Hot Water Politics.
Click to viewI'm sure you are all wondering how I am going to meld Hot Water Music and politics together. Rest assured, it is going to be profound and beautiful and eloquent... or, perhaps, it will just display my political ignorance/indifference. I would put more money on the latter. In any case, let's see what I can half-bullshit on the spot.
I wrote in Chuck Ragan/Chris Wollard at my local precinct on Tuesday. To me, there were really no other options. My beloved LP let me down so hard with their nomination of a born-again Lib who represents so many things the LP allegedly stands against. John McCain was never an option... the last thing we need is an old dinosaur who will get manipulated and used by his camp to be a lot ruder than we all know he truly is. Dude's behavior in the past couple weeks - from shutting up that old coot calling Obama an Arab to his concession speech - was much more classier and more reminiscent of the John McCain I remember from 2000, when I thought being political meant drawing anarchy symbols and watching Rage Against the Machine videos. If he had told his campaign managers to eat a shit sandwich and played it like a gentlemen throughout, maybe he would have stood more of a chance. Who knows.
Then, there's good ol' Obama. Barack Husslineisitanyway Obama. ...ehhh? I disagree with him on a bunch of stuff politically, which is no big deal, but I have a really hard time divorcing "Obama The Leader And Harbinger Of Change" from "Obama The Man Who Decided To Disrespect Michigan For Holding Our Primary Early And Therefore Showed How Much He Really Cared About My Mitten". I can admit that maybe I'm just bitter, but there was absolutely no reason for him to just straight up DIS us. My maverick state ;) made a choice to push up our primary to remind people that we are power players, hurting NOBODY, and the shitstorm that is the DNC gets ornery and strips us of our delegates... and therefore makes Obama (and Biden and Edwards and Richardson) decide that we just aren't worth it anymore. What's more important: 156 delegates or 10,000,000 folks, right? He probably just got wrapped up in the campaign hoopla that made McCain a nutjob, but that still doesn't make it right. I would love for him to convince me otherwise and win me over, but he has some work to do.
I'm not sure why people were actually worried about Obama getting elected... I mean, I know we are talking about the DNC, who could still find a way to lose this election (maybe Obama was Dukakis running in disguise! OOPS!). Obama had such momentum from the start, though, running a near-perfect campaign and really, there shouldn't have been any doubt. What kept me on the edge of my seat, though, was Prop 2, concerning opening the availability of stem cell research. Frankly (don't tell Katelyn), I really didn't think it stood a chance. I've always viewed Michigan as a state that would generally lean slightly to the left, but would be more conservative when it came to marriage and stem thangs. Fortunately, we wised up and Prop 2 baaaaaarely passed. I wonder how long it will take until I get that clone of myself...
ANYWAY, now I'm getting distracted. Watch that music video for "Remedy". A pretty little bird is singing on a branch when it decides to soar. In its wandering, it decides to check out a factory, where the evil work boss (I almost typed out "purveyor" in an effort to be more eloquent, until I looked that up and realized it meant "grocer") traps and destroys it without a single ounce of remorse. As its remains are shot out into the ashy sky, a little man in a humble house happens to catch one of the bird's feathers. He studies it and uncovers a beauty that nobody else paid attention, he feels the music and the energy and the wonder it previously had before it left its physical body, and he uses his words and his hands to spread his discovery and inspire. Kind of cheesy "Circle of Life" stuff, I know, but it's true.
That video reminds me of a statement I have heard a lot over the past couple days: "I am finally proud to be an American". While I think that's a great feeling to have and I don't mean to diminish your enthusiasm, it strikes me as just a little ignorant. Everybody in this country is fighting against something - whether it's a faulty administration or a Godless country, an unjust boss or a bully at school - and everybody is taking that tragedy in their life and fighting against it, doing what they need to do to make the world better in their eyes. As soon as you do that, as soon as you stand up for yourself... you are an American. Scratch that, you are a person. You have been people for years, and perhaps you haven't realized it. Who were you ashamed to be an American in front of before? Anybody worth a fuck knows that one President or one movement does not speak for everybody, and if they think that and don't take the time to discover you and what you stand for... their opinion is worthless and should be discarded. Everything else they say is irrelevant if they won't listen to what everybody else says.
Simple as that. It'll be interesting to see how much really changes over the next four years, but of course with a Democratic president as well as the majority in House and Senate, a lot certainly could. I just don't want people to let up on their criticism and not put Obama under the magnifying glass for every step that he takes.
Punk rock is going to be not nearly as exciting for at least the next four years. On the bright side, maybe Anti-Flag will break up.
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Oh shit, AND this was one of the most amazing parts of Election Day:
http://www.mauryshow.com/vid_player.php?cat=0&cid=806104