Like millions of Americans, I am angry.I am angry that hundreds of Americans, our best and brightest, are dying in Iraq. I am angry that inflation is going up, interest rates are going up, and the deficit is going up. I am angry that Americans are being held in John Ashcroft's dungeons, without charges, without lawyers, without rights of any kind.
I am angry that the unabashedly right-wing section of the media has nothing but lies. I am angry that the "mainstream" media is too cowed to tell the truth. I am angry every time someone on a television talk show makes an outrageously stupid claim and no one who claims to be a journalist questions it.
I am angry that millions of Americans are losing their health care coverage, and tens of millions more are paying far more for what coverage they have. I am angry that the new Medicare bill is not only a windfall for insurance companies and drug companies, but also contains a new marriage penalty.
I am angry that oil prices continue to rise. I am angry that this country has no plan to reduce our dependence on oil. I am angry that auto makers aren't being forced to build cars that get better gas mileage. I am angry that we are sending billions of dollars every year to countries, like Saudi Arabia, that support terrorism. I am angry that our government, which claims to be committed to fighting terrorism, is supporting the supporters of terrorists.
I am angry that our air, water and land are getting more polluted. I am angry that polluters are getting tax breaks while the rest of us are literally getting sick. I am angry that George W. Bush and his Republican friends are in bed with these polluters.
I am angry that too many of our children are not getting a legitimate chance for a good education. I am angry that class sizes are increasing while students' choices are decreasing. I am angry that the argument over the "No Child Left Behind" act is over funding and not over the fact that the act itself is flawed.
I am angry that the person who calls himself President is only in power as a result of a stolen election. I am angry that the Civil Right Commission report, detailing the criminal activities of Florida's Governor Jeb Bush and his surrogates, hasn't gotten widespread coverage. I am angry that over 90,000 ballots cast by African-American voters in Florida were rejected. I am angry that the Commission found "an extraordinarily high and inexcusable level of disenfranchisement, with a significantly disproportionate impact on African American voters."
I am angry that the Republicans are gearing up to steal this year's election as well. I am angry that, despite Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell's written statement last summer that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year," the state of Ohio is planning to use Diebold's no-paper-trail, easy-to-defraud voting machines this fall. I am angry that Diebold tried to steal California by installing machines with unacceptable software and then lying about that software.
My anger over these and many other issues is tempered, however, by the knowledge that most Americans share my anger. I take comfort in the fact that I am in the majority. And I manage my anger by exhorting the majority of loyal, patriotic Americans to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
If the overwhelming majority of Americans vote this fall, we will have a new government next year. It will be a legitimate government, in power because they won and not because they cheated.
The new government will repeal the reckless, incompetent fiscal policy that has damaged the American economy.
The new government will work with other countries, gaining friends instead of enemies, and making America more secure.
The new government will stop the windfalls that oil, drug and insurance companies have been granted in exchange for their campaign contributions.
The new government will start to clean our air, water and land.
The new government will return control of education to the states where it belongs, while providing the funding needed to help children learn.
The new government will make it possible for Americans to create jobs instead of eliminating them.
In short, the new government will be far, far better than the one we're currently saddled with. So my anger is under control, because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can see a near future when our long national nightmare will be over.
Copyright 2004, Dan Jacoby
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