the everyday adventures of sabrina

goodness gracious me, this adam yoshida fellow has a lot of anger he’s not repressing:

If anyone needs to work to bring the country together it’s those on the left who have divided it so badly. Those who sought to destroy this great man should get down upon their knees and beg the victors for mercy. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll let a few of them linger on for the simple reason that they amuse us. My life’s goal is to see the Democratic Party virtually obliterated and left as a rump of people like Stephanie Herseth who both mostly agree with us anyways and are easy on the eyes.

That’s the future of the Democratic Party: providing Republicans with a number of cute (but not that bright) comfort women.

Let’s face a hard truth: this was the bitterest Presidential campaign in living memory. The Democrats and their allies staked everything on the defeat of this President. All of the resources they had accumulated over a generation of struggle were thrown into this battle: and they have failed. Despite all of their tricks, despite all of their lies, the people have rejected them. They mean nothing. They are worth nothing. There’s no point in trying to reach out to them because they won’t be reached out to. We’ve got their teeth clutching the sidewalk and out [sic] boot above their head. Now’s the time to curb-stomp the bastards.

i especially admire the tasteful parting shot:

But, whatever, we won: to hell with the rest of them. Those who didn’t support Bush can go and perform a certain anatomically impossible act. They lost, now they can sit in the back of the bus.

this is the time where i get lots of good yoga breathing practice in and reminding myself to be positive, positive, positive. perhaps this fellow and his admirers can’t be swayed towards my position — such a supposition certainly seems likely, just after reading that one entry (and i won’t read any more; i think he must fall into the “commentator who doesn’t encourage open exchange of ideas” category) — but i feel confident that, say, that most of the conservative relatives i have would be as repulsed by his rhetoric as i.

i just hope that the left will fight off the urge to participate in self-indulgent vitriol like this in time to come together and find winning candidates and platforms to move forward with in ’06 and ’08. “fuck bush” only gets you so far.

From: John Kerry <democraticparty@democrats.org>
To: Sabrina Downard <viv@ziggurat.org>
Subject: A sincere thank you
Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 15:52:51 -0500

Dear Sabrina,

Earlier today I spoke to President Bush, and offered him and Laura our congratulations on their victory. We had a good conversation, and we talked about the danger of division in our country and the need, the desperate need, for unity for finding the common ground, coming together. Today, I hope that we can begin the healing.

In America, it is vital that every vote counts, and that every vote be counted. But the outcome should be decided by voters, not a protracted legal process. I would not give up this fight if there was a chance that we would prevail. But it is now clear that even when all the provisional ballots are counted, which they will be, there won't be enough outstanding votes for our campaign to be able to win Ohio. And therefore, we cannot win this election.

It was a privilege and a gift to spend two years traveling this country, coming to know so many of you. I wish I could just wrap you in my arms and embrace each and every one of you individually all across this nation. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.

To all of you, my volunteers and online supporters, all across this country who gave so much of themselves, thank you. Thanks to William Field, a six-year-old who collected $680, a quarter and a dollar at a time selling bracelets during the summer to help change America. Thanks to Michael Benson from Florida who I spied in a rope line holding a container of money. It turned out he raided his piggy bank and wanted to contribute. And thanks to Alana Wexler, who at 11 years old started Kids for Kerry.

I thank all of you, who took time to travel, time off from work, and their own vacation time to work in states far and wide. You braved the hot days of summer and the cold days of the fall and the winter to knock on doors because you were determined to open the doors of opportunity to all Americans. You worked your hearts out, and I say, don't lose faith. What you did made a difference, and building on itself, we will go on to make a difference another day. I promise you, that time will come -- the election will come when your work and your ballots will change the world, and it's worth fighting for.

I'm proud of what we stood for in this campaign, and of what we accomplished. When we began, no one thought it was possible to even make this a close race, but we stood for real change, change that would make a real difference in the life of our nation, the lives of our families, and we defined that choice to America. I'll never forget the wonderful people who came to our rallies, who stood in our rope lines, who put their hopes in our hands, who invested in each and every one of us. I saw in them the truth that America is not only great, but it is good.

So here -- with a grateful heart, I leave this campaign with a prayer that has even greater meaning to me now that I've come to know our vast country so much better and that prayer is very simple: God bless America.

Sincerely,
John Kerry

and thank you, as well, senator kerry, for conceding this morning in a graceful and gracious finish to this election season. although i am undoubtedly and unmistakably disappointed in this outcome, i am also extremely happy that i put my faith and vote in a man who saw the need to avoid a drawn-out and painful legal wrestling match over the presidency.

i wonder if it’s time to emulate blair and re-begin my one-way correspondence with george? i gave up writing after a while, but my newly-recovered optimism (hey, something had to fill in the hollow that anger left behind after i kicked it out) thinks it might be useful.

meanwhile, thanks to tivo, i’ve started watching “the west wing” again. i have to admit that i missed it. it is an awfully good program. and i guess it’ll have to fulfill my democratic presidential wishes for the nonce.

good god. was there a single race around the entire damn country, apart from obama/keyes, that wasn’t neck and neck? every time nbc flashed up some state senator race, it was always insanely close. i’m really dying to see what the voter turnout rates turn out to be.

and, of course, the presidental race. an amazing show by both sides. nail biter all night. no surprises really, which was sort of a disappointment as i was hoping for something spectacular, but … the american youth are still apathetic, the red states are still red, the blue states still blue. plus ça change, et cetera.

i must say that i am not surprised, but … i am wryly disappointed that we aren’t going to get my electoral college tie wish, potentially leading to a bipartisan administration. man, that would have rocked. i mean, when did the same-party running-mate thing replace the “runner-up gets the vp slot” scheme? it’s been a while. it would’ve been so neat.

the be nice pledge is officially in effect. i’ve already bowed out of one bitch session. i officially have no time for wallowing. wallowing leads to stress, headaches, and pain. and, more importantly, i think we have just learned that it also does not lead to clear victory. so, i am going to take this opportunity to hope the DNC finds a really great candidate for ’08 — and, meanwhile, if in ’06 we happen to have a midterm takeover of the congress that ties everything up, excellent. my only earnest hope right now is that there are no recess appointments to the supreme court. anyways, i think that campaigning for ’08 will effectively begin immediately. and that can just be for the better.

congratulations to all the winners — and, if you’ll permit me one last indulgence, :P~~~~~~~~~~~~~ to alan keyes. as for the presidential race, at the time that i’m preparing to save this post, NV, NM, IA, WI, HI, and MI haven’t yet been called, and so it’s still theoretically possible that they’ll tie even if it’s not possible for kerry to win, but i think it’s unlikely. i expect NM to go to bush, and i don’t expect the ohio provisional ballots to push it over the edge back to kerry, so i’m calling it bush and going to sleep.

and y’all had better not wake me up to news of a thousand lawsuits, or we’re gonna have a problem.