Thursday, November 03, 2005
THE HANGOVER STILL HURTS
I was going to put this post together yesterday, but it was all just too painful. Yesterday, November 2, was the one-year anniversary of the day I almost lost all faith in this great country. On that day, Canada seemed like a viable option to me. Labatt's and hockey? Yeah, I could get into that. It was the day that prompted the Brits to ask how 59 million of us could be so dumb.
Indeed.
It was bright and sunny Brooklyn morning when I headed to the polls. The day was filled with nervous anticipation. I didn't get any work done, I was glued to the internets. The exit polls began streaming in around 2 pm and the numbers were very promising. My spirits lifted, hope was racing through my veins. I left work early to rush home and watch the returns, but in the matter of a subway ride the numbers had taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Suddenly, things didn't look so good. By 9 pm, I had bitten every nail off. It was the only sustenance I got all night -- I was too nervous to eat. By the time Jon Stewart came on at 11, my head was sore from banging it against the wall so many times. My spirits deflated, hope began to drip ever so slowly from my wounded veins. Next thing I knew it was 2 in the morning. I sat in silent despair watching a pitiful Al Franken desperately trying to do the math on a pathetic little whiteboard, markers clenched between his teeth. He was trying to make it work. He still had hope.
Admirable, but sad.
By 2:30 am, the Ohio conspiracies were already beginning to circulate. John Edwards addressed the crowd in Boston and a nation of weary, sleep-deprived realists. He urged us not to give up. He told us they would fight. But it was hard to believe him at that point. By 3:30 am, I was three sheets and 34 electoral votes to the wind when I called my sister in Seattle and wept openly to her over the phone. I didn't sleep much, if at all. The next day at work was a tough one. Kerry conceded around lunchtime. I attempted to extend a gracious, hungover and overtired hand to my smarmy, openly Republican co-worker only to be met with a hearty laugh and a hefty dose of derision. I prepared myself for four more years of this same arrogant, asshole smugness.
I spent the next couple of day wrapped in blanket, balled up in a corner, tear stains on my cheeks. Three days later I attempted to drown my sorrows at my girlfriend's housewarming party. In my drunken despair, I managed to drop a mostly full, 1/2 gallon bottle of Tanqueray directly onto the big toe of my left foot. 'How apt,' I thought. It didn't hurt too much at the time thanks to the booze, but within 24 hours the entire toe was black. It would remain that way before all vestiges of the black toe, which I blamed squarely on Bush, would finally disappear. That was this past September 28, the same day, coincidentally, that Tom DeLay was indicted and the Republican house of cards began to crumble. Thank god that thing fell off.
July 2005.
Thank you, I needed the therapy.
MORE
Oliphant: The Coverup Worked
Bill@Kos: Election '04 Flashback
ThinkProgress: Since the Election
CrisisPapers: Election Fraud 2004?
Looking Back: God Won and My Closing Argument.
I was going to put this post together yesterday, but it was all just too painful. Yesterday, November 2, was the one-year anniversary of the day I almost lost all faith in this great country. On that day, Canada seemed like a viable option to me. Labatt's and hockey? Yeah, I could get into that. It was the day that prompted the Brits to ask how 59 million of us could be so dumb.
Indeed.It was bright and sunny Brooklyn morning when I headed to the polls. The day was filled with nervous anticipation. I didn't get any work done, I was glued to the internets. The exit polls began streaming in around 2 pm and the numbers were very promising. My spirits lifted, hope was racing through my veins. I left work early to rush home and watch the returns, but in the matter of a subway ride the numbers had taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Suddenly, things didn't look so good. By 9 pm, I had bitten every nail off. It was the only sustenance I got all night -- I was too nervous to eat. By the time Jon Stewart came on at 11, my head was sore from banging it against the wall so many times. My spirits deflated, hope began to drip ever so slowly from my wounded veins. Next thing I knew it was 2 in the morning. I sat in silent despair watching a pitiful Al Franken desperately trying to do the math on a pathetic little whiteboard, markers clenched between his teeth. He was trying to make it work. He still had hope.
Admirable, but sad.By 2:30 am, the Ohio conspiracies were already beginning to circulate. John Edwards addressed the crowd in Boston and a nation of weary, sleep-deprived realists. He urged us not to give up. He told us they would fight. But it was hard to believe him at that point. By 3:30 am, I was three sheets and 34 electoral votes to the wind when I called my sister in Seattle and wept openly to her over the phone. I didn't sleep much, if at all. The next day at work was a tough one. Kerry conceded around lunchtime. I attempted to extend a gracious, hungover and overtired hand to my smarmy, openly Republican co-worker only to be met with a hearty laugh and a hefty dose of derision. I prepared myself for four more years of this same arrogant, asshole smugness.
I spent the next couple of day wrapped in blanket, balled up in a corner, tear stains on my cheeks. Three days later I attempted to drown my sorrows at my girlfriend's housewarming party. In my drunken despair, I managed to drop a mostly full, 1/2 gallon bottle of Tanqueray directly onto the big toe of my left foot. 'How apt,' I thought. It didn't hurt too much at the time thanks to the booze, but within 24 hours the entire toe was black. It would remain that way before all vestiges of the black toe, which I blamed squarely on Bush, would finally disappear. That was this past September 28, the same day, coincidentally, that Tom DeLay was indicted and the Republican house of cards began to crumble. Thank god that thing fell off.
July 2005.Thank you, I needed the therapy.
MORE
Oliphant: The Coverup Worked
Bill@Kos: Election '04 Flashback
ThinkProgress: Since the Election
CrisisPapers: Election Fraud 2004?
Looking Back: God Won and My Closing Argument.
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