Blood

It's fitting that as the campaign syndicate Bush sits astride closes out this remarkable election season with their filthy robocalls and long-planned vote suppression tactics, the man who "during his six years as governor of Texas presided over 152 executions, more than any other governor in the recent history of the United States" and enjoyed mocking the fears of Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman ever to be executed in Texas, is climaxing what may be the last hurrah of his political career with the politically timed death sentence of another one of the world's most bloodthirsty men.

Six years is a good long time to bring the man who humiliated your father to justice, and maybe all your 152 (152!) executions, thousands of dead American soldiers, tens of thousand wounded, and hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis with no end in sight for either our corpses or theirs, maybe they were all just the warm-up act, preparation, building blocks of sating your bloodlust.

The slogan, NO MORE BLOOD FOR OIL, was effectively parodied in The Onion just before the War with the op-ed "Exactly How Much Oil Are We Talking About?"

Nobody wants to see brave young Americans sent off to die. Nobody wants to see blood spilled for oil. But if it comes to that, wouldn't we all feel better knowing that their blood was spilled for a great deal of oil? I know I sure would.

Blood is what it's all about for this guy and this is the least midtermish Midterm election since 1974. Bush is the new Nixon, just as torture is the new black. Nixon born rich. What could be worse.

Let Saddam swing, I say. Will it be on network or maybe pay cable? Bringing back hangings in the public square where the kids can see them, too, that could be your one notable accomplishment. Making the other guy swing on the meathook first.

The Bush Criministration has been all about horror, from the very first capitalizing on 9/11, like thieves. The footage of Saddam's verdict is like Salo starring Ben Kingley, thick with the fetishization of death. How deeply sick is the Sociopath-in-Chief? His Shadow President, defiantly hunting on Election Day? His campaign wizard?

The fact is that they and every one of their Republican cronies and enablers, everyone up and down the syndicate from Foley to McCain, is guilty of doing nothing notable these past two year to improve the lives of average Americans. Nothing but get them slaughtered and in debt to foreign nations. Depending how things go tomorrow, the Saddam verdict could feel like the closing notes of the Bush Administration drama, the epic Oedipal journey that torched so many of our hopes and dreams for our nation.

I'm no whiz with predictions and I don't trust our electoral system under Republican rule, but I do know what I hope for our country.

On Wednesday morning, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to learn that the Democratic Party had run the table, Senate +7 and House +45. But that's a lot to ask. So no matter what happens, win, lose or draw on the election results, the fight doesn't end when the polls close.

A whole new epic battle is opening for our United States, eyes wide open. If all goes well, Election Day 2006 will be a new beginning, but no matter what, Wednesday we'd better wake up fighting.

Okay, now. Into the chute.