wednesday November 03, 2004 at  3:11 PM

Disappointed but not defeated

I wish I had more encouraging words of my own, but since I don’t, I’m going to quote at length from David Orr writing in Grist Magazine. Check out the full catalog of environmental activists writing about what comes next.

For myself, I’d say this: don’t allow your disappointment to give way to dispair.

The arc of history is long. And while this election has shown us the ugly, intolerant, and blind underbelly of American society, it has also shown that the causes of justice, truth, and activism are alive, well, and still quite capable of putting up one hell of a fight.

David Orr writing in Grist Magazine’s Main Dish:

First, let’s get the name of the thing right. The election of 2004 confirms James Madison’s worst nightmare: the takeover of all branches of the federal government not just by a single party, but by an extreme faction of that party.

Second, let’s be clear about where we are headed. We the people are about to get more corruption, more division, more lies, more terrorism, more pollution, more breaks for the wealthy, more religious fanaticism, more corporate subsidies, more kids left behind, more struggling families, more debt piled on the backs of our children, more urban neglect, more nutty ideology, and further procrastination on the issue of potentially catastrophic climate change looming just ahead.

Third, the long-term objectives are clear: restore democracy to the United States by eliminating money from politics, reassert public control of the airwaves, restore a free, locally owned press, repair the frayed separation between church and state, and educate the people once again to be discerning citizens. How can we do such things? The same way all great and noble things are accomplished — with patience, courage, energy, certainty, and a mastery of the art of strategy. The soft underbelly of the Bush-Cheney-Rove empire includes all thoughtful conservatives disturbed by recklessness; all honest persons offended by mendacity; and all true Christians sufficiently alert to notice the discrepancy between the words and life of the “Prince of Peace” and our foreign and domestic policies.

And we have no energy for despair!

:: David Orr is chair of the environmental studies program at Oberlin College and author of The Last Refuge, The Nature of Design, and Earth in Mind.

Comments

I think it's good news that California went strongly for Kerry. And our local counties did extremely well -- Santa Clara = 64% Kerry, San Mateo = 70% Kerry, SF = 84% Kerry.

But check this story from Grist for more alarming news:

"Christian politics has as its primary intent the conquest of the land -- of men, families, institutions, bureaucracies, courts, and governments for the Kingdom of Christ," writes reconstructionist George Grant. Christian dominion will be achieved by ending the separation of church and state, replacing U.S. democracy with a theocracy ruled by Old Testament law, and cutting all government social programs, instead turning that work over to Christian churches.

Sound familiar? Sound like anyone we know? In fact, over 100 US Representatives and more than 40 Senators seem to be supporting this or something like it. More at: http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2004/10/27/scherer-christian/

Andrei,

I absolutely agree with your point of battling the puppet masters, rather than the puppets. But I think you're confusing "innocence" with ignorance. I just can't look at zealots as innocent.

Bob, you raise a good point. How DO we fight this slide toward theocracy? The progressive movement to get out the vote was the most passionate I've ever seen, yet we were still defeated by the fear-mongering and "morality" campaign. It's hard not to feel helpless, and surrounded by the enemy. If voting doesn't work, what kind of revolution are we left with?

Oh, the fundamentalist organizations are definitely the ones holding the strings. The religious right were on Bush's back about the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage long before he presented it to Congress. Evangelical Christians form a huge, sheeplike voting base, so Bush naturally targeted them by promising a faith-based agenda in return for their support. Organizations like Focus on the Family and the Southern Baptist Convention are in touch with Karl Rove in weekly conference calls. Bush may be an idiot, but his advisors know what they're doing. The sad thing is that most of the Christian voters who put Bush back into office think they are voting for a "moral" man who shares their values, but both the Bush administration and their Evangelical puppetmasters have a vested interest in never letting their voting base find out the ugly truth.

The big question I have now is whether or not 2008 will be the break that a third party has been seeking for decades. With the Democratic party reexamining themselves, and trying to figure out a way to incorporate "faith" into their platform, progressives may be left with no major party to represent them and their interests. I'm afraid that the Democrats will try to pander to the religious right, at the risk of alienating most of their core supporters. If that happens, the Libertarian Party or Green Party might actually make a dent in 2008. Any thoughts?

 

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