So What Happens Now? Mixed Feelings...

It has taken me a couple of days to digest the results of the 2004 American election. I felt jumping in immediately after Bush's official reelection was a bit premature. My initial reaction was part outraged scream, part cold-blooded joy. Two seemingly at odds responses.

The scream is stuck somewhere in my throat. I don't think it is ever going to go away while the Bush Administration is in office. On the surface, it appears a majority of Americans have chosen a warmongering cowboy wannabe as their commander in chief; although stories in the Blogosphere are starting to appear calling this "fact" into question (click here for more information). Be that as it may, somewhere close to half of the American public, who took the time to vote, voted for George W. Bush.

Yeah it's hard to choke down. Half the population of the United States of America has just told the rest of the world that lying, cheating, stealing, bombing, torturing and murdering is just fine with them provided you package it in colourful graphics on the nightly news, and call it bringing freedom, democracy and the free market to the savages over there somewhere, and safety here at home.

That lack of empathy is truly staggering, and difficult for me to comprehend.

On the other hand, my cold-blooded joy at Bush's reelection may perplex a few of you familiar with my past stances on issues. I am happy, truly happy, because now it is do or die for progressives in America.

Some may have noticed I did not participate much in the last few months of the build-up to this election. That was in part due to my particular circumstances, but it primarily had to do with my disgust with the candidates. Kerry, in my opinion, was not much better than Bush. I felt deflated at even the thought of attempting to argue in Kerry's favour. Here was a man who not only lacked charisma, but seemed to be a marionette who's strings were being pulled by coterie of corporate handlers and political strategists.

Kerry's vision was Bush-lite. It's amazing how that so closely resembles bullshit both in appearance and the sound of its vocalization. Kerry stood on a set of policies so devoid of meaning and value that the only people who could possibly vote for him were those too scared of Bush to consider doing anything else.

I'll admit I see-sawed a little myself. The gentler side of me wanted Bush out. I had no doubt another four years of that madman would result in immense damage to the social fabric of his great and dangerous nation. I did not, and even now do not, want to see the havoc he will wreak on the Middle East and on middle class America.

But that harsher almost reptilian realist in me realized that a Kerry presidency would simply wallow in a kind of right-leaning limbo, siphoning off the bulk of outrage over American policies. The American left would stay fractured, bickering amongst themselves, and finally deciding to sell-out for the win, while maybe sneaking in a few watered-down to meaninglessness social programs.

But now, now we're at one minute to midnight, and that infernal clock just keeps ticking away. There isn't a lot of time. Progressives in the US have to get over the shock of Kerry's loss, and they have to do it fast. It's only four years until the next presidential election, and things are going to be much, much worse this time come 2008.

Forget this reconciliation crap. Bush mouthed the words yesterday, but even today he's talking a different tune. Progressives have to fight, and they have to engage the enemy. I'm not talking violence here, I'm talking about a war of ideas and values relentlessly and artfully articulated. As the Bush Administration destroys the pillars of civil society by eviscerating social security, repealing employment laws, eliminating legal recourse to corporate malfeasance, and possibly widening the war in the Middle East. Progressive must stand ready to promote an alternate vision to a Bush America.

The only way progressives in the US can have any hope of changing their nation, is by organizing and articulating a clear set of values that combine our present tense with a harkening back to what made progressives and the Democratic party so strong during the FDR years, and into the 1960's. They have to fight, and now they will have to sacrifice, because the corporate might of the right-wing will exact a price.

The best thing we as Canadians can do, is continue to provide a progressive and moderate example. Instead of losing ourselves in anti-Americanism we have to recognize that a near majority did not vote for Bush, despite the fact that their only alternative was a ponderous sell-out.

Now more than ever progressives in the United States need support from every corner of the world. It's gonna be a bumpy ride, but let's not let a bunch of religious nuts drive us off the cliff.