November 3, 2004

I have intentionally never expressed my political opinions here. I know that my beliefs are very different from those of many of the people who read this blog, and I know that most of you are here to see a cute picture of Ruby. Today, I am sadder than I have been in a long time, and I need a release valve. I’m going to write about why I am sad with no apologies. Feel free to skip this one.

I am a cynic. For a long time now, I have believed that our government is less about personal freedom and more about the freedom of Grand Commerce that has made a very few people fortunate (myself included) and a very large number of people alienated and destined for suffering. I also believe that “democracy” is designed to ensure that these disenfranchised citizens are still obligated to the system that enslaves them, because of the false promise that they too can join the lucky ones.

I also believe that in order to succeed in politics to the extent that any presidential candidate does, one needs to be a compromising, lying, prick. Beholden more to lobbyists and special interest groups than it is to We The People, the two-party system is set up to reward and propagate evil and money-sickness, plain and simple. Democrats and Republicans alike are guilty of propagandizing their positions in such a way that it appears that they are acting in the interest of their constituency, rather than for their own personal gain. So, with my doom and gloom political perspective, I expected this to be a depressing election, and I never really whole-heatedly found myself in support of either candidate. I did however find myself vehemently opposed to George Bush.

It’s only been thirty years since Vietnam, and yet this nation has lost its ability to see how evil and wrong it is to misguidedly enter into a preemptive war. Thousands of Iraqis and Americans have died, and continue to die, and for what? Because of nonexistent WMDs? Because a government that we put in place was refusing to pay us the proper homage? Because a secular government that had nothing whatsoever to do with Al Qaeda happened to be in the middle east, and we hate those brown people over there anyways, especially in a post 9/11 environment? Any idiot can see that we went into that country based on lies, without international support from the UN and NATO: groups that we set up so that rogue nations wouldn’t do exactly what we are doing now. I guess we don’t count because we are more powerful, white, and nominally Christian. Noam Chomsky, in his new book about Iraq, Hegemony or Survival, points out that, “it is of the utmost significance for the future that in a world-dominant power even the worst crimes are easily effaced.”
The fact that we are failing in Iraq is blamed on the president’s lack of a plan for postwar control. That is utter bullshit. There was a plan for postwar Iraq. It’s failing, because we aren’t now, nor are we likely to be “postwar” any time soon; because we didn’t have any international support when we went in, and without it, we are pushing our pieces around the board in a virtual stalemate with, and supposedly for, people who don’t want us there. This article from Harper's succinctly describes Bush’s postwar plan, and is in my opinion, one of the most insightful and truthful descriptions of the war. There are many writers who describe what is going on in Iraq without the Neocon spin, but no one wants to hear them. Bush and his cronies wanted to use Iraq as a petri dish in which to test their unabashed laissez-faire model of economics, and if they all got incredibly rich in the process, well then, all the better. Of course they had plans for Iraq, and that was the real reason that they went in so quickly without allied support. How could one believe otherwise?

The generation thatwas devastated by Vietnam, and protested and helped to end that wrong and evil war have somehow become mute. Their protests ended with their acquisition of white picket fences and Hummers. They did question the war in Vietnam, and then grew up to allow a similar war rage without question. Vietnam, upon reflection was declared a mistake by many of its chief perpetrators, like Robert McNamara who states in the preface to his book, In Retrospect, “We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations who participated in the decisions on Vietnam acted according to what we thought were the principles and traditions of this nation. We made our decisions in light of those values. Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong. We owe it to future generations to explain why." At least those Cold Warriors really thought that they were facing a threat, misguided and bloodthirsty though they were. They believed that communism was going to bring the world to its knees, and even though there are arguments that there were some within those administrations who were looking for fiscal gain in Indochina, it was nowhere near as blatant as it is in Iraq. Is there anyone who really felt that Iraq was a serious imminent threat to the United States? So imminent that there wasn’t time to let the UN inspections continue? Iraq was a weak country with reserves of immeasurable value, plain and simple. Unlike North Korea: a real threat to the US, there was no China to back it up and there was money to be made, so we were free to pillage and plunder in the post 9-11 environment. Somehow, perhaps because the flower-children invested themselves in a flawed system so deeply that they had to discard their values, they don’t care now. There is no threat that they will be drafted this time, but there is a perceived threat that they will have to pay more taxes if a “liberal” is in office. People are dying. We are in a quagmire, which, even if it was resolved tomorrow, is an awful crime; especially because it is perpetrated by a nation and a generation that should know better. Have we become that greedy, that we would vote for a self-serving hawkish warmonger? Do the lives of people in Iraq mean so little to us that we will overlook them for a tax break? And what of the taxes that are at some point going to have to pay for the trillions of dollars spent in Iraq? Fuck it; leave it for Ruby’s generation. Apparently, hippies became yuppies and invested in military-tech, oil companies, and international construction firms. Or perhaps they don’t believe that Bush had a diabolical plan for postwar Iraq. Perhaps I am a crazy conspiracy theorist. Perhaps they weren’t voting for him because of personal greed, and apathy when it comes to the lives of brown non-Christian people. I doubt it, but who knows?

But what of the alternative? If the American people aren’t as cynical as me, then they are probably the healthier for it. But that means that they elected someone who didn’t have a plan for finishing the war. That means that they buy into Bush’s “just one of the guys- good old boy” façade . Forget the fact that he was the son of the head of the CIA, and a golden child from one of the richest and most powerful families in America. Concentrate instead on his simple-man persona. I’m not buying it, but if the nation is, then why on earth would the USA want to elect a simpleton to lead it? Twice. The fact that he seems like a good guy to take to a frat party, drink beer and do blow with is exactly why he shouldn’t be our president. He is proud to say that he doesn’t like to read books. He spends more time golfing than he does in his office. He was arrested for a DUI… in the 70’s… when the blood alcohol level for a DUI was probably 8.0 instead of .08. He lost three debates, but who needs a president who can express his ideas fluently and decisively? He is more bumbling than Dan Quayle. Fuck him.

Did we elect him because of his morality? A constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage? What is wrong with this country? No child left behind? Sure. Let’s penalize schools with at risk students, and high percentages of non-English speaking students because they don’t meet up to national standards. That sounds fucking brilliant. Take money away from the schools that are challenged with children who need more help, and give it to schools like the ones that I went to where the kids are all literate (most of them before they even get to school), self motivated, and will learn what they need to, with or without the help of teachers. Great plan. Repeal abortion? Why not? Of course, we won’t spend any money to support or educate those unwanted children. Fuck ‘em. Destroy the environment; ignore the Kyoto accord? Sure that’s all based on crazy science anyways. Not to mention his stance on PREEMPTIVE WAR! Don’t kill stem cells, but fuck those dirty brown Iraqis. I love Bush’s morality.

I woke up this morning and felt sick to my stomach. I always used to laugh when people would say “America, Love it or Leave it,” and they didn’t see the irony- that this is a country supposedly built on the premise that if something is wrong it can be changed from within. Today however, I want to take that advice: Leave It. If I had the money or the skills to do so, I’d be on my way to somewhere else. Instead, I’ll write out my frustrations here, and then I’ll shut up. I won’t talk to many people about how I feel for fear of being ridiculed. I will be a quiet Expat in my own country.

The thought of going to work and watching all those rich fucking republicans gloat about Bush’s victory made me sick. Last week I heard an extremely loyal Bush supporter tell the bartender how much he paid for his wife’s implants, and his friend gave the moral advice that the bartender should marry a whore over a good cook. The next day I overheard some motherfucker talking about how a million dollars isn’t that much money any more, ten minutes before he started to discuss how ridiculous it would be to raise the minimum wage to $6.15 per hour. Sometimes when I look around that restaurant, all I see are bloated maggots writhing about, happily feasting on the festering wound that is this country; and there I am, like an idiot, waiting to pick up the scraps that they are kind enough to leave. Thankfully, today on my way in, I got a phone call. It had snowed all day, and the restaurant was becoming unreachable. They told me to stay home. I’ll sit home with Ani and Ruby and think about the snow. It falls, slow and soothing. Maybe some time in the not too distant future, I’ll feel a little less depressed, but for now, I’ll just think of Ruby in the snow. Here’s that cute baby picture you were looking for.

I’m sorry Ruby. I tried.

I usually love comments, but today, I just needed to vent.