snjoseph's Journal: Also sprach Kos

Liberals have begun to notice that Bush is a basically unpopular president who has majorities of the American people arrayed against him on almost every major policy issue. This would normally be a cause for much rejoicing, except...Bush just won the election. With Nader reduced to a non-factor and foul play an irrelevance in the popular vote (there weren't three million ballots worth of fraud), Kerrycrats are being driven by the iron laws of deduction to the very heart of the darkness: Big Ketchup himself!

With a widely-despised opponent, a Party united to Stalinoid perfection, unlimited cash money, and a zombie-like Left in the grip of lesser-evilism, Kerry still managed to snatch defeat from the wide-open jaws of victory. Indeed, against Big Ketchup the gods themselves did contend in vain: Mars and Pluto did their worst in Iraq; Mercury disrupted the national commerce; Neptune intervened to make the Atlantic an impassable rift; and Minerva seemed to abandon poor Dubya altogether. But no ill turns of fortune for Bush could dispel Kerry's fierce determination to lose, his awesome Joementum.

And thus spake Kos:

[W]hat makes me angry was Kerry and his gang's inability to take advantage of the situation. I may regret saying this later, but fuck it--they should be lined up and shot. There's no reason they should've lost to this joker. "I voted for the $87 billion, then I voted against it." That wasn't nuance. That was idiocy. And with a primary campaign that consisted entirely of "I'm the most electable," Kerry entered the general without a core philosophy or articulated vision for the job.

It is altogether too tempting to remind oneself of one's own analysis, which can perhaps claim to be more insightful as it preceded the election:

Kerry...hasn't acheived much more than being the "anybody but Bush." Far from effectively fighting Bush, he is constantly disorienting and depressing his own supporters with his repeated statements of agreement with Bush. Not only have I not met a single person who is enthused by Kerry, I have not met a single person who does not ritually express their disgust with Kerry.... This is not even to raise Kerry's idiotic tactical errors (the "voted for it before voting against it" line, the McCain gambits, etc).

And also:

In politics, inertia is a not insigificant factor. If the electorate can't tell the difference between Bush and Kerry, Bush will surely win by the simple principle of conservation of energy.

Naturally I do not claim any particular gifts of prophesy for myself, as these statements are merely elaborations on themes developed by many on the anti-ABB Left, including and especially by Ralph Nader. The only reason we were able to forsee this outcome was because we had an understanding of the Democrats as a bosses' party, part of the establishment and totally committed to its survival and strategies, up to and including the Iraq War.

Will the ABB Left now see what a mistake they made by backing Kerry and attacking Nader? If Nader had received five or ten percent, it would have at least sent a certain kind of message to the Bushies, and injected Nader and his platform into the post-election scene. Instead the mainstream political discussion is characterized by suggestions as to how far the Democrats (and all the liberal organizations) ought to capitulate to Bush. The antiwar movement has to relearn how to walk, and the Green Party may have been fatally wounded by the Cobb debacle--at the very least they will require a punishing internal struggle and purge to survive.

The objective conditions for the development of a strong, independent Left are excellent; the subjective conditions are poor. We will make great strides as regards the latter if we get the donkey off our backs. Will the circle not be broken?

Ohio isn't over...

[js7a]

And no amount of typing or wishing will deny the mathematical reality of the spoiler effect, or the effect of anti-gay ballot initatives such as Ohio's Issue 1 [copperas.com].

Re:Ohio isn't over...

[snjoseph]

You're right that Ohio isn't over. I hope they expose all the crap that went on, whether or not it results in Kerry winning the state. In any event, the popular vote margin is too big to be explained by fraud.

You're right that the anti-gay ballot initiatives hurt the Dems because the Right used it as a big issue to mobilize their base. Too bad Kerry went along with it and refused to fight; this just proves my point more.

And finally, I wish there was a spoiler effect this election. At least spoiling keep