Face the Music

Dear Mr. or Ms. Undecided Voter,

Where have you been? How have you been doing?

Yes, I know those sound like nonsensical questions. I see you at least semi-regularly; once a month, twice a day, whatever. But still I ask; where have you been?

You see, for the past seven-plus years I have lived in a country where the most unprincipled men have had their hands on the levers of power. Those powerful people who might have stopped them were only slightly less immoral, and so could recognize the wrongness – but only as an opportunity for political gain.

From the beginning, we were warned that the Bush Administration’s campaign rhetoric was nothing but a passel of lies. “Compassionate Conservatism” was a front, meant only to provide a sham of moral cover for the howling base of the Republican Party. That base had just spent the last eight years in all-out political warfare against a center-right Democratic President. Bush knew then, and we were told then, that he intended to harness that roaring hate for his own purposes.

And what have eight years brought us?

A national debt twice the combined debts of all past presidents in American history.

Two failed wars, one of which we certainly did not need (or even want) to fight.

The most lawless Presidency ever, freely and openly defying the law, the legislature, and the judiciary.

Wholesale and pervasive spying on all American citizens.

The de facto destruction of the most foundational right in the Constitution: habeas corpus.

The loss of a major American city to raw bureaucratic incompetence.

The worst financial crisis in our lifetimes – with no end in sight.

So, where have you been? Have you noted these things? Did they take place in your country? Was your President half as evil as the one I’ve lived under? I just have to know, because here we are now barely more than a week out from an election that will either continue Bush’s policies or change the course of the nation – and you are still undecided. Independent.

I’d try to convince you, bring you around to my point of view. I’d seriously sit down with you and have a long talk about this. I’d listen seriously to what you had to say. I’d expect the same in return.

But you know, there really isn’t much point to civil discussion about important civic issues if you and I don’t share the same reality.

So, where have you been?

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Joe Max adds:

This quote from David Sedaris in this week's New Yorker:

"I look at these people and can’t quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention?

To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. 'Can I interest you in the chicken?' she asks. 'Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?'

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked."