Another Democrat falls on his sword

Another Democrat fell on his sword in the best interest of his country (and Democracy). I trust the irony of this will not escape everyone. When Al Gore won the election in 2000 only to have it snatched way at the last minute by an illegal and immoral Supreme Court decision he gave a magnificent concession speech in which he said he did not want the country (Democracy) tied up endlessly in confusion and legal activity. It was a noble gesture.

Now John Kerry has done much the same. In his concession speech he said he did not want the election settled in the courts but by the vote of the people (even though the votes had not all been counted, and if they had, according to Greg Palast, Kerry would have won in both Ohio and New Mexico). Another noble gesture. But what is the point of these noble gestures to preserve Democracy when the Republicans have spent the last 40 years systematically trying to undermine it? Neither Gore nor Kerry should have given up so easily. You can bet the Republicans would not have done the same. They would have fought it endlessly, ruthlessly, with no holds barred, and right down to the bitter end.

This is not the only irony to emerge in this election. Kerry/Edwards, but mostly Edwards, concentrated on his theme of two Americas, one for the wealthy and one for the “little guy” and the middle class. But they failed to factor in the religious variable. So the very people they were fighting for, the “little guy” and the middle class, are the very people who voted against them, because of “moral values.” But their conception of moral values has little or nothing to do with morality itself. It has only to do with their belief that abortion is wrong as is homosexuality. Opposition to abortion is not in and of itself a moral value. It is at best a moral opinion. One could easily argue that demanding people bring into the world hordes of unwanted children is equally as immoral as not. Similarly, being homophobic is not a moral value but merely again a moral opinion. It fails to recognize that homosexuality is something a certain percentage of the population is born with. It is not a choice, in spite of their ignorant demands to the contrary. I think George W. Bush should ask Dick Cheney’s daughter if she chose to be a lesbian. Just as he could in fact try to inform himself of the facts rather than simply wimping out with an “I don’t know.” Of course he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know virtually anything else either. “You mean there are black people in Brazil too?” He doesn’t read. He doesn’t get any information other than what his huge band of sycophants tell him. And what they tell him is what he wants to know. Dick Cheney knows. But he is not going to say because it doesn’t fit in with his political agenda. He knows his daughter was born that way. But if he has to prop up his puppet by agreeing to something he knows is wrong, so what. The end justifies the means.

Bush will now act as if he has a mandate even though 51% is not exactly that. What does he care? He operated as if he had a mandate even though he lost he first election. Don’t believe the nonsense that he is going to reach out to Democrats. He never has and never will. His arrogance and certainty know no bounds. It is going to be an exceptionally difficult four years unless something miraculous happens. Pray for miracles.