So, I'm writing a friend about how pissed off I am about our political picture, and it seems to me that I should blogify it:

I sent him the e-bay link for "2004 Presidential Election,"

> Glad you enjoyed the e-bay link. What a hoot, huh? We'll laugh that joker and his buddies right out of the Whitehouse.

and He says,

"Sigh. I wish it were that simple. But I'm afraid Cheney et al. are hooked in like ticks (bloodsuckers, not a bad analogy...). And we've seen plenty of evidence that they are completely unscrupulous when it comes to winning at all costs. Meanwhile, the Demos are being all statesmanlike and gentlemanly, sauntering gracefully towards the slaughter. I'm not suggesting that the Demos should stoop to the same tactics, but they should draw attention to it and try to make *something* of the "shame factor". What we need is for one of the candidates who doesn't stand a chance anyway -Kochinick (sp?), say- really start yelling about how the emperor has no clothes, the Republicans are raping the voting rights laws, the constitution, the environment, etc.
Rant rant rant! Aaarrgh! :-/.
-Ted "

But I say,

Ah, my friend, you are being sold a bill of goods--these people are absolutely evictable--they are playing to a slim base (the very wealthy and the unhinged). The rest of us, even somewhat dim bulbs, are seeing through them. For instance, anti Bushie postcards could be well used, and we should paper the country with them.


You know how military folks tend to be Republican? The Bushies are shafting a considerable portion of their base by their incredibly callous treatment of our troops ... those troops have familes and friends here at home, who also are suffering for the malfeasance of this administration.

Remember--Gore won the popular (and electoral) vote, and had been outspent tremendously by this administration, in an environment (the Clinton administration) where we had enjoyed quite a lot of prosperity and hard to believe now, but surpluses. Now, 3 million people are out of work who had jobs before, the country is racking up a staggering debt, the Bush administration is caught with its pants down over just about every imaginable scenario ... The emperor indeed has no clothes--but you won't hear about it on the news.

Granted, the Republican machine is like a tractor in a field ready to be plowed--they've got a fancy schmancy tractor that cost them a lot of money. But, if you put a million people out there with forks (and have them walk backwards for heaven's sake so they don't compress the soil they've just dug up), they can get the job done too, without the tractor.

The trick is to get out the vote--I talk to everyone I come across about whether they are registered to vote. If any one out there still thinks Bush is out for their best interests, I'm happy to disabuse them of that belief. Plus, I'm going to buy a bunch of these post cards and start sending them to everyone I know. I might even start sending them to people from around the country I've never met in person--just send them so that the message gets out to the postal handlers. Maybe I'll send them to grocery stores with public addresses, so that the managers and mail handlers get a chance to look at them.

This is a time of incredible momentum (remember Eric Hoffer's True Believer? read it again). The GOP has fed their dogs, made them promises, and now when it's time to deliver and the dogs are hungry, guess what ... the bowl is empty. Those dogs will be quick to turn on the Limbaugh's and Coulter's when their houses are being repossessed while Bush and the boys talk about how the economy is in recovery. Rove is wrong--the perception that Bush "cares" isn't what will get him elected in a miserable economy--getting people jobs will, and his entire approach is not about getting the voters jobs. Dude--they are even sending their campaign jobs oversees! Now, if that party gave a flying hooee about American jobs the least they could do is pay American workers American wages with American benefits. Nope.

I predict Bush loses, and hopefully that dick DeLay and the rest of his cronies. If he doesn't, I'm shopping for a new country--not because I can't stand to live with folks that would put Bush and his administration in power--but because it will be the end of democracy in this country. Hm, Canada is nice ... then again, the work ethic in Europe is much less about funneling the wealth of the public trust into the CEOs of their corporations, and they have awesome retirement and vacation benefits.

Take care Ted, and don't forget our old buddy Margaret Mead's advice about how individuals are the ones who change this world!