I tried. I really did. I put the RNC on CNN and tried to stomach all the GWB lies. And then I washed dishes, wandered around clearing up table tops, stood in front of the mirror and tried to decide if I should try a different hair style. Every time I wandered back in front of the tv screen, my stomach would knot. When Zell Miller came on, I took a crossword puzzle book into the bathroom and took a good dump.
Mostly, I couldn’t sit still while that circus was in town. I paced, fumed, despaired. I escaped with a couple of glasses of Dry Sack and a dozen pages of Dime Store Magic. Only there’s no escaping this terror of the reality of the Republican’s determination to undermine everything American democracy was once noted for.
This morning, I read this at Truthout. (Maybe there is hope. I hope there’s hope. What will we do if we have four more years of this Armeggedon leadership?)
From the Truthout piece, which is the Bush Is ‘Unfit’ to Lead U.S., Kerry Charges editorial in the NY Times by David M. Halbfinger and Michael Janofsky and the text of Kerry’s speech last night in Ohio.
“Let me tell you in no uncertain terms what makes someone unfit for office and unfit for duty,” Mr. Kerry said, turning to Mr. Bush. “Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead our country. Doing nothing while this nation loses millions of jobs makes you unfit to lead this country. Letting 45 million Americans go without health care for four years makes you unfit to lead this country.
“Letting the Saudi royal family control the price of oil for Americans makes you unfit to lead this country. Handing out billions of dollars in government contracts without a bid to Halliburton while you’re still on the payroll makes you unfit lead this country.
“That, my friends, is the record of George Bush and Dick Cheney – and that only begins to scratch the surface.”
[snip]
Mr. Edwards, introducing Mr. Kerry, called the attacks on him amazing. “They’ll say just about anything, won’t they?” Mr. Edwards asked. “He wasn’t wounded quite often enough, is that it?”
Reminding the crowd of Mr. Bush’s acceptance speech in 2000, Mr. Edwards recalled how Mr. Bush had “over and over” said: ” ‘They have not led. We will.’
“Well, let me ask you, have they led us to more jobs? Have they led us to better health care for our people? Have they led us to cleaner air, cleaner water? Have they led us to better schools and education for our kids?
“Here’s the truth. They led us from the edge of greatness to the edge of a cliff. And it’s time to lead them out of town.”
[snip. But what I saw on the Republican Lemming Convention, was countless thoughtless delusional citizens following the Bush administration over that cliff.]
When Mr. Edwards invited audience members to ask questions, one man suggested that the Democrats were campaigning too timidly, a criticism that many Democrats around the country are beginning to raise.
“You’re up against the dirtiest fighters in the world,” the man said. “If they hit you, you’ve got to hit back twice. How are you going to handle it the next two months?”
“There’s a difference between how you fight and who you’re fighting for,” Mr. Edwards said, choosing his words carefully.” It’s one thing to engage in a lot of personal assaults, like some of the things we saw last night. It’s another thing to fight with everything you’ve got for the American people and the people you believe in.”
How do you fight the delusions of mindless lemmings?