Buy your ticket, take the ride

Tomorrow is Election Day in the United States of Vespucci. If I had to describe my mood today it would be "flinching optimism". For weeks I've been seeing a lot of pro Kerry bumper stickers on the 405 Fwy. A lot more Kerry/Edwards lawn signs in posh neighborhoods as well... in Orange County! I also spotted on my daily commutes downtown a "Republicans for Kerry" and "Republicans Against Bush" bumper sticker.

Growing up in a conservative Republican household, I know that a lot of the Bush supporters and Republican party loyalists are standing by their man because they are pro-choice, anti-illegal immigration, and yearn for the golden age of Reagan. There's no reasoning with them on issues like the Deficit, Social Security, Health Care, or anything else that their children and grandchildren are going to care a whole lot about real soon. Nevermind civil rights, privacy, or the "war on drugs" (whether it's the cocaine republics in South America, poppy fields in Afghanistan, or less expensive pharmaceuticals in Canada). It makes me very, very sad.

Even if Bush hijacks another four years, I personally will get through it. I don't have a parent, sibling, or offspring in the military or manufacturing industries, nearly everyone I love has somewhat affordable health care, and the Patriot Act can't touch me (knock on wood).

But if we have to go through another 2000 where the Courts or lawyers decide who the next President is minutes before Inauguration Day, I will personally run for Congress, and my only issue will be getting rid of the Electoral College. It's a broken, outdated system, and should've been put out of it's misery in the 1960s when television became a proven part of the political process. Mostly, I never want to hear the phrase "swing state" ever again.

Maybe Bush will be re-elected again. And maybe it IS time for the American Empire to implode for the sake of global equilibrium. Morale will suck until another Reagan comes along. For all I know it may be Schwarzenegger, the first immigrant American President. And soon children all over the world, not just in America, will dream of someday becoming President. Arnold will be so popular that Americans will get over their xenophobia, and illegal-immigration will no longer be a Republican scare tactic.

Then again, if Bush does get elected, do we have it in us to fight his administration every step of the way if they try to legislate who we can't marry, limit where we can breathe safely, and determine how much we can speak out against our government before being arrested as a suspected terrorist?

There's no lack of rebellious outcry from musicians and performing artists. But it's presence in the mainstream consciousness isn't at the level of "Blowin' in the Wind", "What's Going On", or even "Ohio". And the most outspoken are lampooned on SNL skits or South Park episodes.

I do believe that we get the government we deserve. And if it is a bullying, cronyist, evangelical, nightmare of a government, it's gotta mean that enough of us want it that way.

Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?