[NEohioPAL]post-election letter

[Nina McCollum]

I sent this letter to several local newspapers and
television stations, though I haven't gotten a
response from anyone that they will be running it.  I
thought I would share with you all, below.

On a side note, bringing myself forward out of
depression and into action, I am now the Secretary for
the NE Ohio Chapter of the Sierra Club.  We must move
forward decisively!

Nina

"I am absolutely sickened by the results of this
election.  I cannot believe the shame and
embarrassment I feel as an Ohioan today.  

I know part of the reason I feel this way is because I
live in the Cleveland area, which is overwhelmingly
Democratic.  Nearly every single person I know, from
family and personal friends to casual acquaintances at
work - all voted for John Kerry.  And here we sit,
completely stunned at these results, and at the mercy
of whatever Bush and his zealots want to throw at us
for the next four years.  With Republican leadership
in the White House, the House of Represenatives, the
Senate, the majority of all state Governors, and soon
the complete control of the Supreme Court, this is
going to be one downright scary country to live in. 
And we have our fellow Ohioans to thank.

Specifically, let's thank the disenfranchised, lazy,
uninformed and unmotivated, who sat on their butts and
did nothing about voting on Tuesday.  As the college
kids, who largely didn't bother to vote (17% - an
improvement, but not much of one) wait til you
graduate
and try to get jobs in Bush's economy. I say to them,
"Good luck, and thanks for NOTHING."  

And thanks to the Christian Right, whose agenda to get
their voters to flock to the polls by putting on the
"gay marriage" issue in several states - it worked
handily (nice job, Mr. Rove).  What would the Founding
Fathers say, who fled religious oppression to found
this country?

Watching the Kerry concession speech in a public place
today, I saw lots of people crying, including men.  I
saw the saddest faces today at work, you wouldn't
believe what people looked like.  This, truly is the
"shock and awe" campaign.

I feel so sorry for our soldiers, who signed up to get
access to a decent education for themselves and steady
pay for their families in exchange for a few years of
service, who are now pressed into seemingly endless
servitude in the "stop loss" action in Iraq.

I feel so sorry for all the teachers who will lose
their jobs because the overwhelming majority of
Cuyahoga County voters in every city and suburb
roundly defeated their school levies.  The teachers
will go.  And the poor students, whose class sizes are
already too big and who already cannot afford books or
extra-curricular activities without ponying up their
own money, will suffer even further.  And the
communities which house these schools will suffer the
most, as people uproot their families and move out of
this area and this state, in search of greener ($)
pastures. 

If anyone thinks the "uniter, not a divider" is really
going to do anything to bring us together after how he
has acted during his first term, they need to get
their heads out of the sand (or somewhere deeper and
darker, if you get my meaning) and deal with reality. 

The reality is here, today, and it is stark, ugly, and
deeply sorrowful.  The international reaction to the
election only solidifies this feeling.  We are more
alone than ever in the world, with a ludicrous cowboy
at the helm, and a scary band of robber barons and
thieves right behind him.

Oh what a sad state of affairs.

Sincerely,

Nina McCollum



		
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