Almost There

Today it started to hit me. Our 8 year long national nightmare may finally be coming to an end. It's starting to look like Obama may actually win. And win big. I was almost overwhelmed when I realized this.

Maybe I'm not insane. Maybe the rest of the country is no longer insane and has finally begun to realize that electing Bush twice in a row was a bad idea. Maybe the bill of goods the Republicans have been selling is finally being seen for what it is by a majority of sane Americans. Maybe, just maybe the right thing will happen for once...

Fear is a powerful thing. The use of fear for political gain has been used shamelessly by leaders throughout history. The Republicans have gotten away with it for almost 8 years now. 9/11 and the fear of it happening again gave the Republicans control of government and to a large extent the media. Because of fear the general public decided that it was ok to lose privacy (wire taps), lose face in the world (Iraq, torture), lose a stable financial system (current financial crisis), lose lose lose. So it re-elected a man in way over his head surrounded by fear mongering neocons. Idiots!

And now we might win. And by we, I mean everyone in this country. Even the evangelical Christianists that are so afraid of letting women have contol over their own bodies. Afraid of not being able to pray in school. Afraid of gays getting married. Afraid of scary big government. Afraid of people thinking for themselves. Afraid of terrorists turning our country into a militantly controlled Islamic colony. (See, there's that fear again. More on this thought line soon.) They win because their ideas and beliefs are in no way threatened by an Obama administration. Only their ability to push those beliefs on the rest of the populace through political means will be lost. And good riddance to that.

If you have seen Obama speak, have seen him calmly and confidently debate, have seen how he carries himself with that thoughtful patient visage then you must know personally the sense of hope that has infected vast swathes of this counrty. He's the real deal. Just you wait...

No, just you go out there and help in any way you can to get him elected. We have to make sure it happens. The consequences of another Republican administration, especially with the angry unstable McCain and the horrifyingly unprepared Palin, would be unthinkably disastrous. But I won't get into that here because this post is supposed to be about hope and the good that may be on the horizon...

12 days to go! Can't rest now. Of course, the real work will begin after the election. The work of digging our way out of this huge mess.

Just one other thing before I call it a day...

George Bush is the Worst President of All Time!

Gossip In The Grain

The new Ray LaMontagne album is out. It's absolutley stunning. The songwriting. The production. The sound. Everything is just stellar.

I'm still in the honeymoon phase with the album, but I truly expect my relationship with it to become deep, fulfilling, and immensely rewarding as I get to know it better. The same thing happened to me with his first two albums - the second more than the first.

All three albums are seriously contending for solid spots on my top 20 list. Til the Sun Turns Black is currently in the top 5...

Prop 8 Proponents Proudly Proclaim Preservation of Patriarchal Pro-Family Position

My local newspaper has an opinion section that routinely demonstrates the redness of my small town suburban California surroundings. Today was no exception.

There were 3 - count em 3!!! - letters to the editor expressing support for Prop 8. And one letter complaining about their "Yes on 8" signs being stolen.

Letters against 8, you guesset it - ZERO!

Every letter had many justifications as to why Marriage should be protected in California. The fellatious idea that now gay marriage will be taught in school, the idea that the gays already have the same rights as everyone else, that "our religious views are threatened", etc..

Lets get this straight(heh) - Prop 8 is DISCRIMINATION pure and simple. It will disallow rights to a select group of citizens that don't meet the approval of a segment of society that is religiously bigoted in their views and afraid of what they don't understand. It will make the law of the land that some are not as good as others. This goes against the very core of the American ideal that all men (and women) were created equal. There is simply no justification for this Proposition.

Please help defeat this disgusting affront to fairness and equality. Donate here.