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California awoke one morning to find itself governed by a giant
cockroach. It's official: we are now living inside a Kafka
novel-though even Kafka couldn't have predicted the turn of events
that would bring us to this point. To be fair, Schwarzenegger is not a
hyper-violent, frozen, misogynist, monosyllabic robot. He just plays
one onscreen. In reality, he is-well, by now we all know who he is.
The frightening part is that the people of California knew, too. There
is some indication that tracking polls showed his support slipping in
the wake of all last week's revelations. Polls are tricky things, of
course, but if this is true then the election happened just in time.
The republicans have become adept at cherrypicking such opportunities
and milking them for all they're worth.
The thing to remember is that things are much worse on a national
scale. I'm not sure if it makes it easier or more difficult to get out
of bed to remind ourselves that no matter what happened in California,
war criminals still skulk around the White House, and crimes against
humanity continue in our name all over the world. A cornered dog may
be a dangerous thing, but it is important to keep in mind that things
really are crumbling all around them. Any pseudo-momentum emanating
from Arnold's testosterone boost can't compare to the lift they got
out of lying to start a war and the tragedy of the attacks of
September 11.
As long as we have an adolescent political system based on individual
personality, we will never be immune to such outbreaks of mass
stupidity. Changes are essential to curb the manipulation that money
and media can buy, as well as to refocus our political system on
politics: the pursuit of policies and solutions that will be of
benefit to the vast majority of people. What a novel idea!
I admit it does seem a long way off this morning, even if we do ignore
California. The cabal in power is truly out of control, and now also
panicked, desperate, mean and vengeful. I don't say this gleefully-to
contradict Martha Stewart, it's not a good thing. They are gamblers at
heart, enormous risk-takers with our money, reputation and future.
They have no problem going into Syria if the roll of the dice didn't
pan out in Iraq, Afghanistan, or wherever.
No, we really have no right to stay in bed. Even if the old adage is
true, that the problem with democracy is that everyone gets what the
majority deserves, we still have our work cut out for us. There's too
much to be done, or in the case of this insane government, too much to
prevent being done. But Americans do need to open our eyes to the
damage being done in our name. The world is recoiling in just a bit
more shock and awe this morning; the fact that ordinary people could
actually vote for this nightmare has always been the most difficult
thing for foreigners to comprehend. But it is essential to remember
that we are almost always voting in a vacuum. Given a real choice,
Americans just might make the right decision one of these days. Get
out of bed-you're going to be late for work.
©
2003 Daniel Patrick Welch. Reprint permission granted with credit and
link to danielpwelch.com Welch
lives and writes in Salem, Massachusetts, USA, with his wife, Julia
Nambalirwa-Lugudde. Together they run The
Greenhouse School. A writer, singer, linguist and activist, he has
appeared on radio [interview
available here] and can be available for further interviews. Past
articles, translations are available at danielpwelch.com.
Links to the website appreciated.
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