Election Night 2004 Redux - and transformed

[garthranzz]

I've mentioned this before. Two years ago, on election night, I logged on and scanned various websites. (No TV in this house.) My disgust at and distrust of Bush had grown over the years. It began with Campaign 2000 - how he swiftboated John McCain in S.C. (I had at that time thought McCain a good candidate. A mistake, obviously.) After election 2000, when it became obvious that neither he nor his handlers had any sense of fair play, that the idea of following rules, laws, decency, etc. did not exist, I recognized that Bush would be, at some point, a reincarnation of Nixon - only worse. Had Bush won fairly, we would be back in the Reagan era - fighting for principles. But a cheater - well, why should he change?

I came down from an 8 am class (I'm in New Orleans - another story) on September 11, to learn what most of the country already knew. But I realized, even before the seven minutes became a question, that Bush had failed. I did not listen to his bullhorn speech, and when asked, what would have happened had Gore won, or aren't you glad Gore lost, I replied - even an idiot would have gone after bin Laden and the Taliban. Would that the votes had been counted properly! Would that Gore had called for a total recount in Florida! Would that he had not ignored the disenfranchisement of the Blacks.

When election 2004 came around, like so many here, I recognized the opportunity and the danger. I had become a Kerry advocate, having studied the man's career and courage. And so anxiously, in the dark so as not to wake family members, I surfed, watching the screen, watching the numbers, waiting, waiting, waiting for the networks to announce what the numbers clearly said.

But the announcement never came.

And the next morning, I had to face students and colleagues and wrestle with the realization that something had been lost - perhaps the very soul of this country. I was in Scotland when Nixon resigned and I remember distinctly the mood, the discussion. And I remember as well the thought - if not for Deep Throat, if not for Woodward and Bernstein, if not for James Dean, if not for Senators Ervin (D-NC) and Baker (R!-TN), the United States would have become a science-fiction dystopia.

I will not recount the despair, but as my class went 'off-the-record' and the students registered their shock, their fear, their worry, I noticed that one grew increasingly silent and edgy. After class I asked the others if he had been offended, and they said no. But then came an email, cliched, poorly reasoned, the gist of which was that Bush's "re-election" changed nothing and would not doom the country to some sort of dictatorship. I did not respond, because as a teacher I couldn't. But I took note of that email, knowing that some day that student, a good hard-working well-meaning individual, a throwback Republican, would realize that I had been right and he had been wrong.

I have not heard from that student since the semester ended, but I think about him now and then. And I think of something else that happened that election night, 2004, something that has had a profound impact on my life.

I found DemocraticUnderground. And I found the truth of what happened.

I found a community. I found a place of dialogue.

And when my family and I had to flee New Orleans because of the hurricane, when we evacuated first to a brother in Dallas, then to join most of our community (exiles) in Houston, DU provided a forum, an outlet, a sounding board, and yes, a place of comfort. And, yes, Katrina made it personal. Bush's criminal negligence made it very, very personal.

So now, as we approach Election Nigh 2006, I plan once again to follow the election on the web. But I won't have to search for sites. And I'll have a browser window permanently opened to DU. And when at last the numbers will be too great for fraud, lies, deceit, intimidation, etc., to overcome. I will say, once again, thank you, DU.

Let the quiet revolution begin. Let the words of Adams and Jefferson and Lincoln lead the way. May we always stay DemocraticUnderground, and in so doing insure that Democracy is, in America, never ground under.

[babylonsister]

1. Recommended! Thank you!

garthranzz, I'm so glad you're here and loved this. I'll see you on DU Tuesday! :pals:

[babylonsister]

2. K! nt