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Dark seas ahead ....
Jan. 2nd, 2008 06:56 pmIn his latest journal entry, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
beldar makes a very good point about the fact it's American elections this year: Things are going to get nasty and unpleasant. What with gay marriage still just hanging out there as an issue to be batted about like a cat toy, what to do about illegal immigrants, and the fact that oil futures today hit over $100 a barrel for the first time in history ... the outlook for 2008 ain't pretty.
There's a race to replace the Shrub, which is the only good thing you can say about this November's coming election. (That is, unless he finds an excuse to impose martial law in the next ten months and suspend elections. Anyone want to get in on some wager action?)
Are you ready for it? I am. Why do you think I've been standing down in the muck and stink of fandom 'shipper wars? Because it's FUN? You goober - I'm in training! Unless you've tested the armor and flak jackets against at least painful-impact paintballs, how do you know they're going to work in a real battle with bullets? :-D
Actually, I despite campaign season ... for the same reason I hate 'ship wars. Most of the participants willingly sling mud and smear each other's names, and there's very little wide public forum for listening to expanded explanations of ideas and differences. (Do you remember the details of John Kerry's proposed health care plan? I read it. But if you didn't get to, it's probably because most major news space on-air and on the newspaper page is devoted to paid advertising, not actual news.) Both sides have loudmouths, but what sets one side of loudmouths apart is usually that they're the majority view and they claim some sort of arbitrary "right" on their side to justify their actions - with Republicans, it's God, who also apparently has jurisdiction over things like marriage, family, tax breaks, state-funded charity, corporations, and oil companies. (Now THAT is a detail-oriented boss.)
I don't know if the Democrats at the top really are a bunch of pansies (to put things into fandom-speak), or simply look at what they have to overcome from the last seven years and quake in explicable fear, but whatever it is, I'm not seeing a lot of effectiveness and boldness of action. (To be fair, I don't see anyone on the Republican side who stands out, who I'd want anywhere near the White House, either. I don't care how much "Chuck Norris *hearts* Huckabees." Chuck's taken a few blows to the head over the years, too.)
Just imagine if we left this year's elections up to some Hollywood screenwriters. (Just imagine they're not on strike.) After months of writing and filming, the entire thing would be over in less than three hours, everyone would come out a winner (except for the incumbent, who gets eaten by the kraken), and we'd have a happy, much-less-bruised ending. Of course, given this particular election is a 215-some-odd-years sequel, the outcome would be a little muddier and there'd be a few more bumps and bruises on the way to a questionably happy ending ... but it'd still beat the reality of what's to come in the next ten months or so.
Savvy?
beldar makes a very good point about the fact it's American elections this year: Things are going to get nasty and unpleasant. What with gay marriage still just hanging out there as an issue to be batted about like a cat toy, what to do about illegal immigrants, and the fact that oil futures today hit over $100 a barrel for the first time in history ... the outlook for 2008 ain't pretty.There's a race to replace the Shrub, which is the only good thing you can say about this November's coming election. (That is, unless he finds an excuse to impose martial law in the next ten months and suspend elections. Anyone want to get in on some wager action?)
Are you ready for it? I am. Why do you think I've been standing down in the muck and stink of fandom 'shipper wars? Because it's FUN? You goober - I'm in training! Unless you've tested the armor and flak jackets against at least painful-impact paintballs, how do you know they're going to work in a real battle with bullets? :-D
Actually, I despite campaign season ... for the same reason I hate 'ship wars. Most of the participants willingly sling mud and smear each other's names, and there's very little wide public forum for listening to expanded explanations of ideas and differences. (Do you remember the details of John Kerry's proposed health care plan? I read it. But if you didn't get to, it's probably because most major news space on-air and on the newspaper page is devoted to paid advertising, not actual news.) Both sides have loudmouths, but what sets one side of loudmouths apart is usually that they're the majority view and they claim some sort of arbitrary "right" on their side to justify their actions - with Republicans, it's God, who also apparently has jurisdiction over things like marriage, family, tax breaks, state-funded charity, corporations, and oil companies. (Now THAT is a detail-oriented boss.)
I don't know if the Democrats at the top really are a bunch of pansies (to put things into fandom-speak), or simply look at what they have to overcome from the last seven years and quake in explicable fear, but whatever it is, I'm not seeing a lot of effectiveness and boldness of action. (To be fair, I don't see anyone on the Republican side who stands out, who I'd want anywhere near the White House, either. I don't care how much "Chuck Norris *hearts* Huckabees." Chuck's taken a few blows to the head over the years, too.)
Just imagine if we left this year's elections up to some Hollywood screenwriters. (Just imagine they're not on strike.) After months of writing and filming, the entire thing would be over in less than three hours, everyone would come out a winner (except for the incumbent, who gets eaten by the kraken), and we'd have a happy, much-less-bruised ending. Of course, given this particular election is a 215-some-odd-years sequel, the outcome would be a little muddier and there'd be a few more bumps and bruises on the way to a questionably happy ending ... but it'd still beat the reality of what's to come in the next ten months or so.
Savvy?
