The 21st century know-nothing

A comment on Hullabaloo led me to this brilliant and prescient observation from an October 31, 2000 James Carroll column in the Boston Globe (via Dr. W. Curtiss Priest, Director, Center for Information, Technology & Society:

A vote for Bush is a vote against complexity; a vote against multilateral partnerships with other nations; a vote against the independent moral integrity of women; a vote against the idea of social structures evolving toward justice; a vote against the habits of mind that characterize literacy.

Whether the subject is the future of the economy or the plight of the impoverished or the real needs of schools or the threat of nuclear catastrophe, a vote for Bush is a vote against adult responsibility for things as they are.

George W. Bush's most winning characteristic is his anarchic boyishness. That says it all. A vote for Bush is a vote not for his immaturity, but for ours.

Experts keep saying the stakes are immeasurably higher than they seemed in 2000. Clearly the stakes were very high in the last election even though too few were aware how high. Too few were aware of what is required from a leader of this country. Too few considered the degree to which character and experience matter.

Here's hoping that the trend towards John Kerry that we are seeing in the current polls just keeps growing stronger and stronger between now and November 2.