Climate Change to Believe In
The Southern California sky pulled a Two-Face this morning, clearly divided between the bright morning sun and the thick gray clouds that held it back like sober friends in the midst of a bar fight. The sun got a few licks in, though, and the result was a spattering of multicolored raindrops that unearthed that wet cement smell that takes us all back to the downpours of our youth, those blessed days when opening your mouth toward plummeting precipitation wasn't perceived as puerile or potentially poisonous. It made my wait at the bus stop more enjoyable and dramatic than usual, and the ride to Starbucks a proverbial kaleidoscope of climate, as the sun won a few blocks here, the rain, a few blocks there.
But, like most of America, it's our country's political climate that dominates my thoughts today, as the dust settles from Friday night's Presidential debates, as a troops rally around their lieges for the Vice Presidential debates this Thursday. That the first Presidential debate was on a Friday is critical, as the mainstream news generally hibernates between its 11 o'clock last gasp on Friday night and its pseudo-sophisticated awakening on Sunday mornings, so, unless you subjected yourself to the basic cable/talk radio 24-hour news cycle, you might've been able to generate your own opinion on the matter, void of preplanned partisan positions by pundits well paid to keep their side of the fence painted a fleck-free white. And, no, that isn't a slight toward Obama. It's a metaphor.
In fact, even Obama's "naive inexperience," to summarize McCain's frequent criticism of his opponent, couldn't sway the masses from wearing his name or likeness on a flurry of fashionable shirts and pins this weekend. Granted, my girlfriend and I began our weekend in the Valley, then in West Hollywood, both relatively safe terrain for Obamania, but the sheer volume of stylish support was commentary enough, forget that Hannity or Colmes wouldn't dominate the airwaves again until Monday. We scored an Obama pin from a kindly old couple working a voter registration booth, but I was a little off-put by its "$3 suggested donation." Aren't campaign funds raised to produce these marketing materials? Isn't virtually charging civilian supporters for these materials double dipping? Heck, if I want a pin, assuming I wear it on the economically hard-hit Main Street like a walking campaign poster, shouldn't Obama give me $3 for the rented shirt space?
Speaking of Obama giving money away, I was wondering why he didn't give McCain his two cents about those flagrant "what the Senator doesn't understand" comments from Friday night. A simple, "At least I've traveled around the world, unlike somebody's running mate," would've effectively shushed any retorts about inexperience, I figure. But, Obama isn't running against Sarah Palin -- his running mate, Joe Biden, is. At this point, I see Biden rolling up his sleeves on Thursday night and saying the things his better half of the ticket can't. At the first mention of foreign policy, I'd have no problem with Biden blurting, "Listen, Obama's too good to say anything, but all of McCain's yammering about his naivete? Hey, Sarah, where've you been, huh? What are you bringing to the table of diplomacy besides your pretty smile, Fargo accent, and some years of local political experience now shrouded in scandal and speculation? McCain can name drop all he wants, but with Barrack and me, America is getting a balance of international expertise, so if he bites it, the world is still in good hands. Oh, I'm sorry what was the question?"
Of course, considering Biden's diagnosis of foot-in-mouth disease, he'd probably end any tough guy treatise like that with, "And Hillary could've done the same thing, only better!" so he'd best quit when he gets ahead. It's just like this morning, where, with just a month and a few days between today and Election Day, a casual breeze can mean all the difference between rain or shine, no matter which candidate you prefer. Like my bus ride, some streets are already set on a sunny day, while others are running to their cars to avoid the scattered shower. The streets in between are the ones that we really have to worry about. Right now, the possibilities of America's future really are as divergent as the spectrum of sunlight striking a plummeting raindrop.