The 20th of January was an interesting day, a day that for most Americans normally marks the peaceful transfer of power. It is a day that is supposed to signify a contrast to many other nations of the world that our government exists and changes without the need for violence. So while Venture Capitalists sat at home and wondered how long it would take George W to wipe out capital gains, and the religious right bet on how long till their organizations gained federal funding, I stayed in my home and protested the whole debacle. I sat in my room and listened to Rage Against the Machine, suddenly acutely aware of this band’s message, saddened by what I now saw in this country that I love so much. For two months I bitched and moaned about an election that I felt was so shameful and a disgrace. To have it culminate in people being beaten in the streets of Washington DC in a so-called peaceful transfer of power became a point of great sorrow and anguish for me.

I have come to love this country and its institutions a great deal in my brief 20-plus years. I have always held liberal ideas; it comes from my parents and how I have been raised. It comes from the traditions of a family that has had to struggle, though in my life I have not. My liberal politics and my sense of faith in the system often clashed but I was able to somehow find the silver lining. My faith survived Cellucci winning the gubernatorial election in 98, and survived the budget cuts at this University. It even survived the efforts of those more liberal than I, who have said that our system could never work for us. Now in my 21st year of existence, my faith in people and my country have been terribly stricken, and I will tell you why.

Eight years ago the nation elected William Jefferson Clinton as President of the United States. I would love to be able to tell you that I understood all that this meant back then when I was in the 7th grade, but I didn’t. All I really knew was what my parents had been telling me, that Democrats were better than Republicans, or at least that was my simplification. So I had no idea what the hell was going on other than that Clinton was a Democrat and that was good. My life’s education was just beginning, and at a good time, too, for the next eight years were going to be splendid indeed.

So from the beginning we knew that Clinton was a playboy. Even though at the time I was naive enough to believe that when Clinton said he wasn’t a playboy he was telling the truth, everyone else knew. Then comes Monica Lewinsky, an intern, and may the jokes and prods abound at Clinton’s folly. Ok, so who really cares? The Presidency is the most stressful job in the nation, is it not? If he needs stress relief who are we to say otherwise. Well, apparently it was a big deal to certain members of the Republican caucus because we impeached the poor bastard. I can only feel bad for Willy, he really didn’t deserve all that mess, and not to mention it distracted the country for God knows how long. So, jokes about the presidential member aside we move on to the last two years of our 8 years of relative bliss. The economy is doing great, and life is grand for the most part.

Enter the election of 2000, Clinton the Great has led us into the 21st Century and now its time for him to bid us goodbye. This is where my disenfranchisement begins. I realized that Al Gore was no Bill Clinton. I also realized that barring a surprise from John McCain, he was going to have to defeat George W. Bush, because otherwise the country was going to go to hell. I respect Willy for many reasons, and one of them is his charisma. You know that if it were Clinton verses Bush, he would have had the whole situation licked. Instead we liberals, or more correctly Democrats, had to contend with Al. No offense to his politics, which I agree with, he just doesn’t have it in him, he doesn’t have the same draw. Regardless, we persevered and we lost. And I ask, why can’t we have Clinton back? He didn’t do anything bad. As a matter of fact, that could be why the economy did so well, Clinton didn’t stick his hands in to muck the whole thing up, they were busy elsewhere.

So Al Gore lost the election under dubious circumstances. People complained about the whole recount issue, many in the street screaming that they just wanted the whole thing to end. What was the matter, not enough murder coverage on the evening news? Were we missing the real issues while all this was going on? Well, look at what we concentrated on for eight years. Can anyone really complain about Clinton? Maybe you disagree with his politics, but if the only thing you can readily point at is who was under his desk, you are missing the point, and you elected Bush to the Presidency. People have complained that Clinton simply made the job look easy and as such we elected a cokehead moron as President. Well when you do the job well it looks easy.

This is where my heartfelt sorrow starts and my faith in the system ends. So what is the point? I am getting to it. Dead people voted for Bush in Florida, how many did is unclear, but we know it happened. No matter how you look at it, the policies of law enforcement agencies caused black voters to lose their chance to cast a ballot. It is not and never was about dimpled chads that could be pregnant. It was and still is about this country’s President and that peaceful transfer of power. We ignored this, when we as a nation, regardless of our race, creed, or politics did not demand the utmost assurances that the election was done properly. Instead as a nation we approached conflict by telling reporters in the street that we wanted the whole thing to end. The Supreme Court resolved the issue in the interests of the nation, ‘there isn’t enough time…’ to count all the ballots. Their decision reflects our own attitudes. And while I’m at it, where are all you Nader folks now??? Took your non-victory and ran with it just like Ralph did. I almost had respect for the man. Your attitude was perhaps worst of all, not because you voted for whom you believed in, and I respect that greatly, but because when the results came out that Bush had won, that was the last we heard from you. We all have to deal with Bush now, and as for a lesser of two evils, I believe from a liberal standpoint we got the greatest evil of the two.

So maybe there are some simple solutions, maybe we need to make sure that George W is distracted like Willy was. That would entail using Bush’s weakness just like Clinton had his. Wait a minute; Bush’s weakness was drugs and alcohol, which could be dangerous considering he has his hands on the button.

So there I sat on January 20th, watching the evening news as the DC police beat those protesting, and I was imagining who could be watching. Yeah, those who stand to benefit from a reduction in capital gains, and those who honestly believe that their church group should be federally funded. Then there are the poor and the underprivileged, the disenfranchised. Then there I am, sitting in my chair angry watching these people exercise their rights to protest and being beaten down in the street as if this were a dictatorship. It makes me wonder if my faith in the system has made me soft. Should I be more radical, revolutionary even? If I feel in my heart that what I believe is right, shouldn’t I fight harder for it? Shouldn’t I be out there in the street everyday making a difference? Well, instead I am here educating myself and maybe someday the collective knowledge that makes up who I am will make a big difference. For now I can only sit here and wait out the next four years hoping that the country doesn’t go to hell in a hand basket, and remembering the words of Rage Against the Machine ‘How long? Not long, ’cause what you reap is what you sow.’

Patrick J. Colvario is a UMass student.