Political Musings

Thought I'd share this e-mail (in italics) I received this grim morning, which managed to make me grin, if only momentarily.

Dunno if the e-mail's author wants to be named, so I'll leave him/her anonymous. Make Ashcroft's cronies do their 'data mining.'

Shit. Are you making plans to move to Sweden yet? What the fuck is wrong with America? Unfortunately, it appears Repugs may have tipped the scales in their direction with well-placed anti-gay marriage referenda. Someone needs to write something about the Republican obsession with the asshole--why do you care so much how other people (i.e., gay men) are having sex. Bigots.

I must admit that I was paging through Jim's exquisite DK World Atlas last night, thinking of long, Swedish summer days and wondering if Ira and I might get on the tenure track in Sweden.

And why the hell didn't young voters turn out? P. Diddy?

I'd like to scapegoat Puffy, but, sadly, I think many American kidz are conservative and/or cynical.

I'm really impressed with Obama's margin of victory--and even more so with Kerry's in Illinois. I think Obama clearly had coattails--and he did well even in conservative areas. The Dems need to take a look at what he's doing. He shouldn't be such a superstar--black, legal aid lawyer, snooty professor--and he still can woo non-Democrats. Rather than lamely moving to the center, I hope they take heart from the performance of Obama and the near upset of Specter in PA by a fairly liberal Dem. I hope the Dems get angry and start holding Repugs accountable--they have the Presidency, House, Senate and Supreme Court--if things don't improve in America it's your goddamn fault. If things get morefucked up in Iraq, take fucking responsibility.

As much as I'd love to see the Democratic party move leftward, I fear that they'll continue to drift right in a misguided hope of winning back the South. But we'll see...

Please apologize to Ira for how shitty our country is. Did you hear bin Laden had a line in his latest tape that "If we hate freedom, why didn't we attack Sweden?" Heh. The only sensible thing he's ever said.

Ira is more positive than me. Having grown up in the USSR, she knows not to let authoritarianism break one's spirit. Of course, it's sad to think that the spectre of the Soviet Union has to be evoked in order to make the present-day US of A appear in a good light.

Take care. At least you live in a sane state--though it still worries me a little that ANYBODY voted for Keyes.

I agree, though I don't think Keyes is that much wackier than other politicos from the Christian Right. He just is more direct in declaring his beliefs

Oh, by the way, apparently the Pentagon HAD mulled over some possibilities for increasing the size of the military--including extending Selective Service to age 35. I'll vouch for your flaming homosexuality before the draft board.

Yeah, and if that doesn't work there's always the Iggy Pop strategy...