So, I've made a couple of dumb mistakes in the past few days. What were they, you ask? Well, I'm going to tell you. First of all, I let my genuine liking for a presidential candidate woo me into following politics. It was stupid for me to do this because I am, in the end, too very silly a person to dabble in serious things. I'm far too fragile, I really am. My second mistake is this: I've decided to post about it.
I like Barack Obama. I really do. I have no idea what his positions are and I don't care. (Remember, I'm silly.) My approach to election year politics, when I bother to have one, is this: eliminate the weirdos and extremists and then decide which, if any, you like from among of those left, if any are left. Usually there aren't any that I like. This time, however, I genuinely like Barack Obama, and he's the only one I like. When he won in the bizarre Iowa Voodoo Chief Picking Ritual, I was genuinely excited, much to my own surprise. I even subscribed to his blog. All indications yesterday were that he would win by a good margin in New Hampshire, so I paid attention.
Then he didn't win.
And now I'm crushed and depressed, which is ridiculous. This is why I cannot get too excited about things. I'm too susceptible to disappointment. I know that there is still a long process ahead. I know that he could still do well and I shouldn't give up because of this one setback and all of those things. Were I a more serious and stable person, all of these admonitions might mean something to me. I'm not, however, and I'm bummed.
I thought about not mentioning the following, but, since I'm making mistakes already, I think I will: I just don't like Hillary Clinton. It's nothing personal; I don't like any of the candidates. I lump her in with all the rest of them as "just not appealing to me in any way." I actually cringe a little when I hear her talk, like I do with most politicians. Last night she said something like, "I listened to you and, doing so, found my own voice." God, that so perfectly describes my impression of her. "Just tell me what I have to be in order for you to elect me and, I promise you, I'll be that person!" They all sound that way to me, except Obama. I'm a sucker for that guy. If he's a liar he's a damnably good one.
Then I think about the whole "woman president" thing. I think it would be cool if we had a woman president. I think it would be cool if we had a black president. In the end, however, these are really not, for me, compelling reasons to support someone I don't like. Maybe I'd feel differently were I black or were I a woman, but I don't think I would, unless being black or being a woman made me a very different person. Maybe either of those things would make me very different. I certainly am in no position to know that. I'm a white guy.
So, I'm going to stop paying attention. I'm going to unsub from Obama's blog and pretend we're all living in an autonomous collective, or a dictatorship, or an anarcho-syndicalist commune. If Obama wins, I'll be happy. If not, I'll just shrug it off. I cannot get involved. I've got too many less important things about which to worry.
Hello, friends. Tell me something good.
Love.
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