Seems About the Same to Me
Our local columnist tomorrow, introducing a piece on the shabby state of election machinery here, makes the ultimate equivalency argument:
The destruction of the World Trade Center was just as horrifying, traumatic, shocking and grievous as Bush's victory in 2000.
The columnist concludes his piece by imagining a Kerry victory this year, under similar circumstances to 2000, and writes about how appealing he'd find it to tell Republicans in that case to "get over it." Nothing like calling yourself an "insensitive lout" in print. But the confession, in this case, is redundant.
The destruction of the World Trade Center was just as horrifying, traumatic, shocking and grievous as Bush's victory in 2000.
If I see a photo of the Twin Towers erupting in flames, even three years after the Sept. 11 attacks, I feel it in my gut.
I'm sure I'm not alone. The horror of that day traumatized America. For many, feelings of insecurity and anxiety remain palpable.
Only an insensitive lout would dare say, "Get over it."
Likewise, for many Americans, the coming election evokes negative emotions — anger, mistrust — because of what happened in the disputed election of 2000.
Those of us who supported Al Gore can't easily forget the shock we felt when George W. Bush lost the popular vote but was handed the presidency after a 5-4 decision by an aggressively right-wing U.S. Supreme Court halted a recount in Florida.
Those memories remain fresh and grievous, resonating with us just as strongly as images from 9-11.
We don't take kindly having a Bush partisan tell us, "Get over it," as one said to me recently.
The columnist concludes his piece by imagining a Kerry victory this year, under similar circumstances to 2000, and writes about how appealing he'd find it to tell Republicans in that case to "get over it." Nothing like calling yourself an "insensitive lout" in print. But the confession, in this case, is redundant.
