Signs I'm Getting Old and So Is Our Republic

My bladder is awake before I am.

I woke up at 4am-ish to pee. Have not been able to sleep since. So here I am, pondering the election, praying that somehow the voters manage, in their irritation with Republicans, to forgive the fact that we Dems have nothing remotely resembling a viable and enthusiasm-generating platform of our own, short of "we're not Bush." Although these days I have to be honest with you, I kind of think that is a pretty respectable thing to be able to say.

This president has changed the meaning of Conservatism to the point that a true conservative (not evangelical, mind you, but a true conservative in the pure sense of the word) would be physically sick at the idea of George Bush's continued "mandate" to serve. This president has changed the meaning of America to the point that anyone who cares to see can tell that we are dangerously close to never getting it back. When I was a kid in Scotland, America was perceived as this amazing place where people were kind of rude but essentially decent; where you could seek your fortune among the strivers of the world; where your kids could have the chance to grow up and be anything they wanted to be; where Americans were The Good Guys. I always grew up with an unspoken feeling in the back of my brain that America was where The Good Guys lived; you didn't always like them or agree with them, but you always knew they didn't mean any harm.

Yeah, it's only a childhood subconscious musing, but it was real--both to me and to all the kids I knew-and it affected our worldviews to this day. When my family immigrated here, any statements of caution or concern involved guns and crime, not that we were moving to a bad, evil place governed by a bad, evil man. And whether you think it's a valid thought for others to have or not, sadly this is now America's chief export, which WILL have consequences for the future.

Thomas Jefferson said, "Whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, the people, if well informed, may be relied on to set them to rights." We've been informed. The signs are there to see. This election IS about George Bush even though he is not on the ballot. No matter how much we want to separate our specific local/state/federal candidates from this administration, we all know that it's no longer enough to say, "but I like MY guy." That guy will be voting as a member of a party; that guy's presence will determine which party holds the Congressional leadership, which, if GOP, will carry out the wishes of this President. President Bush does not see nuance. He is a man of absolutes: good vs. evil, for me or against me. He considered his squeaker of a re-election to be a "mandate" for governing. We can't take any chances that he gets emboldened by these midterms.

So go vote. Vote for what America used to be, for what "American" used to mean, for what it can mean again. We are the good guys. It's time to tell this Stay The Course/Divide and Conquer president that he has "attracted our notice" and we plan to "set him to rights."

And now, I'm off to pee. Again.