November 3, 2004
The Red Zone
By MAUREEN DOWD
WASHINGTON
With the Democratic Party splattered at his feet in
little blue puddles,
John Kerry told the crushed crowd at Faneuil Hall in Boston
about his concession call to
President Bush.
"We had a good conversation," the senator said.
"And we talked about the danger of division in our
country and the need, the desperate need, for unity, for
finding the common ground, coming together. Today I hope
that we can begin the healing."
Democrat: Heal thyself.
W. doesn't see division as a danger. He sees it as a
wingman.
The president got re-elected by dividing the country
along fault lines of fear, intolerance, ignorance and
religious rule. He doesn't want to heal rifts; he wants to
bring any riffraff who disagree to heel.
W. ran a jihad in America so he can fight one in Iraq -
drawing a devoted flock of evangelicals, or "values
voters," as they call themselves, to the polls by
opposing abortion, suffocating stem cell research and
supporting a constitutional amendment against gay marriage.
Mr. Bush, whose administration drummed up fake evidence
to trick us into war with Iraq, sticking our troops in an
immoral position with no exit strategy, won on "moral
issues."
The president says he's "humbled" and wants to
reach out to the whole country. What humbug. The Bushes are
always gracious until they don't get their way. If W. didn't
reach out after the last election, which he barely grabbed,
why would he reach out now that he has what Dick Cheney
calls a "broad, nationwide victory"?
While Mr. Bush was making his little speech about
reaching out, Republicans said they had "the green
light" to pursue their conservative agenda, like
drilling in Alaska's wilderness and rewriting the tax code.
"He'll be a lot more aggressive in Iraq now,"
one Bush insider predicts. "He'll raze Falluja if he
has to. He feels that the election results endorsed his
version of the war." Never mind that the more
insurgents American troops kill, the more they create.
Just listen to Dick (Oh, lordy, is this cuckoo clock
still vice president?) Cheney, introducing the Man for his
victory speech: "This has been a consequential
presidency which has revitalized our economy and reasserted
a confident American role in the world." Well, it has
revitalized the Halliburton segment of the economy, anyhow.
And "confident" is not the first word that comes
to mind for the foreign policy of a country that has
alienated everyone except Fiji.
Vice continued, "Now we move forward to serve and to
guard the country we love." Only Dick Cheney can make
"to serve and to guard" sound like "to rape
and to pillage."
He's creating the sort of "democracy" he likes.
One party controls all power in the country. One network
serves as state TV. One nation dominates the world as a
hyperpower. One firm controls contracts in Iraq.
Just as Zell Miller was so over the top at the G.O.P.
convention that he made Mr. Cheney seem reasonable, so
several new members of Congress will make W. seem moderate.
Tom Coburn, the new senator from Oklahoma, has advocated
the death penalty for doctors who perform abortions and
warned that "the gay agenda" would undermine the
country. He also characterized his race as a choice between
"good and evil" and said he had heard there was
"rampant lesbianism" in Oklahoma schools.
Jim DeMint, the new senator from South Carolina, said
during his campaign that he supported a state G.O.P.
platform plank banning gays from teaching in public schools.
He explained, "I would have given the same answer when
asked if a single woman who was pregnant and living with her
boyfriend should be hired to teach my third-grade
children."
John Thune, who toppled Tom Daschle, is an anti-abortion
Christian conservative - or "servant leader," as
he was hailed in a campaign ad - who supports constitutional
amendments banning flag burning and gay marriage.
Seeing the exit polls, the Democrats immediately started
talking about values and religion. Their sudden passion for
wooing Southern white Christian soldiers may put a crimp in
Hillary's 2008 campaign (nothing but a wooden stake would
stop it). Meanwhile, the blue puddle is comforting itself
with the expectation that this loony bunch will fatally
overreach, just as Newt Gingrich did in the 90's.
But with this crowd, it's hard to imagine what would
constitute overreaching.
Invading France?
E-mail: liberties@nytimes.com
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