Kerry Loses the Election

As much as it pains me to say it, Bush has won re-election. Basically, it all did boil down to Ohio, but it was not as close as everyone thought the election would have been. For one (and as I correctly predicted on Monday and told several graduate students in my lab, but did not post on here), Bush would win Florida and Ohio. Is it by dirty Republican politics? Most likely not (I'll admit, I was flagrantly alarmist and and was extremely leftist towards the end of my previous post). Frankly, after I had attended the Kerry rally in Cleveland, I just realized that the democratic groundwar that was supposed to happen in Cleveland, the Democratic stronghold, just wasn't there. A signifnicantly lower number of people showed up to the rally and they just weren't energized. I estimated that maybe 20,000 went to the rally, 30,000 max, and they expected around 60,000-80,000 people there. It was an early indicator, at least to me, that Kerry wouldn't have the votes to take Ohio. I was predicting a Bush win in the Electorial College, but a popular vote win for Kerry. Alas, it wasn't so. However, I can gladly say that the democratic process in the US seems to be alive and well, despite what was reported in 2000.

However, I can't believe Bush was reelected in the way that he was. Despite his diplomatic shortcomings, despite his failure to jumpstart an economy with a $400B (if I'm not mistaken) tax cut, dispite refusal to listen to qualified people who dissent his policies (eg. environment, healthcare, research, Iraq), dispite a majority of Americans dissatisfied with his policies, America still chose to endure another four years with this current president. Why? It's religion. I, for one, think that religion has perverted the country, forcing people to choose what religion dictates. 10/11 states (from what I last heard) passed gay marriage amendment bans to their respeictive state constitutions. As the rhetorical question goes: Why? Gays don't threaten the life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Gays just want to live their own lives like heterosexuals do. Unfortunately, a majority believe that it is their duty and their right to ban such acts because their religion tells them to do (eg. homosexuality is a sin), and not because it violates the constitutional rights of equality. Because of such beliefs and the unification of the religious right, Bush, the epitomy of such thinking, was reelected. I can't think of any other reason why this election turned the way it did. I fear that the Constitution with its clearly secular intent will bend under the weight of the "majority" that is the fundamentalist Christian.

Unfortunately, I don't see any improvement in the years ahead. With a clear mandate of the majority in the popular vote and in the electorial college, and with majorities in the House and the Senate, Bush now has a blank check to pass legislation and to push his policies that he wishes. Nor will he veto those passed by Congress. People say that the impact on the Supreme Court will be dulled by the Democratic fillabuster, but I doubt that it would last for long. If the Democratic party cannot get back together and effectively counter or dull the evangelical movement, I predict a steady loss in the Democratic influence in both houses of Congress to the point where, in two years, the Senate will go >60 seats Republican, which would allow them to appoint the conservative judges that they so desire. The conservative base is gaining steam as the result of the war on terrorism (a facade for the 21st Century Crusades, to bluntly put it) and through the growing xenophobia that the Republicans have been spreading. It won't be long before Republicans become the default vote in the future because of the future, artificially omnipresent war on terrorism (or anti-foreigners) that will continue to be fought through various channels, whether it's through Iraq, through the invasion of other countries (eg. Iran) -- if it so happens, or just through general xenophobia. In other words, don't count on foreign policy or domestic views of those abroad to to change any time soon.

Anyway, seeing how things are going, I am quite pessimistic towards the future of the US if Bush continues on his rampage. Will Bush be less secretive or less manipulative of the truth? Will Bush finally listen to voices that should be listened to? Will he change the country for the better?

For one, a lot of potential brainpower from abroad, that has made the US so progressive and so dominant globally, is looking to other places, away from the US, because of policies and because of the image that the US projects to the rest of the world. It tells you one thing about the US. There are better places to go. The US probably won't get any better any time soon. The progressive movement will be effectively hobbled for a good while becaus of Bush and because of the unified religious base, save for California (who passed their embryonic stem cell research proposal, thank God) as we will turn into ourselves and live in the past. With such prospects in the future, I can only ask myself today: Is it worth living in the US now? Will it be worth it in the future?