I feel the important thing out of all this is to remain positive. Yes, I know. It’s a seriously disheartening situation. In fact, it probably cannot get any worse. George W. Bush is back in the White House, Congress is overwhelmingly conservative, and most likely a rightwing judge will fill the vacant seat of the Supreme Court. However, I am still optimistic because I am convinced the people still have the power. The next four years are going to be a long, dif- ficult ride for us. There will be countess protests to attend, activists to recruit, petitions to sign, and articles to write. I imagine it will be sometimes grueling. We’ll want to quit and move to Canada to become lumberjacks. Aye? We cannot lay down for the Bush Administration. We need to take a strong, unified stance. George W. Bush does not need to worry about being re-elected. He’ll do anything to appease his corporate, money-hungry, religiously conservative posse. Does this mean drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? Or passing a Constitutional amendment to forbid gay marriage and abortion? Or invading other countries because of “weapons of mass destruction?” My guess is yes, and I am positive millions of Americans agree with me. But we will not allow George W. Bush to make greedy, irresponsible, prejudiced choices such as these. We will ban together in a peaceful mass, for together we will be heard. Jewel Kilcher said it best:
“I say to you the heart of Humanity has not and will not be broken and let us raise ourselves like lanterns with the millions of others – with the mad and the forgotten and the strong of heart to shine.” My friends, I ask you this: if you have a voice, do not whisper, but yell. If you have opinions, do not suppress them, but express them valiantly. If you hear of a revolution, do not ignore it, but join the masses of people to demonstrate. If the government makes you happy, do not smile, but celebrate joyfully. And if the government makes you sad, do not weep, but wail.
Ideally, John Kerry would have won this election, but he did not. I feel as if we need to get over it and start dealing with it. Let us unite and make this country a safer, happier, and more respectable place to live. Several of my fellow students are I starting a group called the Social Consciousness Alliance in hopes to network with the liberal organizations and activists on campus so we can work together for this greater good. If you would like to be put on our e-mail list, contact me at alliancewcu@yahoo. com.
Feel empowered, feel ready, and expect turbulent times, because we are going to give ol’ George W. and Dick a run for their money.