Whispers in the Windstorm

( But I just can't work up the energy. )

( ...just not today. )

( Look Away If Need Be )

(More journal entries coming - and they'll be backdated appropriately.)

This morning's been pretty icky. I woke up pretty darn tired, but at least it was still 7:30. So I showered and dressed, got a bag so I could easily unload the car this evening in prep for its trip to the shop tomorrow evening, and drove here. I had been seeing a few signs up on Dundee saying that there was going to be construction there, but it kind of looked like it was going to be a brief thing on a weekend, lasting maybe a day. But the sign went up today that read, "Road will be closed for 9 days." That's gonna suck. I'm already tired, and now they're telling me I have to take Route 22 to work? (And for those who know the area and suggest Lake-Cook - get real. Where do you think all the Dundee traffic is going? And, of course, listening to all the rather annoying commentary on the election. As someone who supports Kerry and positively loathes Bush - it's over. Even if Kerry somehow miraculously carries Ohio - AND we throw Nader's votes at him for good measure - Bush's margin in the popular vote is way over three million. Kerry's deficit in Ohio is 136,221, and Nader got 390,536. That means that if you assume Kerry takes all the votes in Ohio needed to win plus Nader's - Bush still wins by just under three million. And didn't the Democrats say four years ago that the popular vote was where it's at, and what we should be listening to? Won't they be hypocrites if they fight to take Ohio and win, still down in the popular vote by about a 2% margin.

It's over, folks - even if Kerry pulls it out. Kerry has successfully demonstrated, as have so many others, that a political campaign based near-entirely on anger and criticism, no matter how well-justified, is doomed to failure - and, perhaps, rightfully so.

Eat Snacky Smores - and lots of 'em.

This was originally posted by me to a private mailing list I'm a part of. But it is as eloquent an expression as I can muster of my feelings in this election season, so it's appropriate to post it here. And if I were being thorough, I'd link each point to a news site. If you got the links, post them as comments and I'll integrate them into the rant.

I'm going to post only once on the whole election topic, as I need to maintain my lurker stance. But I'm gonna rant as only a hardcore cynic can rant.

Over the last twenty years, politics and marketing have become increasingly blended - the rise of the spin doctor has created a lack of clarity in today's society. Any given image can be spun or interpreted to the benefit of either side of a disagreement. Any statistic can be equally spun. It's close to the point where FACTS can be spun as desired. And the sheer amount of news each day means that if someone is to even attempt to maintain their status as well-informed, they will have to rely on at least some spin in order to avoid having to individually review every fact as it comes in. And this is well-known to those who spin.

So as a result, I'm pretty sure that everything we hear and see in every media outlet and (for those of us who happen to go) directly from most politicians and experts is pure crap. People say what they want to get other people to believe in their cause. A difference in wording in one sentence of one question of a poll can completely transform the results, depending on how one wants the results to go. Nothing can be trusted. So I've found it exceptionally difficult to work up a concern for politics, because I'd pretty much have to go to the Columbia School of Journalism first, and then it would pretty much be my life's work to verify statements as they came in. For a situation that never seemed to really change depending on who was driving, I was reluctant to commit to any of that.

But Dubya has driven me to do something I never thought I would. Around four months ago, I registered to vote, for the first time ever.

Iraq never did anything to us. The good guys don't punch first.

France and Germany knew we were being belligerent, and told us so. We ignored them. The good guys talk to everyone, and make sure there's dire need before committing troops.

Haliburton has been one of the main beneficiaries of post-war reconstruction. Cheney's Haliburton. And there are already allegations of corruption. (I personally thought that they'd be a little more sneaky about it, and that we might not have found out as fast.)

White House lawyers spent a good deal of time trying to figure out how we could explain away torturing Iraqis and other captives. The good guys don't torture anyone.

Our civil liberties are being eroded, and it has all the stain of being just as much the government's attempts to be nosy as to protect us from domestic terrorists. Librarians are protesting the Patriot Act. The good guys don't act against librarians.

Bush has answered almost every comment about negative economic performance with 'tax cut'. It's like it's written on a flash card under his tie. And tax cuts benefit the wealthier more than the poor, as they are paying larger amounts of tax. (And sure, go ahead and discuss whether or not it's better that the rich get $50,000 back so that the poor get at least $100 back. I'll lurk through it.) The good guys pay their share.

Cheney is (I believe) still fighting to keep secret the minutes of meetings he held with executives of Enron and other energy companies, meetings held well before California's energy crisis and the collapse of Enron. The good guys don't keep secrets unless they have to. (I do suspect that Cheney feels he has to keep secret the minutes of his meetings, but I don't think he has anything but self-interest in mind when he makes that choice.)

And deep in my heart, I just can't get over the idea that Daddy Bush is in the background, finishing the war he started and avenging his loss at the polls. It's one of the only explanations for the war in Iraq that hasn't been blown away by investigations.

For 16 years, I've been content to let the political car that is America drive in the left or the right lane as the passengers wanted. We were always going down the road anyway, and it didn't seem to make a difference.

But now, as the car bumps over rough unpaved terrain, spins its wheels against mudpatches and (dare I say it) quagmires, and threatens to run over people on foot, I'm going to put my one hand on the wheel, just so I made sure that I at least tried.

I can't say that I know a lot about John Kerry yet. But unless he's a devil-worshiper who regularly pan-fries kittens, I think he's gotta be better than the driver we've got right now.

/rant=off.
/lurk=on.