testing, testing, testing....

now playing: u2, "stay (faraway so close)"


so, i'm finding that of late, i can't even look at the political blogs anymore. it's really hard.

it makes me ill, actually. now that america has decided to hand their well-being over to someone whos' proven time and time again that he cares not for it, i can't bear to consider what's coming this four years. he's already rubbing his hands together and cackling like the Great Green Wicked One from the wizard of oz, getting ready to tear into social security, getting ready to remake the american tax structure to benefit virtually no one other than those he worked so hard to pretend not to favor the first term...

there's a panache in the air now that was evident if you looked before, but now it's out on their sleeves.

those of you who work for a living, who were more concerned about faggots standing in your churches and marrying one another...you'll pay.

mark my words. you are the sacrificial lambs of this administration.

it's you who will die in iraq.

it's you who will lose your jobs as your companies continue to ship them overseas.

it's you who will watch your childrens' quality of education continue to decline, watch them struggle with how they'll get through college based on the opportunities available to them...


too bad you weren't as willing to act on your own prospects for the future as you were willing to act on Them Damn Homos.


i was talking to blake last night on the phone, and he mentioned some kind of squabble over on nik's blog...i remembered commenting on something he'd said about michael moore a while back, and there was a third party who'd jumped in - i don't remember now even what he'd said, but blake mentioned that nik went through and deleted most of it...i had to go back and see what the deal was.

in the aftermath of what some of us had said on his anti-F9/11 rant, he expanded a bit on his republican-in-libertarian's-clothing theme of the original post a bit...

man, oh, man.

i've known nik for coming up on fifteen years now, and i consider him a close friend...and this is gonna be the relationship that tests my ability to consider a person on their numerous merits to the exclusion of their political beliefs. there are people (at work, mostly) whom i've had cordial relationships with in the past...acquaintances moreso than friends, but there are some with whom communications have been pretty severely strained in the aftermath of this election. and i can't say that it's bothered me one bit.

i won't say that there are huge numbers of people with whom my relationships have been strained as a result of the divide that's emerged in this country, because frankly, i don't associate with people of that stripe very often...and when i do, it's typically a friendship or an association based on something that transcends politics - in other words, we have plenty in common to override my personal distaste for their leanings. for instance, keith amos told me outright that he voted for bush, and then he told me why he voted for bush, and i respect that. i may not agree with it, but i respect it, and it hasn't altered my opinion of him at all. he's not someone who anyone would consider an overtly political guy, and he made his decision based on his own perception of the candidates.

nik, though, is bangin' the drum, man. he's got the right-wing rap down pat.

i suppose that if i knew more about the libertarian platform, i might understand his allegiance, but when you read nik's most recent post, he sure does sound like a hard-core right winger to me. you can practically see the spittle comin' outta the corner of his mouth as he rails against the left for being spiteful hatemongers (credit where credit is due, though - i've never seen nik raise his voice in a political discussion, ever. he's probably the most even-keeled guy i know, when it comes to this stuff.).

my friendship with nik, and its importance to me, has some things to teach me about accepting people's viewpoints without letting it alter my perception of them. in the past, i've managed to let some pretty heavy stuff slide with people i'm close to, and if you'd told me years ago that the biggest stumbling block i would eventually encounter to my usual tolerance would be someones' political leanings, i'd have said you were insane.

the things i've seen this past four years have altered that considerably.

they think of us as the enemy, and when we consider them likewise, then we're the hateful ones.


may you live in interesting times, indeed.


oh, yeah, a word of warning...the next entry that shows up here may not be for everyone...so you may want to consider yourselves forewarned - it might be a little too much information for the casual reader.

but you may also end up laughing your ass off (no pun intended)...