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Nov. 4th, 2004 08:14 am
ARGH!! Come on, folks.
Ok. I'm not going to tell you to stop, because it's your journal, and you know, whatever. And I'm the LAST person to be a died-in-the-wool patriot -- you've all heard me talk about living abroad, about the fact that we're no better as a place to live than, say, Canada or England or even France (allowing, of course, for individual tastes).
I AM going to say that all you people going on about keeping your passport updated because you might have to flee the country are overreacting. You're basically saying "The guy I wanted didn't win, so I might have to leave." And please, folks, do you /really/ think it will come to that? Not to mention that, as our Canadian friend![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
waiwode said: Sorta makes democracy pointless, no?
In fact, go look at this map, which makes the "division" between our nation a lot less scary and points out that there's more than a binary worldview at work here. Hell, go look at Doug's entry in its entirety.
I mean, come on, folks. Sure, ok, eleven states voted in a very stupid piece of discriminatory legislation. Granted. And religious fundamentalist presidents are bad. Granted. But do you honestly think he can do that much damage? I mean, come on, even other Republicans are saying some of his ideas are stupid.
Ok, so we have a Republican congress now. So what? We've had one for the last four years. It's not enough to give Bush carte blanche to do whatever he wants.
Relax. Get involved with the political process on the local level and work for change. But for fuck's sake, until and unless something truly evil and dangerous to you happens, let's not talk about abandoning our nation because the wrong crook got elected.
And hey -- I have friends in Canada, England, Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and China. You know what? Almost every single one of them talks about how crappy their government is, how it does stupid and mindless things. England's got some of the same pro/anti-war crap going on we do. And while most of them think America has severe issues, they all talk about coming to live here someday. The grass is always greener, folks.
Also: I urge you all to go to the NPR website and listen to yesterday's "Talk of the Nation." There was a lot of informative stuff there about the reality of the Republican Party, and how it's not all right-wing whackjobs. BUSH is a right-wing whackjob, I grant you. But the majority of them are not.
Also, just a note: There are more liberal christians in this nation than fundamentalists. The fundies are just better-organized, because the liberal christians think their faith and their politics should be separate, at least in public (in reality, their faith is as much a part of their politics as anyone else's, of course).
Maybe they ought to change that.
Edit: It occurred to me, after I wrote this, that I might come off stronger than intended. I am NOT saying that under no circumstances should one leave the country. I'm only saying (again) that I don't believe things will get so bad.
If they do -- If Bush were, say, to actually manage to round up all gays and put them in camps, or make being a pagan illegal, or some other thing like that, and the country went along with it (which I do not believe for a second would ever happen) -- well, then, I'll be right there with you, crossing the border happily.
I'm just reiterating that it won't come to that.
I AM going to say that all you people going on about keeping your passport updated because you might have to flee the country are overreacting. You're basically saying "The guy I wanted didn't win, so I might have to leave." And please, folks, do you /really/ think it will come to that? Not to mention that, as our Canadian friend
waiwode said: Sorta makes democracy pointless, no?In fact, go look at this map, which makes the "division" between our nation a lot less scary and points out that there's more than a binary worldview at work here. Hell, go look at Doug's entry in its entirety.
I mean, come on, folks. Sure, ok, eleven states voted in a very stupid piece of discriminatory legislation. Granted. And religious fundamentalist presidents are bad. Granted. But do you honestly think he can do that much damage? I mean, come on, even other Republicans are saying some of his ideas are stupid.
Ok, so we have a Republican congress now. So what? We've had one for the last four years. It's not enough to give Bush carte blanche to do whatever he wants.
Relax. Get involved with the political process on the local level and work for change. But for fuck's sake, until and unless something truly evil and dangerous to you happens, let's not talk about abandoning our nation because the wrong crook got elected.
And hey -- I have friends in Canada, England, Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and China. You know what? Almost every single one of them talks about how crappy their government is, how it does stupid and mindless things. England's got some of the same pro/anti-war crap going on we do. And while most of them think America has severe issues, they all talk about coming to live here someday. The grass is always greener, folks.
Also: I urge you all to go to the NPR website and listen to yesterday's "Talk of the Nation." There was a lot of informative stuff there about the reality of the Republican Party, and how it's not all right-wing whackjobs. BUSH is a right-wing whackjob, I grant you. But the majority of them are not.
Also, just a note: There are more liberal christians in this nation than fundamentalists. The fundies are just better-organized, because the liberal christians think their faith and their politics should be separate, at least in public (in reality, their faith is as much a part of their politics as anyone else's, of course).
Maybe they ought to change that.
Edit: It occurred to me, after I wrote this, that I might come off stronger than intended. I am NOT saying that under no circumstances should one leave the country. I'm only saying (again) that I don't believe things will get so bad.
If they do -- If Bush were, say, to actually manage to round up all gays and put them in camps, or make being a pagan illegal, or some other thing like that, and the country went along with it (which I do not believe for a second would ever happen) -- well, then, I'll be right there with you, crossing the border happily.
I'm just reiterating that it won't come to that.