so, i'm inclinded to remember a day almost exactly four years ago. it was a good day for the most part, that i remember. at night, it got significantly worse... it started alright walking around downtown Saint Paul, diving in between two epicenters of activity...
and then i went back to Northfield, back to Carleton. i remember quite distinctly jumping up and down and banging my fists into the walls of the Nourse dorm second floor lounge in utter frustration.
an ugly day had passed in U.S. history - it was quite possibly the ugliest i have ever experienced. (to note: i don't think September 11, 2001 was "ugly". it was "gruesome" but not "ugly", since "ugly" conveys embarassment... to me, at least.) election day 2000 was embarassing to our "democratic" nation. the fury and flurry that passed after it made it even uglier.
i live in the hopes that maybe this tuesday will be more congenial and enjoyable, more direct and less frustrating. but what has passed so far this year has been nasty and ugly. the feelings i have inside me at the moment - of utter contempt of my own president, of growing irritation with my own country, of despair that my expectations will not be met - are the same sort of bile that has filled the hearts and minds of many people this year.
and this bile is everywhere. i can feel it in the distance between the U.S. and the Czech Republic. even over here i have felt the negativity of the campaigns. neither of the major party candidates has put forward clear cut plans of dealing with Iraq. neither of them have inspired a clear majority of Americans in their platforms and characters. so why not resort to negative, bile-spewing rhetoric?
this doesn't mean that i am not optimistic. i am always optimistic and i don't trust the polls - i think kerry will win decisively. that doesn't mean that there won't be court challenges though. unless it's an overwhelming surprise one way or another, i am pessimistic about how soon we'll know - again, unless it is an overwhelming surprise one way or the other, we probably won't know who our president for the years of 2005-2008 will be for another month and a half.
i'm ready for this all to be over. but i also get this feeling that once it is, just as in Boston at the moment, there will be a gap in our collective psyches. we've been preoccupied with this election for anywhere between 3 and 12 months and to the point of screaming for most of it, that when it is all over there will be a lull of uncertainty and depression - what will we talk about? will we go back to inane conversations about TV shows?
if there is one beneficial thing about this election, it's that the electorate is more engaged than it has been in a long time. it's not a wash. it's heated. it's passionate. and more people are involved and volunteering than have in a long, long time.
so, there are a lot more people involved. that's good. but the media... the media has done a poor job helping people understand. the media doesn't cut into the negativity, it encourages it. it wants it because it keeps people fearing - and fear means bigger ratings and increased interest - watch out for that black man with the knife behind you! it's sickening. it appalls me. the media in the U.S. needs integrity. it's losing it's ability to function on an informational basis.
even Jon Stewart thinks it's absurd that so many people look towards his comedy-based show as a source of news. sure, it's more digestible that way. but as a platform for comedy, it cannot afford to elaborate and truly inform people.
60 minutes apparently has footage of Ashlee Simpson breaking down backstage on SNL last week. shouldn't 60 minutes have something more important to talk about? did you know that genocide is currently going on in Sudan? it's embarassing that it took the U.S. over 6 months to classify the slaughter of many unaggressive civilians based on their race as "genocide". and we're still dragging our feet in helping put an end to it.
where are all the people who cried "never again" after Rwanda in the 90's? so helping the people of Western Sudan will not yield us any reward, financially speaking... why help them?
i know i preached the choir with this post. i also know that i touched on many topics. there is much to do and voting is a good way to start for anybody and everybody - please vote.
Posted by iain at October 31, 2004 05:07 PM