We liberals are stung by this defeat, and the conservatives are ebuliently happy. To say that conservatives are gloating would be one of the greatest understatements of the century. Conservatives - as a whole - are gleefully shoving their victory in the collective liberal face. They see Dub-yah's win as some kind of vindication, proof that they were right because they are Right. They see Dub-yah's victory as a mandate from the people, carte-blanche to do whatever they want, no matter how destructive, no matter how shortsighted. Meanwhile, Dub-yah is rearranging his cabinet, pulling his closest friends closer to him while shedding those advisors who disagreed with or challenged him. Now we have a short-sighted, narrow-minded leader surrounded by Yes Men & Women. And this is how Dub-yah plans to "heal" the socio-political rift that's threatening to tear this country apart.
Radical conservatives - led by the Christian Right (Dub-yah's base) - have taken over the political debate in this country. And with their guy in the white house, they plan to force a Far-right, Christian, nationalist agenda onto the country. As the Christian Right sees it, they have taken back their country, and they plan to return American to what it used to be. And if liberals don't like it, they can just leave. Little wonder that liberals of all stripes - from center to far-left - are beginning to feel like they just don't belong here any more.
Liberals generally believe that people of different races, religions and sexes from vaious backgrounds with different beliefs, ideologies, viewpoints and agendas can - and should - accept each others' differences and coexist peacefully in the same country. The Christian Right, on the other hand, believes that their way is the one way, the right way, and the only way, and they plan to make sure that everyone else lives according to their way. Period. Don't like it? Leave.
This attitude is creating an ever-widenning shcism, not only in American politics, but also in American society and culture as well. As one memeber of the McLaughlin Group said a couple of weeks ago:
"Look at California and Texas. [referring to the electoral map of red and blue states] What do these two states have in common? Nothing."
This schism, which the Christian Right - remember, this is Dubyah's base - are wedging wider all the time, will rend this country apart, if something is not done to stop the spread and close the gap.
51% Red-staters; 49% Blue-staters. Reds States lean conservative; Blue States lean liberal. Red States are predominantly rural; Blue States are predominantly Urban. Red States tend to have fewer college graduates, more conservative Christians, more depressed economies, and more blue collar workers than Blue States. Blue states tend to have more divierse population mix, higher education levels, a more cosmopolitan world view, and stronger economies than Blue States.
This is not simply a political issue - I'm a Democrat and you're a Republican - nor is it simply an economic one - tax and spend versus fiscal restraint. No, this is a deep social issue. It deals with how we live our lives - what books we choose to read, what movies we choose to watch, what music we choose to listen to, how we raise our children, how we engage in dialogue, how we approach problems, how we see the world. Tell people they have to pay a few more dollars a year in taxes, and they'll gripe a bit, maybe even vote you out of office. Tell people they have to change their lifestyle and basic world view to fit yours, and they'll rebel.
So here's the bottom line folks: people on the left - all those blue-staters - are already talking about secession. They say we already have two countries. Why not break away? Impossible, you say? It's happened before, I say. And what's happened once can happen again. Twenty or thiry years from now, you may be looking at four countries where one used to be: one comprised of the blue northeastern states; one comprised of the blue Great Lakes states; one comprised in the blue Pacific states; and one comprised of that big, central, red zone. If it happens, will there be another civil war? Or will the radical Christian right-wingers say good riddance to us bleeding-heart liberals? We shall see.
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