Healing from the 2004 US Election

by J.V. Connors

November 9, 2004

All About Town

The Unknown News http://www.unknownnews.net/041109d-jvc.html

First, all those progressives who have worked so hard to change the direction of US politics should all take some time to recover from the trauma of Bush coupe #2. Who could have guessed the incredible alliance of progressive groups and the Democrats would lose so easily and quickly? Who could have imagined that so many people would be so blind and foolish with their own future security? Yes, there was some outright thievery in key states, but the Bush vote was still tremendous! 

This is definitely a time to pull back and mourn. Hug your family and friends and take some time off to de-stress. Have a good cry. Send a donation to those groups whose work you admired the most over the past year, or have a few of their volunteers over for dinner.

Then, when you are ready to think about the mess that we're in and the work to be done, here are a few things to consider, or reconsider:

• Remember that we have already accomplished a great deal just by joining hundreds of progressive groups together in one cause. Many peace advocates had doubts about Kerry and the Democrats, but they saw the wisdom in working together. The fighting and competition between these groups has kept us powerless for 30 years, and now we (mostly) cooperate and see each other as good people trying to make things better. What an accomplishment! That is the world we want!
• While it is good to move on and consider post-election strategies that keep the coalition together, it is important to continue to probe into election irregularities and to challenge the various ways that minority voters were disenfranchised. Even if we cannot prove the election was stolen again, it is imperative to keep our focus on that if we are to ever trust the US electoral process. The right to fair elections is the essence of democracy, and the one thing we must fight for.
• The veil of fear and intimidation has been lifted from honest public discussion of the problems with the Iraqi and Afghani wars, the economic and social policies of the Bush administration, planned future wars and other concerns. Ashcroft and the Patriot Act had progressives cowed for 2-3 years and the election helped us break through that silence to be public about our opposition. Even conservatives are talking about the problems with the wars and Bush economic policies.
• Many have already said, but I'll repeat it; the Bush machine has gotten the US into a horrid, messy war and terrible economic patterns, and these will bear fruit during the next 4 years. There is little chance that Kerry could have dealt with them effectively, especially since he would have faced an unapologetic Republican congress. This is the only way for the public at large, our leaders, and the media, to develop any understanding of where these policies get us.
• The Democratic party will have to take a long hard look at itself and do some serious reforming.
• The peace movement needs to do some long, hard considering of why, despite our great numbers at the start of the Iraq war, we still were unable to connect with the hearts and minds of many Americans. The progressive movement we just reveled in was about defeating Bush, not about peace. We need to figure out what we can do that is effective.
• And, progressives as a whole need to take a long hard look at why the right wing considers us to be loathsome and immoral, even in the face of Abu Graib and the endless, pointless slaughter of Iraqi civilians and our own soldiers?

I have some crude ideas for a starting point for this last discussion:

1. We have become more divisive in our own politics over the course of the last 30 years. As progressives have lost power, we have believed ourselves victims, and then polarized ourselves from conservatives - seen them as evil, hateful. These are our neighbors - should we not find a way to talk to them respectfully? We can argue that they were ugly and disrespectful first and see how far that gets us, or we can reconsider this path.
2. Look at our language and tone about the right wing. How many progressives are now spouting diatribes about their "stupidity" and "ignorance" and much worse. Look at all our derisive humor - the monkey pictures, for example (I laughed too!) But it's time to grow up and stop the name calling.
3. We need to look at our own image as they see us and become better models. For example, conservatives see progressives as "immoral" - that was a big reason for the Bush vote. Why do they see us as immoral? What is our public image? We are pro women's rights, and how are progressive women depicted in the media? Superficial, selfish and obsessed with sex? We are pro-gay, and what is the media depiction of gays? Superficial, selfish and obsessed with sex? Hollywood is depicting ethnic minorities more and more this way also.

Conservatives and evangelicals see the world in a heap of trouble just as we do. They see our behavior as a major source of those troubles. We see the other side - the sexism, classism and racism. Isn't it possible to reconcile these viewpoints?

The next four years are going to be excruciating as US war-making continues unabated and the Supreme Court becomes increasingly conservative (John Ashcroft is rumored to be headed there.) As right wing leaders work to put us down, we can become increasingly angry and whiney, or we can grow more mature and broaden our awareness to broaden our base to turn this around. I don't think we have a choice.

It is our behavior during the worst of times that often defines how history remembers us. Let us rise above the ugly, enemy-making thinking that the neocons have used against progressives and those they want to exploit! Let us find a path of interpersonal nonviolence that speaks out against violence and hate while not turning our hearts against our erring brothers and sisters!