The Beautiful
I have been feeling a little beaten down by America lately.
I was talking to Molly tonight about why I moved out to Colorado. I was talking to her about what I loved most about the mountains, and I was talking to her about what I thought was going to be the most challenging aspect of my life in Denver. I told her that it was between Denver and Chicago, and that the reason I chose Denver was because the Rocky Mountains were too big for me to turn my back on. I told her that I could see myself living out here indefinitely.
But I also told her that I could see myself moving to Canada, or Moldova, or down South America way. Because America is starting to beat me down.
I have been working too much this summer, and my internet service is too shitty for me to adequately follow the political world. I can normally only get away with reading headlines on HuffPost and short front pagers on DailyKos-never mind Matt Taibbi’s epic journal tackling Goldman Sach’s, or the latest article Steve's sent me on Marxist theory. I rarely have the connection strong enough to watch a stream from the Daily Show or Rachel Maddow. I can’t study the intricacies of the healthcare debate, or examine Sonia Sotomayor’s record the way I was able to read up on Roberts’s and Alito’s.
First of all, it is frustrating being out of the loop like this. Secondly, it is frustrating not being able to call my Congressional representation to thank them for standing up for what I believe in, be it a public option (Sherrod), that the south is trying to ruin the future of America (Voinovich), or something as basic as the availability of contraception (Tim). But also, it is very frustrating for me to read headlines highlighting the “discussion” we’re having on race… sparked by Obama’s straightforward comments about that stupid Gates arrest, the hurt feelings of southern white men regarding Sotomayor’s comment about the way minorities see the world being different from the Republican Party’s, and, of course, Lou Dobbs. I am frustrated that Big Business-cocksucking Democrats are the biggest obstacle to enacting meaningful healthcare reform.
I don't know as much as I should about healthcare. In fact, I know very little about the issue. I know that my dad worked for over 30 years in the industrial backbone of our country, but lost his job, his healthcare, half his pension, and probably his house because the rich let us down on their end of the peace. I know that by the time my loans are paid off, it will have cost me $50,000 to attend a public university. I know that Gilmore had to stop receiving certain forms of therapy because his insurance was no longer covering them. I know that we could find the money to bomb the Christ out of Baghdad, and I know that we could find the money to rescue the banks from a winter without a six-figure Christmas bonus; I know that the richest/most powerful/most bestest country in the world can find the money to cover its poor, young, and sick.
I am becoming frustrated with America. It’s beginning to look like maybe we really are that stupid. We are preparing to fall into that trap again. We are about to bend over for the rich, again.
And it makes me want to leave America. It makes me want to get away from the stink and filth of idiocy and hypocrisy. It makes me want to run away to a society that doesn't want to wake up every morning for the hunt, that isn't primed to slice throats for profit. One that recognizes humanity is of greater value than commodities.
It’s not so bad yet that I’d be bully to leave the mountains before giving it a real shot in Denver, but it’s bad enough that I can imagine spending my thirties dodging in Thunder Bay.
After a long, stressful night in the kitchen (in fact, so stressful, I decided to steal a pint of espresso-chocolate chip ice cream on my way out the door), it’s a real treat to find the wireless reception is strong enough to stream a hi-def clip of Sen. Al Franken’s remarks at the close of the Sotomayor hearing. That Sen. Franken’s remarks were so eloquent, timely, and passionate is like the perfect cream cheese icing on my mom’s carrot cake… without a doubt, the best cake there is among cakes.
I was talking to Molly tonight about why I moved out to Colorado. I was talking to her about what I loved most about the mountains, and I was talking to her about what I thought was going to be the most challenging aspect of my life in Denver. I told her that it was between Denver and Chicago, and that the reason I chose Denver was because the Rocky Mountains were too big for me to turn my back on. I told her that I could see myself living out here indefinitely.
But I also told her that I could see myself moving to Canada, or Moldova, or down South America way. Because America is starting to beat me down.
I have been working too much this summer, and my internet service is too shitty for me to adequately follow the political world. I can normally only get away with reading headlines on HuffPost and short front pagers on DailyKos-never mind Matt Taibbi’s epic journal tackling Goldman Sach’s, or the latest article Steve's sent me on Marxist theory. I rarely have the connection strong enough to watch a stream from the Daily Show or Rachel Maddow. I can’t study the intricacies of the healthcare debate, or examine Sonia Sotomayor’s record the way I was able to read up on Roberts’s and Alito’s.
First of all, it is frustrating being out of the loop like this. Secondly, it is frustrating not being able to call my Congressional representation to thank them for standing up for what I believe in, be it a public option (Sherrod), that the south is trying to ruin the future of America (Voinovich), or something as basic as the availability of contraception (Tim). But also, it is very frustrating for me to read headlines highlighting the “discussion” we’re having on race… sparked by Obama’s straightforward comments about that stupid Gates arrest, the hurt feelings of southern white men regarding Sotomayor’s comment about the way minorities see the world being different from the Republican Party’s, and, of course, Lou Dobbs. I am frustrated that Big Business-cocksucking Democrats are the biggest obstacle to enacting meaningful healthcare reform.
I don't know as much as I should about healthcare. In fact, I know very little about the issue. I know that my dad worked for over 30 years in the industrial backbone of our country, but lost his job, his healthcare, half his pension, and probably his house because the rich let us down on their end of the peace. I know that by the time my loans are paid off, it will have cost me $50,000 to attend a public university. I know that Gilmore had to stop receiving certain forms of therapy because his insurance was no longer covering them. I know that we could find the money to bomb the Christ out of Baghdad, and I know that we could find the money to rescue the banks from a winter without a six-figure Christmas bonus; I know that the richest/most powerful/most bestest country in the world can find the money to cover its poor, young, and sick.
I am becoming frustrated with America. It’s beginning to look like maybe we really are that stupid. We are preparing to fall into that trap again. We are about to bend over for the rich, again.
And it makes me want to leave America. It makes me want to get away from the stink and filth of idiocy and hypocrisy. It makes me want to run away to a society that doesn't want to wake up every morning for the hunt, that isn't primed to slice throats for profit. One that recognizes humanity is of greater value than commodities.
It’s not so bad yet that I’d be bully to leave the mountains before giving it a real shot in Denver, but it’s bad enough that I can imagine spending my thirties dodging in Thunder Bay.
After a long, stressful night in the kitchen (in fact, so stressful, I decided to steal a pint of espresso-chocolate chip ice cream on my way out the door), it’s a real treat to find the wireless reception is strong enough to stream a hi-def clip of Sen. Al Franken’s remarks at the close of the Sotomayor hearing. That Sen. Franken’s remarks were so eloquent, timely, and passionate is like the perfect cream cheese icing on my mom’s carrot cake… without a doubt, the best cake there is among cakes.
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