Well Kerry conceded. I have much to say, but right now I can't get my thoughts together to post a meaningful post. When I got in to work this morning I had quite a few email messages from a email list I belong to. I wrote an immediate reaction, with the thoughts and feelings I had at the moment. I post that here now, in lieu of a formal post at the moment.

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This is a defining moment. What this country has indicated with their vote
is that we approve of the Bush agenda. That agenda is one of increasing
influence of the church, increasing isolationism, nation building,
environmental insensitivity, affront to science against religion, assault on
womens' rights, assault on gay americans' rights, the increasing influence
of the corporations, a continuing move of tax burden AWAY from the rich, and
onto the middle and lower class, fiscal irresponsibility. It is an agenda,
in my opinion, that doesn't appeal to most people I talk to, even most self
proclaimed conservatives. But some of those wedge issues like gay marriage,
and stem cell research appeal to many religious people in this country.
What I think was not accurately measured in the last months was the passion
of the religious followers against these wedge issues, and their
determination to keep this country in a morally conservative direction. It
truly has become the rural vote versus the city vote. There are at least
two distinct realms of thought.

Frankly it makes me surprised that more new, young voters did not come out
like we had hoped (at least in the early analysis I have seen). I worked
for the last several months very hard on getting people 18-24 years old
registered to vote and then getting them to go out and actually vote, and it
just really makes me sad, that APPARENTLY they still did not see the dire
necessity to get out there and vote. I was thinking after the early reports
of turnout yesterday morning, that we would be looking at 120+ million
turnout this election, which would have been and increase of 10-15 million
voters from the last election. But it seems that we are closer to 112
million, and it seems to me that alot of that was from the evangelical
voters who stayed home in 2000 (Karl Rove would claim because GW's drunk
driving arrest went public 5 days before the election), who actually came
out in droves to protect marriage from the evil, immoral gays, and to
protect a bundle of cells that would be marked for destruction, no matter
what, from being used to possibly benefit the living.

I could go on and on here, but I trust you all have become bored with me by
now. I hope our country comes more towards the center again some day,
because right now, I have to agree with MATT (gasp!) in thinking that the
frigid hell that is Canada sounds a HELL of alot more appealing to me right
now than the country I have awoken to this morning.

-jay