Such a simple and cheesy gesture sums up the initial 2006 Election results for moderates, centrists, Democrats, and liberal educators (among others). But rather than shout out, “Democratic mandate” (whatever such a thing would mean), I’m cutting relief with gravity and determination. In my opinion, many Americans have been betrayed by the special interests of incumbent politicians. Moreso even than rural socially conservative Republicans, yellow dog Democrats and liberals of all stripes have been sold down the political river, fronted by cowards too afraid to stand for the civil liberties of all people under the keep of the United States of America. The undermining of the writ of habeas corpus, the practical repeal of the First Amendment in the service of copyright protections, and the flouting of the Fourth Amendment with widespread, arbitrary, and unmonitored surveillance of all Americans are follicles in the filthy hide of corrupt American politics. For the last five years, the beast of American bi-partisan politics has transformed seemingly principled liberal humanitarians into sniveling, self-interested Republican toadies: too afraid to expire Patriot Act 1 (and adding to the damage with Patriot Act 2), too addicted to plug pork barreling, and too short-sighted to give voice to a true humanitarian politic. I understand pragmatics and practicality, but justice and dignity-loving liberals have been cuckolded. The coats we are wearing aren’t just singed; they are burning.
Yes, the general shape of the 2006 Election is more about our horror that our brothers and sisters (American and otherwise) are dying in a pointless war that should never have been started than it is about some move toward a progressive liberalism that supports people who love as God guides them to love. The piecemeal elevation of the slave wage is not about dignity or security for all who labor as much as it is a constructive, if only partially adequate, expression of political rage over the tallying of record corporate profits while the working poor still cannot obtain either sufficient or affordable health care, let alone retirement security.
I moved to Ohio in 2002 and was inspired by geographical hints of ancient majesty in the foothills of Appalachia. When
our little corner of Ohio seemed the only corner not possessed by war-time hysteria, I thought, “better an island than no land at all.”
This morning changes my perception, again. Ohio said that bolstering education with the ills of gambling is not a social good. This new blue swinger also voted to support its working poor who are suffering because there is as yet no progressive vision among Ohioan entrepreneurs and politicians. And while it may seem trivial to some, when voting Ohioans chose a comprehensive ban on public smoking as opposed to the tobacco-sponsored wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing, they said that they could read through political dirty tricks as well as voicing their sense that clean air is a right that should be protected for even bar-goers and service workers.
As Virginia inexorably and clumsily embraces its ill-at-ease Democratic senator (who ran against an openly, if apologetic, racist), Americans may be able to reassess the importance of greater freedom in an age of fear, why helping all our brothers and sisters have a chance at shared happiness will increase our own, and why doing more increases life satisfaction better than having more.
The squid, however, was not made for preaching; the squid was made to celebrate! 
Liz Miller 1 cheers early exit poll results
(M. Stratton in background)
Liberal educators UNITE!
left to right: Beth Quitslund, M. Stratton,
Nicole Reynolds, and Johnnie Wilcox.
1 This year Liz mobilized me and her husband, Matthew, to work for
Emily’s List, “a political network for pro-Choice Democratic women.” (Working for Emily’s list, for me, was as much about participating in an effective liberal get-out-the-vote campaign as it was about protecting the right of women to maintain full reproductive control of their own bodies. )
Liz was tireless as a canvasser, working the long election weekend through Tuesday in Columbus, Logan, and Athens, Ohio. Following Liz’s lead, I learned the satisfaction of reaching out to voters and interacting with even the resistant. Every quickly closed door meant at least five who listened with some interest, and I had nothing to sell except the power of enfranchisement.
The first canvassing assignment Liz, Matthew, and I received was poorly organized, the walking map unmarked and incomplete, and the database printout had been merely alphabetized instead of ordered by geographical contiguity. At the end of canvassing on the first day, I pulled the files for two precincts and marked up the walking maps, cross-referencing the street names against an alphabetical list. The portions of each precinct not represented on the walking maps, I researched using Google Maps. My data obsession and computer nerdiness paid dividends in bottom-up political action. I can’t thank Liz enough for giving me a chance to do something positive with pipsqueak (my 12" iBook).
Spending time with Liz and Matthew on the way to and in Columbus, Ohio, helped break some of the ice around my heart. Their political dedication and emotional generosity are what drive liberal humanitarian political action; they are the moist nuggets of human feeling.
