Monday, November 03, 2008

Four Years Ago Tomorrow.

Was the night I discovered scotch. I had made myself a promise, almost 2 years earlier, that at the end of election day, 2004, I would be able to look myself in the mirror and tell myself I had done everything I could to stop the Bush war machine. My knees hurt. My legs were fucking tired. It was the end of a long road and I looked myself in the mirror. My promise was kept. There was nothing else to do except finally sleep. I didn't watch the results come in because there was nothing left in my tank that would affect them. 

It's hard to describe what it feels like to commit yourself to a political campaign to someone who's never done it. It consumes you. For every hour you have to give it gladly takes five. You meet good people working for exactly what you're working for. You can't let them down. So you walk one more block. You plaster on one more smile. You listen to another little old lady discuss her strategy for a winning campaign because you want to make sure she casts her ballot. You phone, you walk, you pass out leaflets. Because you believe in what you're doing and you can't let the others down. You're a team, and for 2 years, you've almost been like a family. 


I have wished for so long...
How I wish for you again

Will I walk the long road?
I cannot stay
There's no need to say goodbye

Oh, the friends and family...
All the memories going round
Round, round round...

I have wished for so long...
How I wished for you today

I woke up and had to know. It was the wee hours of the morning now, and that was the song playing at the volunteer headquarters downstairs. One look around and I knew. We fought so hard, for so long, and our long road was a dead end. 

To cap it off a snowstorm was closing in on Reno. Ever cognizant of the history of the Donner party, I decided it best to consider myself stuck in the Biggest Little City In The World. 

And the wind keeps rollin'
And the sky keeps turning grey
And the sun is set......


That night I wandered into the hotel bar and discovered Laphroaig

.....The sun will rise another day

Sure. Maybe sometime in the next generation we'll realize what a fuckup George The Lessor was. For now though, we are screwed. Guantanamo. Wiretaps. Torture. Many, many gallons of blood on our hands and we just blew our chance to stop it. Barkeep....another shot......

I have never been so happy to be so wrong. We're on the verge of the sun coming up tomorrow my friends. You know there are no guarantees though. It doesn't happen if the ballots are not cast. Cast yours. Please. 

Because honestly, I'm ready to put away the scotch for awhile. 


10 comments:

Helen said...

Laphroaig? That's a specialized taste - even I think it tastes like medicine and I'm Scottish. I favour Glenmorangie myself, and I hope you don't put ice in it.

And I hope you can have a large one tomorrow to celebrate.

Anonymous said...

We're all thinking along the same lines on the other side of the globe.

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

My ballot is cast

jin said...

jinVote? Check.
My voting spot was empty! I wasn't sure if that was good or bad...

I hope you can celebrate tomorrow with a box full of Bojamacakes!

Anonymous said...

Time to celebrate!! Obama is officially the next president of the United States!!

Jo said...

Y'know, I was just thinking it was time to put the Laphroiag away myself. Because now, maybe, just *maybe*, things will start to get better.

Hell, yeah.

Yes, we did.

The_Sarcastic_Chemist said...

Put the scotch back on the shelf because the sun has risen on another day, another era.

"Yes we can!!!!!!!"

Charlie said...

Yeah we did.

Heather said...

I'm assuming that you are too busy partying to update, and that's why the beautiful news hasn't appeared on your page yet.

Change is coming. Today is a day I will remember forever. Decades from now kids will memorize the dates and names from this groundbreaking election- but it will never mean to them what it means to the nation today.

I am a proud Obama supporter. I voted for him, and I tried to educate my ignorant friends (you know, the ones who think he's a muslim, socialist baby eater) that he is what we need. I gave money to the campaign. And I can say, "YES WE DID."

Cheers, DrugMonkey.

Nancy said...

We did it, Drug Monkey!