red onion

I cried long and hard yesterday, finally, after much manic activity on the computer over this loss. Then I called a friend who isn't computer savy. She was shocked to learn that many believe the election was stolen.

She provided me with a few, choice points of view as well. Namely, regarding the question of morality.

Earlier I posted that I believe we must learn to talk to Bush supporters, but by all means, we must not abandon our principles, in the mistaken attempt to garner more votes. We are the majority party, and we must continue to exude that confidence that comes with the sureness of knowing our principles reflect the most humane values possible.

Frankly, it wouldn't matter in that regard, wether we are the majority party. But this is not Germany in the 1930's for this reason: 54 million people who don't sanction the policies of this administration is no sneeze in the park.

So yes, let's talk to the Bush supporters. We might want to remind them of this point, that my friend so eloquently stated: Much has been bandied about regarding the question of morality as a prime focus in this election. Many who voted for Bush don't believe it is moral for gays to marry, or even to be gay for that matter. Yet is it moral to send over 1000 of our troops to death in Iraq? Is it moral to bomb a foreign country and kill innocents in the name of our political cause? Just what is the definition of morality? We must not, I repeat, we must not, abdicate this issue to the right, and allow their definition of morality to dominate the center stage of American politics as it has. Perhaps if we had behaved as such, Kerry's "landslide" would have been so large, there would have been no question of the results.

Or perhaps we would have lost anyway. Isn't it even more important to stay true to our principles, at a time when we cannot count on the federal government to insure fair, scandal free elections? What do we have to lose?

Can our democratic leaders afford to not take a stand on the issue of ending the war in Iraq? Would we lose ground in terms of voter support in the short run? Yes...would we gain ground in the long run? Yes again, in my view. We can't afford to abandon our principles on this issue, either. Pundits have said only 17% of the youth voted in this election, same percentage as did in the 2000 election. Kerry obviously did not convince the youth of America that he had their best interests at heart. Afterall, he had promised to expand the war in Iraq, claiming we as a nation can't afford to lose this war. In my view, we have already lost the war...on so many levels, including the question of a so-called moral war.

War is not moral. Never has been. Never will be.