From a very good friend, a Vet and PhD. "Today I Mourn."

Today I mourn.

For those who will die in war
For our soldiers in Iraq
For those who they will kill
For those in the country that is next

For the security of our nation
For the generation of terrorists we have created
For the hated of America which is becoming justified
For the attacks which will come

For the environment of this country and the world
For the National Parks that are becoming oil fields
For the forests that are being slashed and sold overseas
For the skies that our corporations will continue to pollute

For the health of our people
For those who will lose their heath care
For those who will lose their choice
For those who will lose their lives

For the rights of our people
For the destruction of our constitution
For the balance of the Supreme Court
For those indefinitely detained without charges

For our children
For the education that has been replaced by testing
For the massive deficit that they will inherit
For the wars they will fight and die for

For our social welfare
For the poor that will be exploited even more
For all of the programs the will be cut in the name of deficit reduction
For the seniors whose benefits are being stolen

For our economic well being
For what is taken from us and given to corporations
For what is stolen by corporations and given to government
For our vocations which are replaced by servitude

For the rest of the world
For those who will be invaded in the name of fear
For those whose plight will be ignored because they have no resources
For the isolation in which we place ourselves

For the 51 percent our fellow citizens
For those who believed the lies
For those who live in fear
For those who will suffer from their own choice

Today I mourn.

I'm sharing this with you all, with permission: It's long but hopefully it will help.......

Since a noticeable number of people who have talked to
me about feeling depressed since the Presidential
election. They feel that they worked hard and long,
but lost their purpose and cause with the
Kerry-Edwards defeat. Since these emotions may also
be yours plus more, here is an attached item that Cat
Bucher forwarded to me that can express mourning. You
may find it helpful in "downloading your compactor" as
Carol expresses her IT approach.

On the other hand, today I am tired and jubliant due
to the major campaigning my son, Greg, did in winning
his fourth re-election in Texas as a Democrat who will
continue as Justice of the Peace in Grayson County.
In three of these elections, Greg had to buck the
Texas coattails of Bush the 41st and twice the
polarized approach of Bush the 43rd. For a Democrat
to win in Texas is a major feat. Civil servants in
Sherman call Greg "Big G" and they don't mean George.

In addition, let me share my initial "quick-and-dirty"
analysis of the general election. Many voters,
pundits, and commentators interpret that moral, value
and religious issues made the difference with Bush
exploiting each one of these areas. I do not see it
that way having gained some understanding of the
vulnerabilities of the voting public that includes
manipulation of over-simplistic fundamentalism in this
country.

Instead, I see the Bush administration caught up in a
mythical cosmic drama in which they simplistically
polarize the public and world in the forces of
good-evil, light-darkness, we-them, enemy-friend.
Bush may well be caught up in the well-known Messianic
archetype of the Historical Hero who thinks he is
delivering his people from threat of an enemy that
Media readily amplifies. These heightened
polarizations of fear are echoed from the White House
with superficial reports unprocessed with in-depth or
critical thinking. They are in the selling business
for profit will only limited grasp of historical,
psycho-social developments, militant-extremist
religion, political-economic issues, and mass
propaganda approaches of mass print and broadcast
media. Consequently, the White House uses the tube
and print media to broadcast sound bites of their
superficial persona, mask or public face of the
candidates and parties.

From over 20 years of research and writing on the
social-psychodynamics of enemy-making and peace and
justice building, I perceive that we need to perceive
the unconscious opposite side of this simplistic
public relations and marketing persona of candidates.
Unconsciously the American public is caught up in not
penetrating into the opposite polarity of the dark,
sinister, evil, power-hungry "shadow" that is not
readily apparent to the public.

Other cultures and countries can see our blindspots
and are very worried how this unconscious collective
shadow of America will be further acted out in the
world. Personal communications from Indonesia,
Pakistan and India reflect what Europeans are also
seeing in the "darkside of America." They worry about
who will be the next "necessary enemy" now that
Kerry-Edwards have been defeated. Unfortunately, in
these unconscious dynamics of projection and
scagegoating victims, Bush will likely need additional
enemies with whom to polarize in order to use fear to
hold power. Divisive polarization plays on the media
in two-party politcal campaigns and in extremist
religion.

What will help people get over this anger, despair and
depression? I submit that part of the strategy is to
fathom these complex personal, national and global
dynamics. Democrats have been bullied by a "Winsomely
Smirking Bully." But as citizens with a backbone, let
us get beyond acting like complaining victims,
wimping-out like helpless bystanders, or providing
another whining, stunned audience for the Bullies.
Whoever of our founding forebearers promised that
democracy was a parlor game, a spectator sport, or a
contest for faint-of-heart.

As I have repeatedly advised my son who has been in
harrowing political campaigns for over 15 years, "we
have to learn how to lose with class and win
graciously." For those of you who had the privilege
of knowing his mother, recognize the she demonstrated
this counsel in her life and death.

If we are serious as citizens, we are in the middle of
a life-long battle for the "soul of the world." Let's
face it. We lost. We better learn to solve these
challenging problems more effectively rather than to
be remorseful, overwhelmed, or pre-occupied with our
own despair.

Time to bring this to a closure and move on to the
next challenge.

Binh (Peace in Vietnamese_

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