these make me happy

Ok, I don't necessarily agree with this picture, but I love it. People are furious about this! I love the sentiment, so nasty. But as an afterthought. Like a neat little capper. I love it.

And I love this. This is the scenery on my commute. That's White Horse Mountain, with Baker peeking up in the back. I almost crash twice a day staring at this gut-wrenching wonder. What really gets me is the barren but awesome sharp, bare peaks. Most of the year these are capped with white, like Baker, but in the summer they are so naked, so jagged, so strong and silent looking. I am overwhelmed by the stretch of time, by the vastness of the world, by the fragility and iron strength. By the sheer wonder of it all. And so I try my very best to not careen through some poor county farmer's cattle pasture as I gape. You'd think, with the sunrise coming later now, it would be too dark to enjoy, thus cutting in half my hazardous driving record. But I saw the sun rise behind the mountain yesterday, with an unholy orange and gold that was so beautiful I nearly gave up the ghost. The pictures I tried to get sucked rocks though, so I'll have to be content with these shots from the afternoon. Good god amighty, do I live in the most beautiful place in the world, or what?

Road to Joy by Bright Eyes. Raucous, cacophonous, loud! I love to crank this up in the car and scream along with it as I drive. Ok, I'm starting to sound like a really bad driver, but I'm not! Turn this up and bask! Ode to Joy's rise and fall and pound is some of my favorite music, throw in some emo punk and screaming...what could be better?



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amb-richard-c-holbrooke/calm-methodical-obama-vs_b_130343.html This article says exactly what I am trying to say, only more articulately. I'm so hopeful this time! I am overjoyed at the thought of having a government that actually tries to do good. I am overjoyed at the thought that I believe they will try. I really believe it!

I also love that I will have to make this an ongoing theme. Such an embarrassment of riches!

wowza

Fareed Zakaria not pulling any punches! And the worst part is, though I know from seeing him on Jon Stewart regularly that he probably has a left-ist slant, he isn't speaking from a crazy liberal point of view. He's just saying... we can't be screwing around right now, this chick cannot do this job. I love his point, and it's the one I've been trying to make when I talk to people, that it isn't just that she doesn't have the right answers, she doesn't understand the questions. We see it all the time in elementary school! A kid will babble nonsense trying to hit some key phrases or buzz words she remembers, but she has no idea what is being asked of her. If she's in science class, she uses science babble, in math, math babble. Scary. And even scarier? See if you can figure out if this is the real interview, or a spoof. Hint: Much of the dialogue is unchanged from the original.

A point to ponder

I'm gonna have to go with the second one. I recently read "Just How Stupid Are We?" about the American voter, and apparently the answer is "Very." Note the capital v. Like really really really stupid. Partly uninformed, partly under-educated, a little bit lied to, but mostly just really really really stupid. Welcome to the world, my little daughter. Best of luck to you.

So I read this article in The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/opinion/28rich.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

I'm noticing that journalists are getting less and less gentle about calling McCain an ass. It used to be very cloaked, and try to preserve fairness, and be respectful, but more and more articles are calling him crazy, inept, and preposterous. This one sounds so professional and yet so angry. I admire the tone the author was able to strike. I just go on a rant, this guy was able to make calm reasonable points while saying McCain has sold out his country. Awesome. Look at this one too http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erica-jong/not-that-stupid-erica-jon_b_126184.html
People are angry, and expressing it. I love it. Now all we have to do is sit back and watch the campaign eat itself from the inside. It was so sad watching him at the end of the convention. I don't mean that snarkily at all, it really made me sad. "Stand up and fight with me! Stand up and fight with me!" It was like a tired old man talking about what he used to be known for. Like an honorary diploma or something hollow like that. If he had been making that call 18 months ago, it would have meant something, but now he's become the caricature of everything he was calling to fight against. It felt like the one glimpse of his real self that night, only it was so false in its empty promise. It honestly makes me sad to think of it.
Then there's the other guy. I swear, when he's talking, I just want him to keep going. I feel like he knows what he's doing, like he has a plan. Like he will listen to other people and hear what they say and take it into consideration. Like he knows he is in a really tough spot and is trying to figure the way out. I was listening to the radio today and they were talking about the economy. A senator who is working on the bailout was being interviewed and they asked how the next president was going to be affected by it all. He answered for a little bit and was in the middle of a sentence, "Well, they aren't going to invade their way out of it....well. I don't want to say that. If the same team is in power next year, who knows what they will do." He didn't sound at all like he was being sarcastic. Like he seriously thinks these guys might try to war their way out of it! Jesus fucking christ on a bicycle.

Are you watching this?

I think I know what I need! I'm watching the debate, and McCain is saying the same thing (I wasn't elected Miss Congeniality ((does he know how weird it sounds for an old man to keep saying that?)) and Warshington is corrupt pork barrel pork barrel pork barrel) in reply to every thing asked of him and I am not trying to hurt myself yet. Why? Obama is right there, refuting every time he lies (John, that just isn't true), keeping calm, talking through all the points. So apparently I just need Obama to walk around with me and keep speaking calmly to me. How much do you suppose that costs?
I love that he's listing the stuff McCain has been wrong about in Iraq! He's giving his plans the same way every time...First...Second...he has itemized key points for everything. McCain is just using all this hyperbole and empty jingoism. Obama keeps telling McCain he's said stuff wrong, or lied or whatnot, McCain isn't saying that to Obama at all. Does he not know it, or is Obama only making legitimate points. You decide.
Hey, I heard something funny. Apparently, in the midst of the mock debates for Palin to practice, they just stopped. It was so disastrous, that they just stopped to try and think of something else. Ouch.
Why isn't this a landslide to the left? Every time McCain is asked a direct question, he refers to some obscure ancient event back when he was a maverick and stood up to Warshington. But he NEVER answers a question! I'm watching these guys and McCain is stumbling over lines, just proving he's opening cans for his replies. Obama sounds informed, prepared, intelligent. McCain sounds like a sad old grandpa talking to the whippersnappers about his glory days. I'd be perfectly happy to listen to his stories, but not in response to a direct question!
Uh oh, he's getting steamed! I'm hoping he swings at Obama or calls him uppity...FIGHT FIGHT! heh heh. Dang, Lehrer just reined him in.
Second Holocaust? Where did that come from? Yikes, he's working up to invading Iran.
Ok, I don't get this one. Maybe it's my elementary school training. Why is it such a big deal that Obama said he'll talk to foreign leaders? Isn't diplomacy the best bet for anything? OH! Obama just pointed out that McCain's own advisors agree with Obama! I was hoping that would come up! Hee hee, that's gotta hurt.
I'm trying to stay mature about this, but I am totally hating how McCain keeps making that smirky "whatever" face. That seems so childish.
Hoo Hoo! He just hit the Spain guy!
Oh yikes, McCain is even starting to make Bush facial expressions. That's creepy!
CNN has an audience approval thingy going as a crawl, with a blue line for dem approval, and red for republican. Interestingly, while rarely, it is ONLY purple when Obama talks. McCain, the Uniter, not the Divider, is not getting both but Obama is. hmmmm.
Great fuck! He will not talk about anything that didn't happen decades ago! AArrgh
Nope, calm calm. Obama is trying to talk to him, but he just talks right over it. I hate that.
Obama is the coolest. Literally. He won't get ruffled. I really admire that. I know, I like to swing into full blown anything mode at the drop of a hat, but that's just for fun. As a leader, Obama has exactly what it takes. I bet he lets loose in fun though. Basketball, with friends, that kind of stuff. I can totally see him just busting up laughing at something. hyuk hyuk
Oh wowza, he almost did it, but no...the POW card is out. Last comment of the night. Nice.
Oh, I love how the Obamas will touch each other in public. He obviously values her as an equal. That would be a great thing to see in the White House. He greeted her with "Hey. How'd we do?" Sweet.
Ok, let the spin begin!

wtf

You did WHAT to my future?

I will admit to being completely baffled by the closeness of this race. I cannot, or will not, put it all down to racism, we cannot possibly have almost half of our country still racist, can we? So in an effort to understand, I have been listening to conservative talk radio. Now, readers at home, I must stress that I DO NOT recommend this plan to any one. ANY one. I am only just recovered from the severe eye explosion on the way to work this morning, aggravated by my screaming and driving my car into a meridian on the way home. If McCain can still ride POW status, I want some kind of credit for the torture I have endured the last few days.

You know what's the best part? Not that they are blaming Obama for the economy crisis. Not that they are applauding McCain for his nobility in suspending his campaign to rush back to DC, where he has not cast a vote since April, cancelling a gig on Letterman to "put country first," but actually spending the exact same time interviewing with Katie Couric...don't believe me? Letterman actually played the live feed on his show while taping, not to mention that incumbent presidents debate opponents while leading the freakin free world, learn to walk and chew gum you idiot!.... I've lost the thread....Oh yeah! Not that the host was actually arguing FOR the golden parachutes. Making his case that if you don't pay top dollar for CEOs, you won't attract the quality talent. "We don't criticize movie stars, or sports stars for making this kind of cash. Why would we criticize highly successful business talent?" Ummm...because they drove their companies into the ground and are asking me, and my daughter, and her daughter, to take the shaft and pay for their mistakes and if that represents the High Quality leadership you are trying to attract, you should probably try and see what you can get for minimum wage. Great leaping goats! There's a blog I love that keeps calling these people "fucktards." And while I cannot utilize it because of the "tards" suffix, it just makes me giggle like a 10 year old every time he says it. Where was I? Oh yeah! No, the best part is the ads. I am not making this up, they are carrying ads about how to get hold of prophets ~ no, I didn't say profits, I said PROPHETS, there's a pamphlet you can send away for to get information about what "you can do" to stop the spread of homosexuality in your community, every other ad is some chick talking about "my family" and "my values." It is as mind-numbingly horrifying as the phrase "President Palin."

So after all these days of masochism, and thank god I didn't go so far as to try and sit through Hannity or, don't even think it, O'Reilly...I would not be here to speak to you today, I have concluded that while I still do not by any stretch understand these people, I get it. I see why they think what they think. They have been told to, and do not have the.....you fill in the blank as you see fit.......to do otherwise. You get the government you deserve. Here's hoping the other half of us don't have to sit through your shit again.

This is my point

Trueby was telling me about the firedrill they had Friday, and how much she hates them because they are so loud.

Me: Fire alarms are to help you, cutie. They help you be safe. They have to be loud so everyone hears them. What if someone didn't hear it and got on fire?

Her: Well, that would be ok. I would just "Stop, Drop and Roll."

Me: Yeah, but I think it's best to not catch on fire at all.

Her: God would be sad if I was on fire. He's real, he died on the cross.

Me: Oh, christ.

Can't get the election out of my head

My brain is on this non-stop. Get this dream I just had. A friend's mom went into labor and the friend was too wound to drive her to the hospital, so I took them. I'm driving this impossibly huge land yacht with a steering wheel like a ring of Saturn and when I look back, all I see are fins a million miles back. Of course we're lost, but when we stop to assess where we are, in some back alley I have barely squeaked this monstrosity into, a door opens behind us, like the back door to a bar, only it's the hospital back door. Elated, we rush inside and I'm in the waiting room. This lady, very vaguely reminiscent of Shirley Maclaine in Steel Magnolias, is sitting across from me in the chairs like at airport gates, sucking something through straw from a balloon that has a pro-Hillary message on it. The slogan was devastatingly clever, I remarked on it in my dream and was detachedly very impressed with my subconcious for thinking of it but have completely lost it. She agreed with me that it was clever, like Hillary, and began tearing into That Bastard who stole the nomination from her. I was facinated to be able to actually have a conversation with a real live PUMA and asked questions like, "I know! How do you think he got away with it?" and the like. The only answer I remember her giving was one where he was going for the patriots by choosing a GOP war widow for his wife, and somehow using his wheel chair only for sympathy and effect. Don't blame me, it was a dream. At any rate, the lady raved on for a while and finally I asked, "So, is it McCain for you then?" Damned if I didn't wake up just then and I was all, "Noooo! I have to know if the madwoman was going for McCain!" Yeah, it isn't easy being me. But here's the thing. To all this together. My girl is being shaped by forces outside of my control. Is it possible I will, thirteen years from now, be staring slack-jawed at her as she defends a political position completely alien to me? I'm not saying I expect a carbon copy, or that we agree on everything, or that she follow my beliefs in lock step. Not at all, and I'd be disappointed if she did. Maybe not at first, but eventually! But is it possible I might raise a kid who, if she were an adult right now, would vote for this ticket?



Let's take stock. The past eight years have devastated the country. The ticket's policies promise a continuation of past thinking and policy. Ed Koch, a staunch republican and supporter of Bush, has endorsed Obama. The international community overwhelmingly supports Obama. Alan Greenspan, former head of the Federal Reserve, under Bush, has said McCain's economic policy will be disastrous for the country. McCain has become a clone of everything he is saying he "mavericked" against. His running mate is, at best, dangerously underqualifed, at worst, a religious zealot with no idea what she's talking about but a steadfast plan for it nonetheless. The campaign has been increasingly called out for outright lies in their campaign. Karl Rove said they have gone too far. KARL FUCKING ROVE! And yet his numbers climb. Allow me to posit a theory. We are standing around being shocked that no one is taking all this damning evidence at face value, but who are we talking about, here? We're talking about people who don't believe in evolution. That believe the dinosaur bones were put there by the devil to trick good christians. That believe global warming is a myth. That believe you can pray away the gay. That believe you should want to. We are talking about a group of people who routinely close their eyes and minds to fact and cling all the more tightly to their "faith" when it comes under question, glorying in this chance to prove they do not question. In a culture that only exists if its members do not question, how can we be surprised they are swallowing all they are told without blinking?