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Once Bitten - Nov. 4, 2004

 
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Maurice
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 5:03 am    Post subject: Once Bitten - Nov. 4, 2004 Reply with quote

Once Bitten


By M. Andre Moore, Journalist


This time there was no need for a re-count, no sonorous cries of fraud or foul play—but it stunk anyway. Even as the contest ramped up, plodded mercilessly to its conclusion, I had indigestion and made my feelings clear.
“You know, the way things are going, Bush just might win.”
And against my hope and the tide of venom that washed against the image of the incumbent president, the polls showed a close race to the white house, sending echoes of the 2000 elections ringing through the air.
Could it happen again?
Florida, the eye of a political shit storm the last time round, wasn’t taking any chances. Accusations of shady chad and butterfly ballots weren’t going to fly this time; this time Black voters, bitter and disenfranchised, weren’t messing around, appearing in droves at polling stations to make sure that this time damnit their votes were counted.
They weren’t the only ones.
Unprecedented voter turnout made hardcore political pundits shed tears of joy. Finally, they whimpered, democracy, real democracy, is rearing its beautiful skull. And although they wouldn’t take a stab at guessing the winner—no matter how much booze was thrown their way—at least they had something to rant about besides voter apathy.
Personally, I was nervous, as I sat to cover the US election from the safety of my couch, remembering the long unsettling night spent on the last presidential race. This one even had its own Florida. Ohio was the new battleground, they told us, the next wormhole to the white house. So as I watched the events unfold and the Electoral College process wend its way through the night, I was fully prepared for an inclusive end. The way the pundits were talking it looked like it was going to happen again. For the second time in history the vote was going to be so close that the candidates were going to have to mud wrestle in a steel cage.

The next morning I was anxious to hear news of the results, which were clear and foggy at the same time.
Kerry wasn’t ready to concede defeat until Ohio was tallied while Bush, brimming like Mount St. Helens, held his victory speech for the moment. What was clear was that George W. Bush had won the popular vote and that all this crumb counting wasn’t going change the locks at the oval office.
Well, hell, by noon it was official. Kerry, the gracious loser that he is, called the president to congratulate him on his victory and Bush finally addressed his supporters from the winner’s circle.

And so there you have it; another four years under my favourite administration—four more years of unfettered fun. But I have to admit, it’s not all rotten. Even though the results weren’t what I prayed for something remarkable happened. After years of treading water in plastic pools US citizens were fired up and they came out and voted in record numbers. Democracy for the most part is a sham, the only control we have as citizens is choosing the monkey that drives this grand banana boat over the waterfall. And I say, even though the wrong ape got the wheel, at least it wasn’t by default.


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