I Cannot Hear America Singing

Freedom marches and Equality Hymns banned from performance halls,
Those of women, each one singing their choice, denied by fundamentalism,
The gay American singing his, silenced by hate
The poor American singing theirs, gagged by the rich,
The black American singing hers, muffled by history,
Each aching to sing their hopes and dreams, nothing imposed on others,
All longing to sing their strong melodious songs,
shut out this day by fear,
I cannot hear America singing
she has gone silent

Goodbye equal rights
Goodbye Choice
Goodbye fiscal responsibility
Goodbye Respect
Goodbye safety

Goodbye America
I do not know you anymore

It’s 07.05 CET in Stockholm, and I am ready to call this election.

I forecast Bush will get 274 Electoral Votes — 4 more than he needs to win the White House for another 4 years. This is because Bush won Florida, Ohio, and will likely win New Mexico and Alaska late into the evening. Making it statistically impossible for Kerry to get more than 260 Electoral Votes — even if all of the other states vote for him as projected.

This is shitty news. Sad news really. If you thought that the first four years were shitty — baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet! This will be the term when justices retire, the courts become more conservative, and the expansion of the US Patriot Act and other laws which limit personal freedoms ramp up into high gear.

Ladies and Gentlemen, get the Crisco…we are fucked!

OK, so today is the day! No more screwing around! It is time to go to the polls and vote for Kerry. Even if you are in one of those “locked” states where everyone is predicting that the vote will come out for one candidate over another. Go and vote anyway! Exercise your constitution right to almost be heard (it is a participatory democratic republic after all).

Most importantly, I hope that if you are able to vote that you will vote for Kerry. Really, 4 years of a Bush Administration increased the rates of the uninsured, started an unjustifiable war, has openly declared hostile actions on the environment and those of us of lesser means (not necessarirly at the exponse of the rich which I know is Kerry’s favourite “whipping group”).

You wouldn’t stand 4 years of declining prosperity if it were your household, don’t accept it anymore under Bush.

Don’t accept that the world is either good or evil — the world is strangely more complex.

Don’t accept that a vote for Kerry will make America less secure — we aren’t really much more secure today then we were on Septmeber 10th — we just now have a color-coded system to tell us how worried we should be and we have a registration system upon entering the country that determined crimimals with records, but not terrorists without.

Don’t accept that we can’t do more for the environment — short-term profits today at the expense of environmental security tomorrow is perilous for the children.

Don’t accept that a vote for Kerry is a vote for Evil — even if your church gives you pamphlets and literature suggesting such. Both men (along with the overwhelming majority of us) already have concorde class tickets to Hell. Really. The ride might be a little friendier with Kerry as the pilot.

Don’t assume the rest of the world doesn’t understand our position just because they don’t agree with it — they do understand. They just think we are wrong. And a lot of follow Americans agree that we are wrong in our course of action and foreign policy behaviour.

You CAN BE A PATRIOT and be critical! It’s OK, despite warnings by Bush and Cheney that anything less than totally alliegence to the Church of Dubya makes you a tratior giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

OK, so I am a Kerry fan. Admittedly. And if Kerry loses, I will do everything in my power to extend my assignment outside of the US.

We have an unique opportunity to change things. Not for the better (it will take at least a decade to reverse the damage of four years of Bush), but at least in a better direction.

Let’s not waste it!