George W. Bush has been re-elected with a sound and sizeable margin. “The people,” we are told, have spoken. Americans, and the world at large, must now accept this damaged fact, however hard it is to swallow, however caustic the taste.
The election is over, and with it the hope of a new president. There will be no recount that might leave open the last word, and while a three per cent advantage in the popular vote seems remarkably little when one considers the overall stakes, it is enough to make this victory legitimate. The scandal, if there is one, is in this very nauseating point. Prior to November 2, opponents of Bush could find some refuge in the contested nature of his presidency. But not anymore. Nearly 60 million Americans stand, at least notionally, behind him. Democracy, once again, has prevailed.
But the word “democracy” has suffered numerous perversions under the rule of George of W. Bush, along with words like ‘freedom’, ‘truth’, ‘liberty’, ‘faith.’ These ostensibly unequivocal ideals have been used by the president to justify the most barbaric of acts: the 100,000 very human deaths in Iraq; the assault on a woman’s right to govern her own body; the de-legitimation of spiritual and sexual bonds between two persons of the same sex; the steady bankrupting of the majority of America’s socio-economic security; lying to both the U.S. electorate and to the world; the illegal detainment and torture of real human beings; the willful and needless degradation of our natural environment. The list is long, and the aggregate is indeed a great leap backwards. More, it signifies the dark underbelly of this harrowing thing we call “democracy.”
Again, the scandal here is not to be found in the facts. There is nothing shocking about this litany of injustices. A barrage of words and images have been used to detail these darker moments, so that it is wishful thinking that supposes voters weren’t aware of them, or that 60 million Americans suffer a severe case of false-consciousness. Republicans knew. Democrats knew. Much of the world knew. And yet there were enough Americans who were able to repress that knowledge long enough to inscribe an “X” next to Bush’s name; there were enough people out there who subscribe (wittingly, or unwittingly) to this perverted narrative of the truth.
And now, thanks to Bush, and the people who voted for him, we all must suffer its consequences. Hard to swallow? Yes, it is.
