The Darkness and the Light- Election Day 2008 in America

The election went down- the most historic electoral event of my lifetime. Barack Obama was elected President of the United States.

Like millions of others, I don’t know what the future brings. But, for the first time in eight very long, very hard to deal with years- I feel hope.

I listened to a woman talking today at my job- I work in a hospital- she was talking about the difference between hopes and wishes.

Her name is Dr. Dr. works with the parents of dying children. She told the story of a girl in a wheelchair- dying of cancer- eight days after this conversation, the girl was dead.

As part of her research, Dr. asked the girl, “What are you hoping for?”

The girl answered, “I’m hoping I’ll get up and I’ll be able to dance around, that my legs will carry me again and I’ll be able to fly through the air like a bird. All my friends and family will be able to sit in a theatre and watch me while I dance good enough to make Baryshnikov blush.”

The girl stopped. She considered for a moment. She said. “You know what, that’s not what I hope. That’s what I wish. There’s a difference you know. A wish is something I want to happen that’s impossible in the world as it is.”

She paused, and then continued, “In the world as it is... I’m going to die. But in the world as it could be- I can dance- my legs are strong- I’m going to get better. But that’s just a wish. What I hope for- what I think is possible- in the world as it is- is that I will feel less pain and be able to sleep better.”

Hope and wishes are different. Hope is real, wishes are not. You hope for things in the world as it is. Wishes require the world to become something new.

That’s the truly astounding thing about democracy- what makes it the greatest system humans have yet invented to govern themselves.

With a single collective action we turned a wish into a hope- a political alchemy of the most profound sort. With a single ballot we turned our backs on the past 8 years and as President Elect Obama said in his nomination speech, “Enough.”

We really are incredibly lucky to have such an opportunity. Literally billions have died without it over the years.

We could say, we demand an end to the Iraq war. We want tax relief to someone who isn’t rich or have Inc. at the end of their name. How about some Supreme Court nominees who’ve actually read the Constitution, or at least care what it says.

Before November 4th- these things were wishes. The world where they happened was impossible. Universal healthcare was as likely during the Bush administration as the Banks being able to regulate themselves without causing an economic meltdown. Or leprechauns.

But now, just like that, because of the mysterious brilliance of the simple collective will of a people, these impossible things, these wishes, are hopes again. I suddenly live in a world where my country doesn’t believe in wars without cause- or torture- or extreme rendition- or the philosophy that says the rich should see all of the spoils for the simple act of being rich. I live in America again, a place I can hope. And it’s all because of democracy.

But all things have a flipside- the Tao shows us that. Things are dual natured. Even democracy. Even wishes and hopes.

Because on the same day we did this wonderful thing, electing Barack Obama, in that same breath in the state of California- a single vote turned a hope back into a wish for an entire group of people. Like Cinderella at midnight, the protection of equal rights for homosexuals turned back into a pumpkin. People who were married- married- legally- in front of a justice of the peace. Now, magically, these people are no longer married. Human beings choosing to dedicate their lives to each other are banned because people think it’s icky or because they think it’s a sin. It’s disgusting. And yet, it too is democracy.

All of the rights that go along with marriage- stolen- mostly because of Mormon carpetbaggers and people who think the earth is 6,000 years old. While one wound healed, we tore one open a new one, fresh. Banning a right you’ve not yet granted is appalling enough (as they did – banning gay marriage in 2 other states), but giving a right, and then taking it away- that’s almost worse. That’s coldness and cynicism on a level even I, a cynical person, can only look at with utter astonishment.

There is no doubt in my mind in 20 years, maybe more, hopefully much less, society will look at what happened in California in horror. And there’s also no doubt in my mind some new group of people will be the new boogeyman- the new thing for the fearful to see going bump in the night. It seems there’s a never ending supply of things to be afraid of- but

But, as long as democracy keeps working, it means we’ll get another chance next time. Society will have time to heal, and to learn, and there will be another vote. Let’s not take 300 years this time though, okay?

Obama's winning a landslide.

We Did It.

Good job America.
Ya did good.

Woo hoo!

Sarah Palin on SNL

I just watched the clips of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live and I'm just sorta stunned. It wasn't playful or satirical in the normal, safe SNL sense. Instead, it was wonderfully, wonderfully, visciously mean. And Sarah just sorta went with it. I mean they shot a fuckin moose while she sat bobbing her head- yelling out Eskimos, which to my understanding, isn't what the Inuit prefer to be called anymore- that can't play well back home. They rapped (and it was all white people rapping around her- which I think was meant as another little dig) "I built a bridge and it didn't go nowhere"- meanwhile Sarah Clueless sat in the middle of it and bobbed her head. Alec Baldwin mocked her to her face and she made some lame remark about the born again Baldwin in retort. The bit Tina Fey was doing about her was as usual spot on- and again- really mean.
It should be mean, and not just because I disagree with her on the issues. It should be mean because Sarah Palin is offensive. She represents something that I find legitimately disgusting in American culture - fear of intelligence and the championing of the ignorant. Palin is offensive just as Bush is offensive. Why do the Republicans keep foisting morons into the position of the presidency? Okay, so McCain reversed the equation- just like Poppy Bush did with Danny Potatoe. It seems the Republicans think the President is the country's head cheerleader- that the decision's the President makes don't have real consequences. In other words, the Republicans don't think being President REQUIRES intelligence. She's had plenty of time to be coached- the idea this woman is going to be so close to the Presidency is horrifying- she's never gotten through a single interview where follow-up questions weren't allowed. She can repeat a talking point, but if you push, she's even less capable of presenting a rational statement than Bush is.
I realize the whole SNL thing was scripted- but wow- what were McCain's people doing letting her do that? They should've expected it- they never should've returned the calls. If they were going to let her do it they shoud've written her a part where she makes some witty intelligent comeback/explanation as to why she's not dealing with the press- at least a reference to the "Liberal media" or something- but nadda- zip- zilch. She just stood there while people made fun of her straight to her face.
Unbelivable.

Thanks alot Texas and Ohio (and to a lesser extent, Rhode Island)

(Before reading this you should know I don't really like Obama any more than I like Hillary- but I do have a strong dislike of McCain and its my concern over his being elected that prompts the following)
Well, the Democrats have managed to do it again. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. All I could do was watch and shake my head in annoyance as 2 1/2 states managed to magically overrule a 12 state winning streak in the eyes of the media. If I didn't know better, I'd think they had a stake in the horse race continuing... oh, wait.
So, since the people in Texas and Ohio are apparantly too racist to vote for Obama or at the very least too stupid to know what letting Hillary win would mean (for the primary race- if the situation was reversed and Obama was behind I'd feel the same way), the race now drags out for another month or so with both candidates turning more and more negative- while McCain continues to get himself serviced by our hooker media.
This reeks of Mondale/Hart and it makes my head hurt. The Democratic establishment is clearly afraid of Obama and they're going to crucify him- even if it means ruining either candidates chances of winning in the process. I'm not really sure what they're so worried about- it certainly isn't his positions on the issues- which means it probably goes back to the one thing that seems to rule everything in our broken democracy- the MONEY! Obama, like Dean before him, is raising money from people, not from the rich- and there's nothing the establishment hates more than ordinary people or candidates who are actually appealing to us.
And clearly Hillary doesn't give a fuck- she wants to be president and she'll flame the whole party if that's what it takes. The past few weeks has made it pretty obvious there's no limit on how far she'll go- which you'd think would worry the establishment- but it doesn't seem to- which is weird.
Anyway, prepare for months of Obama is a Muslim innuendo and watch as our prestige in the rest of the world finds an even lower opinion of us. Good job Ohioian Texans- the rubes win again!

Hunter S. Thompson 2.0

If you like the way Hunter Thompson (RIP you nutty bastard) wrote about politics, and you aren't reading Matt Taibbi- you're really missing out. Mr. Taibbi writes for Rolling Stone- Thompson's old rag- and he does just as good a job of cutting through the bullshit and laying bare the decrepit bones of American Politics. In a rare bit of corporate largesse- you can read a lot of his stuff for free on the RS website.
A link to his latest piece here. It's about the Democrats and not ending the war- telling us the soldiers have to keep dying for no reason until 2009- when presumably the country will have elected more democrats.
The final 2 paragraphs are as follows:
"How much of this bullshit are we going to take? How long are we supposed to give the Reids and Pelosis and Hillarys of the world credit for wanting, deep down in their moldy hearts, to do the right thing?
Look, fuck your hearts, OK? Just get it done. Because if you don't, sooner or later this con is going to run dry. It may not be in '08, but it'll be soon. Even Americans can't be fooled forever. "
Amen brother.

WOW

John McCain was just on Meet the Press talking about his immigration policy. McCain said he would "round up" the 2 MILLION illegal aliens who have committed a crime- and deport them. He said it casually, offhandedly, like, ho-hum, I'm gonna raid 2 MILLION houses and "round up" people.
Yikes.

Keep in mind this is the same guy who said he wants to be in Iraq for 100 years. No matter who wins the democratic nomination- they should play that clip, along with the one about how McCain professes an ignorance about economics. Just play them, alternating, on a loop until November.

Oh, and to anyone who's all yippy skippy about the "tax refund" checks- you're dumb.

Hillary Wins

Oh well, that's the problem with prognostication- I was WRONG WRONG WRONG. I don't understand where Clinton's support is coming from- do people really not remember how NOT progressive the Clinton's were?
Do people really want 28 years of Clinton/Bush?
I guess everyone else was shocked too- but still- as of now- it's all wide open.
For what its worth my current guess:
Clinton vs. Guliani with Clinton winning in November. Big whoop.
We'll see.
Edwards isn't dropping out quite yet and I still very much have my fingers crossed.

Vote for Edwards!!

So here's what I see happening as of the early afternoon of January 8th, the day of the NH primary.
Barack will win- probably by as much as 10 points- which is going to hurt the Hilary campaign pretty badly- and may very well spin her out of contention- especially if she sticks to her current plan of running on the atrocious record of Bill Clinton as her "record of change."
There are certainly "centrist" democrats who look fondly back at the Clinton years, but most of look back and see a series of horrible mistakes- NAFTA, GATT, bombing aspirin factories, overseeing the creation of our "service" economy, the Telecommunications Act of 96, his "crime" bill, the total failure to make any headway on health insurance reform. Sure, none of it is as bad as what Bush has done, but it's NOT GOOD EITHER.
But Barack is really no different than Hillary. He's trying to make himself into a figure like JFK or Martin Luther King, in fact, he got a little flack on the news this morning for comparing himself to exactly those people- but what I think he doesn't understand, what I don’t think anyone understands, it that NO ONE will ever be JFK or MLK again. The reason is simple, the free ride the media used to give to people over their foibles is OVER- and has been for a couple of decades. Sure, while the whole thing is glamorous and everyone's caught up in the excitement of the horserace they'll be some overlooking- it certainly happened with Bush- but the truth is, not even JFK and MLK were JFK and MLK. Those figures were legends, like Wild Bill Hickok- they weren't people. Legends don't survive in 2008 because the media (rightly in my opinion) doesn't let them. So it's just a matter of time before the free ride ends and the media starts to point out Barack's rhetoric doesn't match his actual policies, as Clinton has been so desperately pointing out since Iowa.
I don't know if Barack really will implode, but if it happens, and I really do think it will, I really hope its sooner and not later. I don't want his eventual demolition to take place after the nomination- where the result could be something as depressing as President McCain- or god help us- President Huckafuckabee. I'd rather see the backlash start now.
Anyone who thinks the free ride will continue through November is naïve in the extreme. Believe me, there's going to be thinly veiled racism and Osama jokes galore. If Obama was a true progressive then I think he could weather the storm and keep the base- but he's not. He's a very smart, very lucky, very talented politician who can never live up to his rhetoric because the simple truth is- the Republicans will NEVER work with him. And it's not because their racist. It's because THEY DON'T WANT CHANGE!!! Why should they? They're rich, their buddies are rich. Why would they want to move the country forward when its current position is serving them so well? Every time Obama says he's going to work with both sides, he's really saying he will DO NOTHING.
There's only one candidate that understands this with a viable shot to win- John Edwards.
Edwards is telling it straight- if we want change, we need to elect someone who is fully aware going in that EVERY SINGLE PROGRESSIVE VICTORY IS GOING TO BE A BATTLE ROYALE IN A DIRTY FIGHT THAT IS GOING TO REQUIRE BITING, KICKING, AND PROBABLY A LITTLE CHEATING.
We need a fighter, not a uniter. Don't you remember? Bush was a uniter not a divider and look how that turned out. The problem is, I think Obama is being honest when he says it- which tells me he's not fit to serve. We need a guy who's going to take all of Bush's executive power and use it with the same intensity for good as Bush used it for evil. We need a guy who's willing to go straight at corporations, the media, and lobbyists. Someone who isn't afraid to force the hand of what will surely be a democratic congress. Edwards is talking like a man who knows exactly what he's up against and he's itching for a fight. Never mind pretty words, fighting words are what warms my heart and gives me the kind of hope no amount of rhetorical flourish from Obama can.

ANOTHER BOOK DONE!!!!

I just finished my 8th book today, the first day of 2008 after driving home from a New Years Party- there's a blizzard outside and I finished with a nice view of the snow covering the trees in my front yard. The book is called Bang and is another volume in the Incarnations of the Americas series.
This book is really exciting for me because it was while I wrote this book that I really started getting into comics- and seeing how certain aspects of comic universes could be adopted into the novels I'm writing (and written) in ways I've never come across anywhere in fiction. I'm now going to embark on a big project, recording all of my books as audiobooks and making some detail changes to incorporate my ideas.
If I can make good time, by June I hope to be able to offer paperbacks of all 6 books bundled together with my specially designed audiobooks which will finally take the text into consideration. My goal is to make switching from the text to the audio book on your Ipod extremely easy.
For those keeping score, the following 6 books comprise the Incarnations of the Americas series:

• Portal
• Ialtaboath
• The Clearing at the End of the Path
• The Music of Dreams
• Bang
• Exodus Enisode

Here's hoping everyone had a happy New Year and Thanks to those of you out there who've been supportive of me and my efforts thus far. Cheers.