November 20, 2004: Election Musings, Chinese Style
I have been back from China for about a week and a half now, and have been torn about what to Rant about – the somewhat disappointing, but not terribly surprising election results, or some of the sights and sounds of what I saw while in China. So, in honor of the Christian Right that now seems to have a say in many of the decisions that run our federal government, I decided to take a cue from the Old Testament (sorry, no New Testament here) and split the baby: I am going to do a little bit of both.
First, the Election, Not to Say I Told You So . . .
For those of you who read my last rant, I almost predicted what many of the pundits are now saying: the backlash against what many viewed as the over-reaching claw of political correctness resulted in a flee back to the comfort of simpler times of safe issues and absolute morality and the re-election of George W. Bush. Man, I just wish I had gotten it wrong. But I even saw in coming early this year. Indeed, back in February of this year, after the idiot Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newson, decided to make the image of two males kissing on a wedding cake the midnight meltdown of Middle America and fundamentalist Christians (and many other folks I may add), I commented to a friend that it was a huge mistake, predicting the much of what happened on November 2nd:
“I just had that discussion about the timing of what the Mayor did - the Christian base/far right was not too happy with Bush, and there were grumblings that some might stay home. Now, they are polarized and have an issue that they will come out in droves to fight against. I do not understand why someone did not go through the court system to challenge the state law rather than just do what he did - it validates the fear of all of those far right wackos, and scares them into action. I do not like it when the far right ignores the Constitution and tries to throw their religious beliefs in my face, and I do not like it when a political hack ignores a specific state law just because he does not like it. If he thought it was unconstitutional, then his City Attorney should have filed an action in court to have the statute declared as such. Again, I really do not care what folks do behind closed doors, and not opposed in principle to gay marriage. I just think that this was ill-timed and could back fire big time and end up costing the gay community much more than it will gain.”
Not only was I unfortunately right, but I think Gavin Newson’s ill-timed decision probably cost the Democrats a couple of Senate seats as well. This, plus the fact that the Kerry team ran a horrible campaign (and perhaps a few voting shenanigans), and, viola, you have Bush and his parade of loyalists for four more years. I have one question for Gavin Newson: couldn’t you wait one more year, or at least until after the election? Nah, only the Republican Party actually thinks before it leaps. Democrats, they just do, damn the consequences. Oh wait the FCC may be watching, that was darn the consequences.
As for the actual act of voting, well, I firmly believe it is a violation of the constitution’s equal protection clause not to have uniform treatment of ballots and votes in federal elections. The hell with states rights; there is a compelling federal interest in making sure each vote in each state is given equal treatment. When we are voting for a President, there needs to be nationalized voting standards and voting machines. No exceptions. I also believe that there is a legitimate argument that the Republican Party suppressed or stole votes in Ohio, Florida, and some other states, not that any of it really matters now, since Kerry so quickly conceded, and since Bush won so much more of the popular vote.
In Ohio, there are reports of long lines, and folks waiting to vote in excess of five hours in urban and minority areas. These are the same areas that reported a surge in voter registration, some with increases by more than 50%; for some reason the number of actual voting machines made available to voters in these areas substantially decreased for this last election. http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=9838&fcategory_desc=E-Voting%20Machines%20/%20Vote%20Integrity. Add to this the reports of disproportionately high levels of ballot spoilage, or uncounted provisional ballots from these same areas. http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=395&row=1, and you start to question what really went on. Granted, the voices yelling the loudest are the farthest on the left, but there is something there when you look at the facts. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1118-11.htm
Moreover, there are serious, fundamental problems with electronic voting. As my sister Kim will repeat over and over again, in a loud and booming voice (see www.calvoter.org for more information) electronic voting may not be reliable, is subject to possible manipulation, and should only be used if there is a verifiable paper trail that can be used to audit the results. There are concerns, legitimate concerns, that there was some fraud in the Presidential election. For example, 29 precincts in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, reported votes cast in excess of the number of registered voters - at least 93,136 extra votes total. http://www.yuricareport.com/ElectionAftermath04/ThreeResearchStudiesBushIsOut.htm. In Florida, similar anomalies occurred, many of them resulting in apparent over-votes trending strongly in favor of President Bush. http://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/Story.asp?ID=4688. If voting is really a right we all cherish, then it must be protected, along with the integrity of not only our votes, but the voting process itself. Two sites that have lots of information on the risks of electronic voting are www.calvoter.org and http://www.blackboxvoting.org. I suggest you visit both of them, and perhaps dig a bit into your pockets and support those that are trying to make sure that not only the foxes are guarding the henhouses. And, if you would like to contact you local representative, and voice your concern about electronic voting, here is a link to an on-line petition: http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?ItemId=18055
Now, As For China – They Just Might Kick Our . . .
I will probably write more about China later, but suffice it to say, that unless the country implodes on itself politically, economically or medically, it will be the next great super-power. Communism is all but dead and buried in China. State control and authoritarian government, well, that is still alive and well, but the entrepreneurial spirit runs through the cities of China like two women going for the same pair of shoes at a Nordstrom’s annual sale. That sense of capitalism, along with the abundance of smog, spitting and honking are the strongest sensory images (other than the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the Yangtze River . . .) I have of China.
Everywhere you go, people are trying to sell you something. The aggressiveness of the sales process was almost frightening at times. People would grab at you, pull at you, do anything they could to get you to look at the goods they were selling. And everywhere you look, there were knock-offs of expensive products. Even at the Three Gorges Damn, one of the largest public works projects ever attempted in the world, China bought the first of the engines it needed to generate hydroelectric power, and then will build the next ones, knock-offs, themselves. I am still not sure of the quality of the goods they make, but man, they are being made in quantity.
Everywhere you look in China’s major cities (at least the major one’s I visited) there seems to be an astonishing mix of investment, development growth and destruction. The cities seemed to be filled with dirt, construction, smog, and street vendors all at the same time, all vying for a place in today’s China. I suspect that there will be a spike in cancer and other diseases that will affect generations to come from all of this rapid development, and I am not sure how Beijing will handle the Olympics, because the air is not the easiest to breathe. It is something when you come back and are happy to be breathing the air in Los Angeles. But you have to say, they are always looking forward, moving, taking nothing for granted.
The roads in the city cannot support the private cars being bought, so there is gridlock, but everyone still wants a car. So, more gridlock is created. The infrastructure has not yet been built to support the industry they are developing, but, unlike Los Angeles, they are actually doing something about it. I guess one good thing about not being a democracy is that you can actually build new freeways and roads without having to cave in to one cranky man who does not want to sell his house. I wish we could do the same for the 101 and the 405 Freeway. Maybe Arnold could take a cue from the Chinese some way or another . . .
There are many well educated people in China doing jobs that do not require the education they have. Our tour guide already had her BA, and was waiting to start her Master’s Degree. There are just not enough jobs there to support all of the brains that they have developed. Thus, many people are paid to stand around and do a lot of nothing. Especially in government run stores. You walk in, and you are followed around as if you were a ready to shoplift something out of a local grocery store. It is unnerving. There is great economic inefficiency tolerated in order for many to have jobs, farms, and the like. Small parcels continue to be farmed so that many can have farms, because there are not the jobs to support all of the farmers that would be put out of work with more efficient farming practices. All I know is that if China’s economy can continue to expand, and become more efficient, man, we are in trouble. They seem to work harder, and want to work harder, they want success more, study more, and will wait for success until it finally comes to them, after they work hard.
There is vast economic disparity between the rich and the poor, those who live in the cities and the county side. There are also continuing ethnic clashes within China among her 56 different ethnicities (funny how you never hear about that when you are in China, but once out, you read about it in the paper . . .). It is also odd that obesity is on the rise in China’s youth – much to America’s credit. Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Starbucks, and other fast food chains have made inroads into the Chinese diet, with the expected results: fat kids just like we have here. I sure wish we could export something a little more worthwhile. Man, they sell us everything, and we send them a McRib.
China, if it can keep it act together, is going to be the next great superpower. And, maybe that is exactly what America needs to happen to for it to realize that it needs to get its own house in order before it starts reshaping the world in its image. Regardless of what people might think, just because we happen to be Americans does not mean that we are entitled to the benefits and privileges that so many of us currently take for granted. Maybe seeing a rising power in the rear view mirror will give us all reason to pause, reflect, and recognize that unless we recommit ourselves to the education and care of our children, instill personal responsibility in our people and our politicians, learn to spend within our means, and make the hard choices necessary to improve our own internal infrastructure so that we too can compete in the 21st Century, then very soon we will be the ones left behind.