Heya all sorry for getting out of the habit of updating but I am here to atone for my sins....
Let me raise a belated toast to gay marriage in Massachusetts. It was really incredible to see all the people lined up in Cambridge city hall waiting to get their licences after so many years of being marginalized, and it was heartening to see all the support out that night. My real favorite part of the whole day was that, because the first gay marriages happened to be on the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education the politicians had to wallow in their own hypocrisy. George Bush denounced the "activist" judges who overturned the descrimination of the traditional definition of marriage, but because of the circumstances he was forced to praise another set of activist judges who overturned the tradition of descrimination in education on the very same day of his other denouncement. How delicious! In response to all those who claim that gay marriage is being rammed down our collective throats, we get a crystal clear example of another time in history when something being rammed down the throat of people wasn't such a bad thing.

"Wouldn't it be pretty to think so?"-E. Hemingway

Indeed it would be. We live in a world dominated by dissapointments both in the present and in history, and I think we've become so used to it that we don't strive for higher ideals enough anymore. The gap between the beauty of humanity's dreams and the ugliness of its realities is the greatest tragedy of our species, but I think its also valuable to note that its only by dreaming these wonderful dreams that we got this far in the first place. Martin Luther King's ideal of a nation that is colorblind and without racism has never been accomplished, but it was by dreaming that dream that he helped bring us so far along on that path toward achieving his goals. John Lennon's wildly optimistic dream in "Imagine" probably will never be realized, but the very fact that the standard exists and is expressed so beautifully gives us a thing to strive for when we need the courage to do the right thing.

I feel we need some of those very same dreamers again. This country is long on hedonism, real-politik, and cynicism. The only way for us to achieve peace is to strike out at our enemies in perpetual warfare. The only way for us to achieve a better society is by reverting to the hard moral standards of many years ago. The only way for us to win (elections, sucess...debate rounds =P) is by sacrificing our principles. We can never expect love, only sex. We can never expect improvement, only survival. We have become lost in the inevitiable doom of our own pessimism. We have lost the rash unrealistic optimism that made us great.

When I look at the worlds spoken and the dreams dreamed by people like Bobby Kennedy, Teddy Roosevelt, John Lennon, and Martin Luther King. I can't help but want to bring them to this time and place, to tell people what they could be capabable of, and what things SHOULD be like. These people accomplished great things because they were dreamers. The pragmatists belong in the dustbin of history; they only knew how to succeed in an imperfect world. It is the dreamers who let us imagine that we could be the people we always hoped we would be, and who give us the strength to push for a more perfect world.

I should be studying but....meh

So today's entry will be on the presidency. First of all, there is that flaming ball of incompetence that is George W. Bush. I hate the man so much that its gotten to the point where I can no longer fairly evaluate policy if I know his stance on the matter. If you handed me Plan X for World Peace, I might look at it and I might think it was a generally good idea, but if you told me if it was George Bush's Plan For World Peace, I would instantly reject it out of hand.

Now, the question is, why do I hate this man so much? Sure, some of it comes from ideology, but that isn't all of it. I don't hate, say, George Will with the same fervor, even though he is MORE conservatiive than Bush is. It isn't really from his personality, either. I have the feeling that if George Bush were my neighbor, I would generally like the guy, even if he would never be my best friend. I think the real thing that makes me despise him is the fact that he is the symbol of the dumbing down of America. See, people in America used to admire politicians when they spoke intelligently, and when they acted in a way that made them seemed qualified. Today, Americans prize politicians who, like GWB, talk like an average person when going over the issues. They actually LIKE when politicians don't know the facts and kind of gloss over the issues with fluffly platitudes rather than hard plans of action. When people DO make intelligent arguments, people like Bill O'Reilly call them "elitists" and accuse them of not listening to "the folks." It is like Americans in general are becoming like those 8th graders who made fun of the smart kids because they were insecure of their sucesses. That is really a disturbing trend. It is like we have stopped aspiring to greatness and have confined ourselves to celebrating mediocrity.

It is this general attitude, amoung other things, that has convinced me that popular government doesn't work because "the folks" are actually a bunch of fuckin morons. They are like a baby deciding between two sets of waving keys thrown out there by the political parties. Things that shouldn't matter at all in the elections are the things which frequently decide them. Obviously there is the whole thing about how one line slogans and advertisments can swing elections when they shouldn't, but there's also the fact that many times people decide elections based on the economy at the time, with no regard given to the solvency of the economy in the long run based on the policy in place. For example, the current economy is improving mightily, but that is largely the result of huge deficit spending that will cause harms in the long run. The "folks" seeing jobs coming back will pull the lever of the incumbant without realizing that the very policies which are creating jobs now are fucking us over in the long run with inflation, higher interest rates, and a huge deficit that we'll have to deal with when the baby boomers retire.

Also, on the subject of the Presidency....it seems like we have gotten ourselves into a position where every "viable" candidate for President is someone who nobody can really imagine actually being a good president. To become president nowadays you have to pull together a thousand different types of people with wholly divergant veiws on things. Take the Democrats for example they now find themselves in a position where they have to unite the Northeast and West Coast (socially liberal, fiscally liberal) with the Midwest (socially conservative, fiscally liberal), with some of those southern swing states (socially very conservative, fiscally moderate). What candidate could possibly come out of this dilemma other than John Kerry who just changes what he thinks every other day?

It seems like we have become a nation that is far too divided to be able to support ANY leader with coherent policies who does what he says. I really think we ought to just split up into two countries with more ideologically homogeneous populations and call it a day. That would at least allow us to HAVE coherent plans rather than mix of plans that results in insanity...which is what we have now.

Bloggity Blog Blog Blog

So its 2:40 AM and I was getting to sleep, but then I realized that I hadn't updated my blog as I had set out to do tonight, so here I am. I heart all those who read my blog, and I certainly don't wanna leave you guys hanging for too long.

I had a mystical experience running on the Charles River tonight. It was so warm, wonderful, and peaceful. The the combination of rapidly fading sunlight and growing moonlight made the river a deep purple hue, and the lit buildings on its banks were so beautiful that they seemed to be there for decoration. All over the place were people seeking the beauty and anonimity of the park at night. There were old married couples strolling along, holding hands. There were younger couples laying next to each other gazing at the man made stars of the Charles. There were groups of kids sitting in circles mischeviously passing around a lighted pipe. There were runners, walkers, and bikers secretly competing with one another in a great unspoken race with no end.

This didn't seem like Boston, it didn't feel like a city. It felt like we had been transported to some unearthly paradise, well lit and populated but still one with nature...still peaceful. When the people talked they seemed to get in close and whispered to each other, like people stealing a conversation in church. They recognized the sacredness of the place and the moment, and did not want to violate it with the vulgar shreiks of normal conversation. It was not a time and a place to spread gossip, to complain about tests, or to fight. It was a time to tell someone you love them, to reconcile with someone who'd upset you, and to have moments with your friends that you'll never forget.

I was in awe......