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1/23/01---Can you spell V A C A N T ?

Yes, yes...I know he was "certified" as the winner...that he received the majority of Electoral College votes...that the Congress accepted those votes...and that yes, he was even sworn in as the 43rd president of the United States. I also know all this was done "nice and legal-like" and that I should accept that George W. Bush is the official president...but I can't. Why should I? There is enough doubt about the actual winner of the popular vote in Florida...about the whole electoral process in that state...about the actions and inactions of one official after another in that state...and last but not least, about the decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court...that the "legal" procedures mentioned above ring very, very, very hollow. I can even look past the fact that Gore won the national popular vote and still lost the electoral college vote (afterall, at the moment that's legally possible despite its iffy quality). No, this man is NOT the president...and since the previous president is no longer legally in office (NOT because of the swearing-in ceremony of Bush...but because the Constitution says he can't be after two consecutive terms already), for the first time in U.S. history the office of the president is vacant...v a c a n t...with no legitimate holder.

And...according to the latest national polls, 40% of Americans agree with me. Despite all the "legality"...despite all the pomp and circumstance of "transition"...despite the "acceptance" of his presidency by the other 60%...and...despite that he now literally occupies that office and has his hands on the levers of legal-rational authority that go with it (not to mention the codes for nuclear warfare), George W. Bush is an illegitimate officeholder. There is NO president...only a man pretending to be. I and millions of others do not recognize his pretense...nor his actual authority, not because of any question about his abilities, but because there never was an actual final decision in this election. Actually, nobody won...we've only defined the the current circumstances as "settled." We've defined the "truth" and are living within the consequences of that definition. After completely abandoning "form"...we've returned to it in aces...all form...and total represessed substance. What a country, huh?

So, we now have a VACANCY sign figuratively hanging in front of the White House. It's occupant is an imposter...and a dangerous one at that. At this point, at least to me, hope lies not in a party, especially NOT the Democratic Party. Al Gore may have been a "better" president than Bush, but Al Gore is no liberal or freethinker. He's no critic of capitalism and obviously or apparently (I should say) no critic of the hypocrisy of the corrupt american political system either. He knows how its played if one wants a future in it. No, our hope is in people who care enough (across differences between them) to say "no" to power...this time the kind one step closer to "raw power"...those who rule for power's sake...who are ultimately behind the "selection" of Bush.

Authority...all authority...any kind...is predicated on and intricately intwined with a willingness to obey, based on an assumption that its desirable to do so...even necessary for some. Well, I unlearned that desire and necessity some time ago...having learned that I can withhold my consent, and while those IN positions of authority still have force and coercion at their disposal, they have no authority over me...I'm NOT willing to obey. So, if Shrub himself walked in the door and gave me an order, I'd tell him...literally...to go fuck himself.

The people behind Dubya...I mean the ones a few levels deep...are probably/undoubtably celebrating their bloodless and almost painless (to them) coup...with a constant smirk on their faces. The rest of us...or I should say the semi-awake to fully awake among us...had better pay close attention to events in the next few years...a pattern will emerge which will take on a life of its own. Repression is ahead and I for one don't plan on sacrificing my own life at its altar...how about you?

David H. Kessel