This post is in answer to these comments to my November Prize post on Tuesday:

Fred, you didn’t say what word you are defining there – could be another definition of pluralism. But the fact is that Bush and the people who voted for him don’t stand for pluralism. They stand for people who think like they do; there’s no encouragement in their hearts and minds of any divergent ideas at all. And what’s worse, they think that dissenting viewpoints are inherently immoral. They think – and this is really stupid and offensive – that Liberalism is immoral. The populist ethic of social welfare has been made immoral by men and women who command and aspire to no greater rhetoric that to sneer when they say Liberal. Bush is king of this: calling Kerry the most liberal senator from the most liberal state, as though it were an insult. Shame.

And what I’m saying is that by getting us to give up our pluralism – our willingness to let everyone believe as s/he wishes – the extremists like bin Laden get exactly what they want. It’s not our belief in something better that separates us from them; it’s our unconditional belief in each other.

I watched Mystic River tonight. (I’m a little behind on my renting and watching; about a year.) It was a good movie, I thought. Lots of intense, dramatic acting. You just can’t beat a cast like that, and a good script based on a good book. But …

It tried really hard to lose me in the last two minutes. That whole thing with the parade was completely absurd. And the bedroom scene with Sean Penn’s character & his wife was just overwritten to the point of being abjectly yucky. The movie ended when Kevin Bacon got in his car and drove off. They should’ve panned down to the names etched in the sidewalked, and faded to black. What was Eastwood thinking?

Yahoo! News – Study Links Sleep Deprivation, Obesity

Well shoot, now they tell us. One of these days, I’m gonna line up all these guys that are constantly doing “studies,” and sit on them until they stop breathing. Then they can do a fraging study on that.

I’m going to watch a movie tonight, so Tasha is picking up the slack with a post on her blog.

OK, I think that’s enough of politics for a while. It’s not my forte. It’s time for me to step back and regroup, do a little woolgathering and concentrate on my broccoli. You understand. I don’t think there’s anything more I can say about Bush winning or the war going on, or the demise of whatever died.

This piece of writing is simply dragged from my folder of old unfinished sketches and posted here for you.

Tucking In The Dog

It’s alright, little dog, the day

has ended and we are safe

at home in our house again.

The world won’t find us here,

with it’s anthrax and missiles.

I shut the windows and turn the lights

down low and we can find a kind of peace.

Each night this week, I leave

my office in the evening and the trees

are full of crows, loud and desperate,

hungry, full of joy. They don’t know

what we’re going through. I love them

for their disdain of color, their ugly call.

Crows mean business and they play

in the face of death.

Let’s go to sleep, listen to the dull

clock and the appliances. The war

will be there tomorrow; we won’t

miss a thing. We have the Internet

and CNN and God knows the crows

love eucalyptus in the fall. Sleep.

I’ll watch a little Letterman

and say your prayers for you.

The dictionary defines pluralism like this:

Main Entry: plu•ral•ism

Pronunciation: ‘plur-&-“li-z&m

Function: noun

1 : the holding of two or more offices or positions (as benefices) at the same time

2 : the quality or state of being plural

3 a : a theory

that there are more than one or more than two kinds of ultimate reality b : a

theory that reality is composed of a plurality of entities

4 a : a state of society in which members of diverse ethnic, racial, religious, or social groups maintain an autonomous participation in and development of their traditional culture or special interest within the confines of a common civilization b : a concept, doctrine, or policy advocating this state.

I like to think of it as the willingness to accept different ideas; to tolerate, accept and respect different people. When we – meaning the effective electoral votes of Americans – elected Mr. Bush to stay in the White House, we dealt a blow to pluralism. When we voted like a pack of reactionary homophobes in eleven states, we dealt a blow to pluralism. In every splotch of red on the map, we voted against pluralism and for autocracy.

Why is this a problem? Because a vote against pluralism is a vote for fundamentalism. You get it, don’t you? Our pluralism is what pisses them (Islamic Extremists) off about us. A vote against pluralism is a vote against what we all said we stood for after 9/11 – what we flew flags off our porches for, vowing that they would never see us change. A vote for Bush & Cheney was a vote to give Osama bin Laden exactly what he wanted all along – the capitulation of our American ideals, our American identity.

Osama’s video was the quintessential October Surprise. It drove the sheep to the wolf, and Osama didn’t have to expend a single “martyr” to get his November prize. A house divided against itself cannot stand; we are weaker now. And our leaders’ arrogance continues to stoke the fires of war.

a fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

http://www.petitiononline.com/uselect/petition.html

A petition to congress to investigate the election.

Hey, here’s an idea: if our own government won’t accept and enforce environmental progress, maybe other governments will. If there’s a payoff on the corporate bottom line.

Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) — U.S. companies including General Motors Corp., DuPont Co. and Xerox Corp. are cutting carbon dioxide emissions to remain competitive in European countries that have adopted Kyoto Protocol limits rejected by President George W. Bush.

U.S. manufacturers are concerned they may lose their ability to operate factories or sell products in countries that have ratified the treaty, said Richard Sandor, chairman of Chicago Climate Exchange, which certifies companies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So far, 126 countries have accepted the Kyoto agreement, including all 25 members of the European Union.

Bloomberg.com

Hey, are you with me? We’re all over the shock of the “election,” right? Don’t know about you, but it’s time for me to put my thinking cap back on. See, I still have some questions, to which I haven’t gotten acceptable answers. And if we don’t keep asking the questions, and demanding answers, we’re doomed, people. Seriously DOOMED.

1.Why are we at war with Iraq? Why are the people of Iraq our enemies? Why are our young people pitted against theirs, and killing each other? Why are we bombing their cities?

2.Why is George W. Bush purging the government; in particular, the CIA?

3.Was the election stolen? Who did the people really vote for? If they stole it, how? And what can we do to set it right?

4.What do the Democrats stand for and how can we get that platform in the minds of the people in four years, and give liberalism back its good name?

5.Speaking of names, who leaked the name of that CIA agent, Valerie Plame? We all know that douchebag Novak printed it, but who gave it to him? And what’s holding up the intense investigation of the Justice Dept into this? (Ha.)

6.Why do they (the Bush administration) want us poor and ignorant?

7.What the heck is a unipolar world, and why do Bush and Cheney both have it on their Christmas wish list?

8.What damage is being none, as we sit at our computers today, to the environment that will be our children’s one and only home?

9.What kind of society will those children live in? Will it be a free, open, tolerant society, in which America makes things and has pride in its place in the world? Will it be a society of fear, with minds and souls sold to those who claim they can protect us, while they drive the one superpower capable of exploiting all the world’s resources?

10.Is America dying? Are we still the land of the free and the home of the brave? … And is it true you can’t go home again?

A researcher claims to have found the lost City of Atlantis. Begs the question: when will they find the lost nation of America? What will remain of us, besides our good intentions? … Something to sleep on. Hope you all had a good weekend.

Sometimes I just love people, I really do. Have you heard about this Web site, sorryeverybody.com ? It contains a vast array of personal apologies from people in the US to the rest of the world, for the election of George Bush. It’s great; in fact, it’s beautiful.

The only thing that could have possibly topped it would be a Web site with a bunch of “apologies accepted” messages from people in other countries. That would be wonderful, don’t you think? I think it is.*

I didn’t want to do an arms length photo of myself with an apology, though I agree that one is in order, and I don’t mind joining in. Here’s what I sent:

I’m feeling a little better about things. Not that our democracy is any less in jeopardy, or the safety of the planet any less threatened, but I’m reminded that we can always hold on to basic human goodness. There is something that endures.

Yes, I’m aware that there is a site called Notsorryeverybody. They can bite me. I’m feelin’ too good to worry about the unwashed tonight.

*Thanks to Joseph for e-mailing me about Apologies Accepted.