JK should've counted the votes for those that donated millions of hrs & $

[henslee]

They gave selflessly and got shit. It says a lot about the man.
(on edit) Have fun boogieboarding in Aspen, John.

[Flammable Materials]

1. Water under the bridge.

Let it go. He doesn't care about us. He gets to slip back into that comfortable Senate seat with a whole bunch of new Republican buddies.

DISCLAIMER: Author has consumed two 750ml bottles of 8% Belgian ale.

[freetobegay]

2. You just said alot about yourself.

:eyes:

[henslee]

3. Do elaborate, mon frere.

[chookie]

4. Please let me get this off my chest

I gave until it HURT. I gave money I could not afford. I gave up stuff I desperately need. For my fucking country.

I HATE politics. I am so shy it is agony for me to canvas and phonebank and all that other stuff, but every day I steeled myself up and did it for my fucking country.

I would have appreciated a bit more of a fight, John. Maybe some day I will come to understand why you did what you did, but its not today. It's not that i don't appreciate what all you did, John, and I love your wife and her sons -- but I am one of those people left in the dust wondering what the hell they're going to do as the world falls down all around them.

I am way worse off than I was four years ago, and I anticipate the next four years are going to be far worse. Lucky for John Kerry to be so wealthy. He'll come out of this okay. Me? I have no confidence of this. For the first time in my life, I fear the future.

I've lost hope.

Maybe I'll find it somewhere again. But I doubt it.

Again -- I am not laying this shit at Kerry's feet. I just feel really bad and honestly don't know what the fuck i am going to do. It would have meant the WORLD to me --even if he knew he had to concede, that he would speak angry words, or at LEAST say something MEANINGFUL and RELEVANT to those of us who fought the New Civil War for him. I am NOT ready to be reconstructed into Redneckistan, or hold hands with war criminals and say prayers of healing with them.

Telling us it was time to heal -- well, that leaves it up to us then, eh John? We'll just have to do the best we can to find our way in the vicious world that has overtaken us. Fuck Osama bin Laden! I fear FAR MORE my fundamentalist authoritarian militaristic neighbors who ELECTED Bush.

[lynne k]

8. Burn it out ...

Then let it go.

We all gave. Probably not as much as you did.

But this is not the first time I've feared for the future. Frankly, right now it looks like the long arc of history points to evil times. War and fear have triggered a reactionary stance that will make it very difficult - maybe impossible - to constructively deal with looming global problems.

Kerry was a tool to be used as a representative. Maybe not the perfect tool, but that's what was at hand. Politicians are not leaders - if Kerry had been elected, I would have been fighting him the next day to get him to live up to his constituency. Just as hard as I will fight Bush, once the mourning period passes.

We had several local victories in my town - extremely hard fought, in a state that went 70% for Bush. Those will make a local difference in the quality of life.

A lot of people got involved in working this election. If they stay active now and keep building the grassroots, pyramid organization from the precinct level up, this nation has a chance. And since the U.S. holds veto power over world peace and prosperity - that means the world's fate is in the hands of U.S. voters.

Comparisons between Weimar Germany and the current situation in the U.S. are being made. What would have happened if more Germans had understood what was going on and gotten more organized in opposing the Nazis?

The cold hard facts behind Kerry's concession are simple. There was no way he could win. By burning time, good will, and money on a legal battle that had no hope of winning, he would have tarred himself, the Democrats, and by association, everyone center-left of right wing America.

I don't think I could have made the necessary concession as gracefully as Kerry did. He played the role assigned to him. But it's up to us to run this country, not our leaders.

[chookie]

13. Thanks

I just needed to say what i said, and it was kind of you to listen and reply so thoughtfully.

I think I am more pessimistic than you -- personally i think we're a bit beyond Weimar and are seeing the dawn of the new authoritarian era. The lesson I got out of the past 4 years is that the system has failed. I dearly hope we will still be able to salvage some spec of civilized life, but I have serious doubts. I believe that 50% of Americans either rejected or threw away with both hands democracy, and embraced fascism. Although their long slow progress in gaining control of government is a good model, the fact that things were pretty stable and prosperous while they were clawing their way to the top, whereas we are on the brink of economic catastrophe and seeming poised to be embroiled in a regional war -- that's going to make it trickier to pursue that model.

I intend to resist. That's as specific as I can be today.

[jdj]

9. yes, thank you for all your hard work, I don't understand it either.

it is a complete and utter slap in the face. I am more worried than anthing else about first time voters, because this may have been their one great hope, and now they may give up.

[chookie]

14. Yeah, what about the young people?

There was a thread in the "Sunny side of the General Discussion Forum" that we need to encourage young people to stay engaged.

It might be my utter despair speaking, but I have this gut feeling that we MIGHT need to level with young people and make them fully understand the monster we are up again and that voting and all the electioneering stuff *just might* not be enough to cut it these days.... They have to at least be aware that next election cycle is just going to be another "Won't Get Fooled Again" kinda thing.

As I said -- I am not angry at Kerry. He did good. I bet he would feel very very very bad to read my words. But all I am saying is, even if concession was the only option, I would have taken heart in him calling these pigs what they are -- gentlemanly language would have been quite adequate -- rather than just calling for "healing". That makes me think he SOMEHOW missed the whole point -- because WE are the ones who are bleeding, who were hunted, who were vilified. There will be no healing until the fascists are forced to stop degrading us and our country. I would have prefered to hear -- I may not have had the chance to be president, but I assure you I will continue to fight against the wrong this adminstration has brought down upon us.

[Freddie Stubbs]

5. All of the votes are still being counted

The fact that he conceeded doesn't change that.

[henslee]

7. Bif diff. between counting votes and hitting the ground running with those

gassed up airplanes filled with lawyers. Remember how votes kept showing up in FLA 2000? A bag left in a church. Abandoned votes found in someone's car. If FLA and OH were scrutinized, I have no doubt that that Blackwell, the Katherine Harris of 2004, would be in the hot seat and votes would be appearing from nowhere.

[goclark]

11. Thank you for getting us back on track Freddie

[slor]

6. Hold on folks...

there may be a reason Kerry did not challenge the provisonal ballots...and tie them up in courts. Now they are free to be counted and will be according to a post I read and a yahoo link! This may really explain his quick concession.

[jdj]

10. this is my one hope.

but now there is plenty of time to disappear them.

[goclark]

12. Did they use Diebold or no paper trail