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The (Un)Concession Speech That Could Have Been
by Megan Tady
In typical Kerry fashion, his concession speech on November 3 was disappointing. Although it’s being touted as moving and forthright—perhaps because we don’t have much else to praise—I found it predictable, mind numbing and insulting.
A few minutes before his speech, a friend turned to me and sighed, “I hope he doesn’t tell us to come together.”
He did, and I turned off my radio.
“Just, for once,” my friend said, “I want a leader to get up and tell us this is all bullshit.”
The last thing we needed was someone telling us—before all the votes had even been counted—to unite with people who voted for an entire set of values that is contradictory from our own: corporate greed, racism, pre-emptive war and hatred.
We needed, instead, very desperately, a denouncement of the foul play in this election, of the media and of Bush, as well as an unmistakable call to action from Kerry.
Here’s what Kerry could have said that morning:
“Fellow Americans, the Bush Administration is saying they’ve won Ohio, and that therefore they’ve won the election. Republicans across the country are beginning victory parties. The media is running headlines that say Bush has been elected as your president for a second term.
Don’t believe them.
This is, in fact, all bullshit.
At this time, it is still unclear who won the election. What is clear, however, is the evidence of voter fraud and disenfranchisement all across the country. Exit polls do not match election results. Thousands of provisional ballots haven’t been counted. Punch cards ballots, with hanging chads, are once again being pushed into a closet and swept under the rug. Absentee ballots from our soldiers overseas are still coming in. Polls were closed with people still waiting in line. Computers spat out results that did not correlate with voters’ intentions. Registered voters were turned away from the polls on, and before, Election Day. The list goes on.
I repeat, do not believe the hype.
Do not accept Bush or anyone as your president until every vote has been counted. This was my pledge to you, and I will stand by it.
I will not lie to you. This is a catastrophe. The future of our country lies in the balance. For this reason, I need your continued support, and I need your help. This is my call to action:
Get in the streets. Leave your houses and get in the streets. Stand up. Start marching and don’t stop.
Don’t go to work. Strike. Bring business as usual to a halt. Shut down the airports, the seaports, the subways, the toll booths, the banks, the factories, the super centers and the drive-thrus. Don’t give in.
Stop buying. Spend money only on necessities: food, water, shelter. Do not go to the mall. Do not use your credit cards. Do not buy gas. Boycott.
Don’t watch the news. Turn your TVs off. Instead, go to the television and radio stations. Bang on the doors. Gather there and demand their accountability as journalists and gatekeepers.
Gather again at polling places. Demand a recount. Do not leave until every vote is counted.
Keep marching.
Write poetry. Write songs. Write letters. Don't stop.
Sing. Scream. Chant. Dance. Make Noise. The Whole World is Watching.
Keep marching.
Converge in Washington, DC. Gather at the White House. Spill onto the sidewalks, fill every city block. Do not let the inauguration happen. Do not let Bush come home. Disrupt the administration’s plans for a smooth transition to a second term. Make nothing easy.
Do not be a mandate. Do not be “political capital.” Do not roll over and wait for four more years to pass.
Do not stop until we have the answers, until we know the truth. You are the superpower, and you can demand a just and fair election. But you are also a citizen of the United States of America, and you deserve a just and fair election.
Some may say I’m calling for anarchy, for chaos. I disagree. I am calling for something much more potent and dangerous: unbridled democracy.
They've taken the country without firing a shot. Take it back the same way.”
Megan Tady (megtady@yahoo.com) is a freelance journalist in Western Massachusetts whose work has been published by AlterNet, WireTap, The NewStandard, Yes! Magazine, Reuters, and Maisonneuve. Her article "Youth Have Swung it Before" is included in the book "Storming the Polls: How to Vote Your Views and Change the Rules" published by WireTap.
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