It is a time of freedom and fear, of Gaia and of borders, of many paths and the widening of a universal toll road, emptying country and swelling cities, of the public bought into privacy and the privacy of the public sold into invisible data banks and knowing algorithms. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection.

These are the times when maps fade and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread.

Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.


 
In the year 2000, there was a difference between the Republicans and the Democrats. The Republicans didn't give a shit what others thought of them and their propriety. They just went out like gangbusters and fought and fought and fought until their guy was put in the White House. They were prepared, they invested the time and energy that it took to defend their case (however indefensible it seemed), and refused to give an inch. The Republicans sued first and laughed last.

The Democrats found themselves flat-footed and unprepared to mount an operation in support of voters, and instead acted in response to what the Republicans were doing. The Democrats worried that an open struggle over the outcome of an election would be too unseemly, and that any President who won after such a struggle would be unable to do anything of note. So the Democrats packed up and went home because they didn't want to look too pushy.

We know what happened next. This shit matters, and I don't know about you, but I am not about to trust the Democratic Party establishment to do the right thing in the days after Election Day. We've got to take on the responsibility of getting the message out ourselves.

The way I see it, we've got three possible contigencies to deal with: 1) Bush clearly wins, 2) Kerry clearly wins, and 3) It appears too close to immediately call. I shudder at thought of the first contingency, warm at thought of the second, and get riled up at thought of the third. If you've been carefully reading the news, you know that the Republican rub-out-the-vote campaign is in full gear, meaning that if it looks too close to call, the rub-out-the-vote tricks have turned a legitimate Kerry win into an apparent tie.

Whatever the circumstance that faces us on the morning of November 3, 2004, this time we have to be prepared. We cannot let the Republicans dominate the public sphere with their messages. We have to be ready that morning -- yes, that morning -- to put our own messages out, loudly and proudly.

There are lots of ways to do that: letters to the editor, calls to radio talk shows, calls to government officials, public protests where abuses merit it, and other tactics can be carried out by concerned citizens. In a small way, we're doing our part by crafting bumper stickers, buttons and t-shirts with messages to fit whatever outcome we're faced with, so that we can make the most of it.

The new Election Day and Beyond section offers a growing selection of messages to deal with whatever nastiness or good news may come our way in the next two weeks. If you want to have your bumper sticker, button or t-shirt effectively confront the election's outcome and have a say in its resolution, you'll have to make an order now.

Visit our Election Day and Beyond shop, and prepare yourself for the best and the worst.

Posted by James Cook at 10:54 PM. # (permalink)




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