Skip = 380, people.
Nov. 8th, 2004 12:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jlhSo, I wasn't really clear about this before, but after I voted, I split for things south of here.
Tuesday afternoon I stopped off to have lunch with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
msscribe and hang out with weatherby. Then back on the train to good friend P's house where we sadly watched Jon Stewart and then went to bed.
The next morning we ate some breakfast, packed the car, and took off for the Shenandoah National Park. (Along the way, we listened to Edwards and Kerry's concession speeches, and I have to admit, they made me feel better.) We spent four lovely days wandering about the woods, taking long drives and eating good food and staying in a sweet little cabin that had a breathtaking view, in a little old-time resort that dates from the turn of the century and made me feel like a cross between camp and Dirty Dancing. I have to say, while the landscape was very similar to my own home, and while a small town is a small town is a small town in many ways, I really prefer my woods of Maine red neck white trash to the VA ones. I suppose it's the devil you know, or something. However, we did rejoice at every single brave little Kerry-Edwards sign we saw, and yes, even in the wilds of Virginia, there were plenty of 'em. So there.
Saturday it was back to DC and we saw The Motorcycle Diaries, which was much less earnestly annoying than I'd feared (one word: Sundance) and less agit-prop than some reviews had implied. (Or maybe I'm just a big Bolshie.) P grew up among his mother's Argentian friends, so the accents made him all nostalgic for his youth. Then this morning I had a lovely brunch withevil_erato, who also took me to the train, and then I was home and ready to plow through LJ.
I read the still-hopeful Tuesday afternoon-evening posts with a lump in my throat.
I read the sadly-facing-reality Tuesday night-Wednesday morning posts with empathy.
I read the I'm-moving-to-Canada posts with some understanding, but mostly anger.
I read the we-ain't-giving-up-yet posts with joy and relief.
When I was part way through my read I got quite angry and wanted to make a big rant, so I'm glad that I wasn't actually here to do that. But I will say this: The first election I voted in was in 1988. I was 11 when Reagan won the first time, and by the time I voted I wondered if Democrats could really be president. (This was when the only Dem president in memory was Carter, who hadn't yet become the Best Ex President Ever.) And what happened? Bush Pere. And it sucked. And four years later the smart word was that he was unbeatable, because he'd just won a war and shit, so the big names stayed out of the Democratic primary.
And what did we get. Why, we got ourselves a William Jefferson Clinton.
But there won't be a quick fix this time. It's going to happen the long slow way. But I'm an African-American woman who has a Harvard education, which would have been illegal not that long ago, and unthinkable even more recently. So I'm living testament to the fact that change happens. Like Kerry said himself, this country keeps moving forward. My fellow Americans, move with us.
Or we will roll you over.
Tuesday afternoon I stopped off to have lunch with
msscribe and hang out with weatherby. Then back on the train to good friend P's house where we sadly watched Jon Stewart and then went to bed. The next morning we ate some breakfast, packed the car, and took off for the Shenandoah National Park. (Along the way, we listened to Edwards and Kerry's concession speeches, and I have to admit, they made me feel better.) We spent four lovely days wandering about the woods, taking long drives and eating good food and staying in a sweet little cabin that had a breathtaking view, in a little old-time resort that dates from the turn of the century and made me feel like a cross between camp and Dirty Dancing. I have to say, while the landscape was very similar to my own home, and while a small town is a small town is a small town in many ways, I really prefer my woods of Maine red neck white trash to the VA ones. I suppose it's the devil you know, or something. However, we did rejoice at every single brave little Kerry-Edwards sign we saw, and yes, even in the wilds of Virginia, there were plenty of 'em. So there.
Saturday it was back to DC and we saw The Motorcycle Diaries, which was much less earnestly annoying than I'd feared (one word: Sundance) and less agit-prop than some reviews had implied. (Or maybe I'm just a big Bolshie.) P grew up among his mother's Argentian friends, so the accents made him all nostalgic for his youth. Then this morning I had a lovely brunch with
evil_erato, who also took me to the train, and then I was home and ready to plow through LJ.I read the still-hopeful Tuesday afternoon-evening posts with a lump in my throat.
I read the sadly-facing-reality Tuesday night-Wednesday morning posts with empathy.
I read the I'm-moving-to-Canada posts with some understanding, but mostly anger.
I read the we-ain't-giving-up-yet posts with joy and relief.
When I was part way through my read I got quite angry and wanted to make a big rant, so I'm glad that I wasn't actually here to do that. But I will say this: The first election I voted in was in 1988. I was 11 when Reagan won the first time, and by the time I voted I wondered if Democrats could really be president. (This was when the only Dem president in memory was Carter, who hadn't yet become the Best Ex President Ever.) And what happened? Bush Pere. And it sucked. And four years later the smart word was that he was unbeatable, because he'd just won a war and shit, so the big names stayed out of the Democratic primary.
And what did we get. Why, we got ourselves a William Jefferson Clinton.
But there won't be a quick fix this time. It's going to happen the long slow way. But I'm an African-American woman who has a Harvard education, which would have been illegal not that long ago, and unthinkable even more recently. So I'm living testament to the fact that change happens. Like Kerry said himself, this country keeps moving forward. My fellow Americans, move with us.
Or we will roll you over.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 07:23 am (UTC)You know what would be better? All the people in currently blue states who want to move to Canada (or maybe even those who just think the Southern hicksters [or at least the half that voted for Bush] need a self-righteous New England smack up side the head) should pick a few of the currently red (or reddish-purple, even better!) states that have enough electoral votes to easily make a difference, and move THERE. So that in 2008 their votes can topple the regime. Infiltrate, I tell you! Infiltrate and conquer!
Mostly, I wanted to say I love to read your posts. >:D
no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 09:52 am (UTC)Well, and that the red states grew in population and therefore electoral votes is part of the problem--Americans are moving south, to right-to-work states (meaning the unions are less powerful) and I think the Northerners who are moving are overwhelmed by the culture.
I am secretly all about self-righteous kicks in the head. I also need to remember to make myself a Maine icon this evening, methinks!
>:D
no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 10:37 am (UTC)Well, and that the red states grew in population and therefore electoral votes is part of the problem--Americans are moving south, to right-to-work states (meaning the unions are less powerful) and I think the Northerners who are moving are overwhelmed by the culture.
Good point. When you go somewhere and you hear one voice screaming the same thing in your ear over and over (figuratively), it's hard to ignore. But, I don't know, I've been pretty liberal-minded since I was a wee sproglet, but going to college in the Bible Belt, and then settling down to live in a staunchly Catholic, fairly wealthy, and therefore largely Republican Missouri town hasn't changed my mind. Joining the Catholic church hasn't even changed my mind - rather, I tend to drive the sisters/other Catholics a little crazy demanding they justify the Pope's interpretation of Biblical text, and insisting they explain how they can live by the whole Love Thy Neighbor gig while actively working to make gays second-class citizens. They're useless arguments, but I'm not going to give into their way of thinking just because they keep shouting it at me, no more than they'll do the same when I shout my way of thinking at me. So...I guess what I'm saying is, are the Northerners who come here having their POV changed, or were they predisposed to agree with the Republicans? Or are they the reason just shy of half of a lot of the Southern states went for Kerry, and the fact is we just need more of y'all? :P
I would like an Iowa icon for sentimental reasons, but Iowa shamed me. Oh my beloved home state, how could you go so wrong??
Oh, and I've been watching your most recent post with interest. That's exactly what I've been thinking - I know very well what other countries think of our president-elect and half of our nation, but I don't hear them talk much about the state of government and politics in their own country. Particularly the UK - I've seen people from the UK on LJ call Blair Bush's lap dog, but if he is, it's not, in fact, Bush's fault, or America's fault. I mean, hello. If they don't want their country following Bush into wars and whatnot, should they not be complaining to their own leaders? I have wondered.
Plus, all of this really has made me more curious about politics in general, local and international. So yes, your post is one of my favorites in the last few weeks.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 10:42 am (UTC)>:D