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Not My President
“The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States unless and until the state legislature chooses a statewide election as the means to implement its power to appoint members of the Electoral College…the State legislature’s power to select the manner for appointing electors is plenary; it may, if it so chooses, select the electors itself.”
- U.S. Supreme Court Decision
George W. Bush et al. v. Albert Gore, Jr. et al.
December 12, 2000
A soaking rain is falling in Boston tonight, and just a little while ago I heard thunder out my window. My lonely little plant is getting lashed by the wind coming through the screen, but it is a warm wind, carried on a storm from the south. Somehow, that seems fitting. The pathetic fallacy was discredited as a literary contrivance long ago, but a part of me cannot avoid sensing ill omens in the sounds of the night.
There is so much to talk about. Rather than try to string several topics into some semi-coherent theme, I am subdividing this column into several segments. I leave it to my readers to lash them together and understand that they are all part of a coherent whole.
All the President’s Men
George W. Bush has come to Washington, D.C. He, too, has been carried north on a southern storm. He brings with him a man named Andrew Card, who will likely become Chief of Staff at the White House. Card has been for years the best friend of corporations like General Motors, which makes him the very personification of what the environmentalists who voted for Nader fear and dread.
George W. Bush has also come to Washington D.C. with Colin Powell in his entourage. Powell has been named Secretary of State, representative of the executive, the man who will be the face America shows to the diplomatic world. I am gladdened that an African American has assumed that sacrosanct post, but I wonder if such a gesture can heal the wounds torn open by the systematic disenfranchisement of African American voters in Florida.
It requires notice that millions of people have died in Iraq since Colin Powell last exercised governmental power. Few of them have been soldiers, and not one of them was named Saddam Hussein. The military policies that Powell helped to set in place in Iraq have led to rampant starvation and disease, affecting civilians almost exclusively. Over a year ago, a United Nations report counted the dead among Iraqi children, and informed us that 500,000 of them had been lost to the sanctions and the aftermath of the war. That number has no doubt grown since then. Our new Secretary of State has blood on his hands without having served a day at his post, and gasoline is more expensive than ever.
Lady Justice, Blind and Crippled
George W. Bush has arrived in Washington D.C. with many others in tow. His strongest allies, however, are already there. Trent Lott and Tom DeLay are there, as are Orrin Hatch and Strom Thurmond. These stalwart Republicans now control both Houses of Congress, and the task of ramming through the new President’s agenda falls to them. It can be assumed that campaign finance reform, responsible budgetary planning, or any manner of environmental protection are nowhere to be found on their wish list.
William Renquist, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia are there. George better bring flowers, because he owes them his success. When these men asserted that the counting of votes in Florida would be “injurious” to Bush, they all but assured his ascension. When they went further to claim that the December 12th Electoral College deadline was inviolate, a “safe harbor” that could not be abrogated, they broke faith with the nation they swore to serve in order to cement the election for Bush.
Twenty-one states did not get their Electoral College votes in to the proper authorities by December 12th. I guarantee those late states will have their votes counted on December 18th when the College meets to choose our leader. The most important votes, the ones from Florida, were chosen by that state’s legislature because nobody in Florida actually had the right to vote in this election, according to the men mentioned above. In short, the decision in Bush v. Gore applies only to the state that has determined the race in favor of the candidate whose politics agree with the majority on the Supreme Court. As my friend Will Shakespeare might say, something is out of joint.
Never to Forgive, Never to Forget
Much of the media would like to sweep this unpleasantness under the carpet, to lull us into complacency, to turn our eyes towards the new administration and away from the mob action and judicial malfeasance that put them in office. It is the safer course, to be sure. Let us watch the unfolding drama together, and revel in the coming warfare between the parties, as if the coming inauguration actually has some legitimacy to it.
I will not be a part of that national amnesia. I will not forget what has happened these last few weeks, and I do not accept George W. Bush as my President. From this day forth, nothing I write or say will recognize him as holding that office. He is a fraud and a pretender, and he lost the election. Do not ever attempt to convince me otherwise. I will pay my taxes, and if I am called upon to protect my country in a military crisis I will serve, because thankfully George W. Bush is not America. But he is not my leader, and I will spend the next four years resisting him and his work.
I do not expect my words can convince those who supported Bush. They have gotten what they wanted and what they worked for, and they are passed caring about the manner in which their goal was achieved. I write now to the faithful, to those who believe George W. Bush and his plans for America are dangerous and wrong. I beg you to remember what happened in Florida.
Pay close attention to the events that are to come. We have learned much about our country in the last few weeks, and little of the lesson serves to warm the heart. Do not forget what we have lost, what the country has had taken from it. Watch everything that transpires through the lens of your hard wisdom, and prepare yourself for a long siege. Do not weaken. Soon enough the wheel will come round, and if we remain faithful and strong, the scales will be set aright.
Unwanted Baggage and Final Thoughts
I write also to those of you who did not vote. Simply put, I hope you are properly chastened. If after all that has passed and all that is to come, you people still refuse to take responsibility for the state of your own country and add your voice to the body politic, you will no longer deserve the right to vote. If you do not understand by now that every vote counts, you should be shunned as fools, cowards and dead weight. There are 100 million of you right now, and I lay the blame for whatever happens in the next four years squarely at your feet. Do not dare complain about anything. You had your chance to have a voice. You may yet, in 2002 and 2004. I will pray for you, that you come to see the light.
It is now the age of compassionate conservatism. I have been sounding the alarm about this for two years. That my warnings were not heeded is painful, but I am comforted by the fact that I found my voice and made it heard. I will spend the next four years shouting from the rooftops. I intend to be the raven over the great seal of George W. Bush’s ill-gotten office, bending a knee to his empty mandate nevermore. When he says the words, “The people have elected me to…”, I will remind all who would listen that the people did not elect him. George W. Bush is no longer the dull-witted fool we love to mock. He is now the most dangerous man in the world, and he must be watched very carefully from now on.
There is a long road ahead of us. Those of us who love our country and dread what this process has done to the people’s ability to determine their political fate must remain vigilant and angry for four long years. I am here, and I am ready. It has been said that America works best when we have a common enemy. For years we had the Soviet Union. If the Republican party warmasters and the arms-dealing corporations they serve have their way, we might soon have China. My enemy is George W. Bush, and I am not alone. Keep the faith. Tend the flame. Never forgive, and never forget. There will be a reckoning.
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