And get your bearings

Wednesday morning, Beth woke me up and said, “bad things happened in the night. Bush won.” I got angry; I got depressed. After our show at Juvie Hall got cancelled, Ashley moved that we get drunk and try to forget about the election. She was rousingly seconded.

Thursday, I read news and blogs and emails, op-eds and wire reports: some snarky, some grim, many inspiring. I feel as if my political awakening has come too late, but I’m not going to waste any time on regrets. I’ve got an agenda for the next four years. I’m mad as hell about campaign finance reform, civic education, government transparency, privacy, media consolidation, outdated copyright law and our voting system. I want to be a part of a new progressive movement in America. If the Democratic Party joins up, then good, and I might even join their rolls. If not, I’ll remain an independent. The values of the Enlightenment have been tarnished, dimmed: our government creaks, lurches and ignores its charter.

High language aside — and O, how I loathe to put it aside, Mr. Vocabulary, me — I’m deeply concerned about the state of our government and the pervasive, Advertise/Market Everything Down Your Throat with Spin and Slick Deceit media.

As many have said, there’s a time for licking our wounds — let’s not let it be too long or too short. A post on Sean Bonner’s blog led me to a post by Jonah Luster. Here is a snippet:

>The people of America have spoken. They spoke for the right to do and don?¢‚Ǩ?°?É‚Äû?ɬ¥t as they please, for the right to be a fundamentalist country. They have spoken against gay marriages in 11 states, against a reformed penal system in three, for stem cell research in California, and against gambling. The people of America have made their statement. There was no candidate with a pro-gay marriage agenda getting more than a handful of votes, be it in Senate, House, as the President, or simply by voting for a proposition or measure. Kerry lost, yes, but long before November 2nd we already knew that most issues had lost. Both candidates supported PARIOT and and PATRIOT II, both candidates campaigned against gay marriage, and both candidates were careful not to call Iraq as the clusterfsck it is. Kerry only cursory mentioned the environment, spoke of tax cuts as if they were sustainable, and was reluctant to bring Presidential indifference to the lives and families he destroyed in the US and abroad up as a topic. The people of America clearly liked the guy better who attacked full force and never stopped. Even as he stuttered and fumbled, Bush convinced a majority to excuse his shortcomings in the name of getting someone who is willing to kick ass, take names, and never regret it.

> Today we know what is forgivable and what isn?¢‚Ǩ?°?É‚Äû?ɬ¥t. To a majority of voters Civil Liberties were less important than a strong moral stance. To a majority, the environment made less of an impact than tax cuts. And to a majority, secrecy and cloak-and-dagger politics did not matter enough to refuse a contract extension for employee numero uno.

If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a few grass-roots organizations to join.