thematically fickle

I used to be extremely active politically. I disagreed with George W. Bush’s platform so vehemently that I got involved beyond standing in a voting booth. My reality television was C-SPAN. My junk television was NOW with Bill Moyers and The News Hour with Jim Lerher. I volunteered and went door-to-door. I attended rallys and protests. I had t-shirts and stamps made and sold them at cost. I spread the message.

Three months after Ruby came home, in September of 2005, Sam and I bought last minute plane tickets to Washington D.C. where we participated in one of the largest protest marches against this administration’s policies in Iraq. Ruby was strapped to my chest in a Baby Bjorn. There were an estimated 500,000 people there from all across the country—people of all ages, class, color, and religion. I hugged Cindy Sheehan. Dr. Cornel West kissed my baby.

It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life and I felt hopeful, surrounded as I was by hundreds of thousands of like-minded people during a time when those of us who didn’t register in the president’s approval ratings were regularly being intimidated. (Someday, I’ll write about the policeman who visited my office to tell me I had to remove an American flag that I’d hung upside down in my window.)

It turns out that Bush and Cheney were out of town during the protest and the shirking media was focused on Tropical Storm Rita. Later, when I told people what I done over the weekend, every one of them said, “I didn’t know there was a protest…”

Shortly after this, I quit my political crack habit. I was too unhappy; the unchecked trampling of our constitution by the current administration, combined with the silliness that had become the Democratic party was negatively affecting my quality of life. Turns out that ignorance really is bliss.

But here I am again, right back in it. I guess it’s because I believe America can be better than what we have allowed her to become. And while I don’t want this space to be all politics all the time, I can’t help put up stuff I’m finding that reveals plainly how John McCain will be little more than an extension of the Bush Administration.

So, here is a 4-minute video of our next Vice President, Joe Biden, speaking in Scranton this weekend. I think his message translates all the way to San Francisco. Don’t you?