A Lesser Evil?
By Patricia
Cori
Against my better judgment, I switched
on to CNN to catch a glimpse of the Republican Convention now in progress in New
York and abruptly remembered why I am so set upon avoiding television in general
and the news in particular.
There is such an extraordinary serving of
tripe being dished up as truth these days that I find I have to keep resisting
the urge to stick my rhetorical finger down my throat – but the need to stay
focused on the bigger picture and a sense of commitment help calm the gag reflex
and allow me get on with the work at hand: celebrating the voice of resistance,
assisting others as best I can to see clearly, keeping my mind directed to
positive action from right thought and clear vision.
So let us take stock
of what we have here. From the opening speeches of the die-hard rich
Republicans, filled with patriotic fervor and hackneyed slogans, to the
relentless campaign of the Demo/aristocrat Kerry; from the massive balloon
blankets, confetti and flag waving of the Democratic Convention to the massive
balloon blankets, confetti and flag waving of the Republican Convention, nowhere
does the diligent voter find any substance from which to base an educated and
responsible decision in the ballot box on November 5th.
It seems all we,
the people, are entitled to is more of the same blind determination and empty
promises of two absolutely unimpressive candidates – sitting President G.W. Bush
and hoping-to-be-seated John Kerry. Then again, we accept this – we embrace it.
So, in a very real sense, we create it.
You have your G.W. Bush on the
one side of some ambiguous terror-fighting political spectrum, you have your
John Kerry on the other side – supposedly the people’s choice candidates, but
are they? Are they? Both are funded by the same big corporate interests: the oil
companies; the logging industry; the pharmaceutical industry and these are
intent upon the destruction of our natural habitats, the leveling of the forests
and the creation of un-wellness in the population – FOR PROFIT. We hear the
words and platitudes from these characters but we KNOW they have to repay the
corporate sponsors with legislation that pushes through their global agendas and
we know that means trouble for the environment, for our health, for our schools
– for the future. We know, if only we look about us, that the best interests of
the citizens of America and of the world, a world so desperately in need of
peace and healing, are not being served.
You ask yourself: “are these two
are the best the United States has to offer?” and your blood runs cold. You ask
again: “Would a system that is dictated by the interests of the multinational
giants allow for an independent thinker, a determined leader free of agendas?”
and your blood boils.
So this is it?
Anaesthetized
or mesmerized by the regurgitation of the same basic political rhetoric, the
majority become strangely indifferent to the entire process, settling for either
not voting at all (total defeatism) or for voting in the candidate they feel is
the LEAST BAD option (the death of hope and vision). Imagine? From the lofty
intentions of our forefathers, creators of the Declaration of Independence, to
the ‘least bad’ option in the 21st century.
Tommy Franks, the Former
General in Command of the Armed Forces in Iraq, recently stated that “democracy
has been an interesting exercise for 200 years.” Was he speaking of an exercise
in futility?
Have we moved forever beyond that dream of greatness, of
peaceful co-existence and the good life and the right to responsible, committed
leadership to help guide us through the maze in which humanity, the minotaur,
finds itself? Are these really our choices: a self-declared ‘Compassionate
Conservative’ (the last time I considered the meaning of that word, compassion,
it held within it a sense of ethos for all living beings – a sense of gentle
acceptance, the embracing of the other, an inherent forgiveness, the Buddha) or
a rich-guy war vet who has yet to offer much more than a beat up old horse of
war memories and an absolutely garbled vision for a better world?
Do we
stay the course with the known, prisoners of the illusive War on Terror, or do
we take a leap of faith (if leap it can be called) and bring in the new face
with no new solutions...no new visions...no new sponsors?
Someone I
dearly love responded to these questions by saying “Democracy may not be a
perfect system, but it is the best we’ve got.”
The Lesser
Evil.
The wobbly skeleton of democracy marches on.
Now showing at a TV
screen near you...
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