Well, that’s all the sleep I’m going to get tonight. Despite being worried enough about oversleeping to have set two alarm clocks and the cell phone for four am klaxons, I’ve "got the big eye", as my dad says. Since it’s too soon to go open my precinct here in Ohio, I thought it might be time to just give a shout out to the folks who brought us to this amazing precipice of history, and to the good folks who have grabbed us by the collective shirt tails to pull us back to a safe place again.
As we stand on the crumbling cliff that is our democracy, I wonder truly how we ever got here at all. We had help getting here, that’s for sure, so let’s give credit where credit is due, shall we?
First!
To the dog-sorry rat bastards who have been called everything over the last eight years rom neoconservative to Mr. President, a cold reminder to you all that it’s finally morning and that we’re wide awake. Like cobras, you may have temporarily stunned us, but we finally see you for what you are- just plain evil. If there’s any justice in the world, and I have to believe that there will be again, you will come to regret what you have done to the citizens of this country and of the world.
Whether it be from the awakening of your own stunted consciences or the fear of history’s damnation, may you all come to the frightening knowledge of your failures and your sins. I’m a plain, garden variety heathen without a lot of faith in the fire and brimstone kind of damnation, but nonetheless- I have damned you time and time again. If I had my way, your asses would be sitting in the Hague come January 21, 2009. But I will have to bide my time, hoping that everything from flat feet to boils will be visited on you all in the short, bitter years that you have left.
You’re being sent back to where you came from today, by our better angels-hope and democracy, rolled up in the paper shield that used to be our Constitution. We will show your asses to the door today, with strength and enduring gratitude that we still have a country to take back. The first progressive radicals said it best, after all, when they wondered whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice. I think we are, Mr. Hamilton.
I’ve got that feeling of impending trumpets. Finally. Once again.
To all the folks out there who have worked hard to pull us back from the cliff- good morning and welcome to the revolution. Whether you’re still awake after walking through dark neighborhoods putting out voter protection notices or you just got up, starting the big coffeepots at your volunteer posts- good morning. All you lawyer types out there, sitting in hotel rooms frantically reading the election law of a state that’s not your own- good morning.
Hey, community organizers! Yeah, you know who you are. Good morning and thank you for keeping the faith in times that were so rough that I wonder we even made it through at all. To the people who helped grow the kind of homespun heroes that we are hoping can sort through the mess that's been made and salvage what’s still good and true- good morning. Here’s where paying it forward really leads.
Literally, in two hours I’m going to be setting out the flag to show where all the polemics and the propaganda ends, a short one hundred feet from the door of my own temple- the polling place. This democratic heathen offers a prayer that all who come there will arrive safely, with the conviction and the courage to do the right thing. Send those rat bastards back to the tepid cesspools they came from. Take back our government and get ready to work towards the hard choices that await us in a new era. Please. And amen.