from my inbox

now playing: janis ian, "when the party's over"


got this letter from my friend jon delong over the weekend, and felt compelled to reprint it here (with the author's permission):


Well, I wish I were kidding, but I've gotta say a few quick words about the presidential election. Now, I won't insult you by insisting you should vote for so-and-so, giving you a rah-rah-USA spiel, or anything like that.
But I will relate an opinion I've heard from a number of Americans on my recent travels: More than a small handful of people have told me recently, "I really don't like either Bush or Kerry, and I feel like I should vote, but I'm just not thrilled with either candidate." Voter apathy--it's not just for kids anymore.

Seriously, though, I'm not quoting stoned-out mall-rats here. I'm talking about people who ALWAYS vote, people who have been registering and voting since they were eighteen, and people who, I'm guessing, will vote in this election as well, no matter how apathetic they feel. Nevertheless I think apathy, a general sense of disengagement from politics, the feeling that American citizens have no power over their own government... these emotions are quite likely more pervasive now than they have ever been before, at least during my lifetime.

And yet, amid the apathy, I think this election is important. Gravely important. And I think the press, and even the candidates much of the time, are distracting us from the issues that make this election truly monumental. Kerry's service in Vietnam, Bush's record with the Texas Air Guard... these are not the issues that define a watershed event in American history.
Neither are quips about Bush's English ("I understand small business growth. I was one."), or Kerry's "Waffle House." More surprisingly, however, taxation, government size, abortion, gun control, gay marriage, job creation, education, the environment--all the issues that classically divide Democrats and Republicans--these are important issues, to be sure, but they're not the issues that lead me to believe that this election will have a historical impact greater than "just another presidential selection."

I hate to get up on a soap box in front of you, my friends, and I promise to keep this as brief as I can (although that's not saying much)... here's my point. This election is important because I believe that, to a greater degree than my generation has ever experienced, in 2004 we are voting about what kind of country we want to live in. Over the past four years, we have experienced profound tragedy, and we have responded to that tragedy in a number of unprecedented ways. We have declared war on an entire nation in response to the actions of a small number of terrorists who may have no ties to that nation at all. We have parted ways with the United Nations, with the Geneva Convention. And we have repeatedly dismissed the objections of our international neighbors and allies. And that's just the tip of the iceberg... I'm leaving out the Patriot Act, the Department of Homeland Security, the Terrorist Screening Center... the list goes on.

Why have we done these things ? I think both Democrats and Republicans essentially agree on that, in principle at least: we have done these things to try to protect ourselves. National security, safety, fear... call it what you will, the spectre of terrorism has raised the question of where to draw the line of response, and our response has been dangerously close to, "we are willing to draw that line ANYWHERE, so long as it's in the hope of protecting ourselves."

Now, I say that "we" have done these things, but as we all know, our government is more Republic than Democracy... WE didn't get to vote on whether to invade Iraq, and WE didn't get to vote on the methods that were used to interrogate Iraqi prisoners. But on November 2nd, 2004--on that date we do get to vote, and I submit that this election is a referendum on the direction our country is headed. Maybe you believe, as I do, that while many individual Americans have responded to the threat of terror with courage and patriotism (firemen, policemen, and soldiers head the list, but there are plenty of "normal" everyday Americans on that list as well), I believe the White House, on the other hand, has turned its back on many of the core values that make our nation great. I believe this White House has, through its actions, proclaimed in no uncertain terms that it answers to no one. Not the international community, not the United Nations, not even the American citizens.

I believe we are headed down a dangerous path that asks us to forfeit not merely our historical role in the international community, but truly our freedom and our humanity.

Then again, maybe you disagree, and you're pleased with the new direction our country has taken.

Either way, I respectfully urge you all to get involved in this election.

Knowing many of you as I do, I'm quite certain you're already thinking seriously about these issues. But more importantly, please encourage others to get involved as well. I believe we are at a crossroads in the history of our nation, and this election will determine which path we take. It is both an exciting and a frightening time to be alive, and this is a time when our country desperately needs our thoughts, our prayers, and our votes.