And I'm resigned to that

[vovat]

Well, it looks like Bush won. I'm sure there was some cheating involved, because I think there are a lot of people out there who get a kick out of cheating, even when it's of no real benefit to them. Overall, though, I think we have to face the cold, hard truth, which is that a lot of people LIKE brutal, totalitarian, barely literate leaders. Much of the United States, and probably much of the world, consists of people who are afraid of thinking, who prefer easy lies to complicated truths, and who figure that the status quo must be okay because, hey, THEY'RE doing all right. This philosophy is pretty much the hallmark of the Republican Party, but I think a lot of non-Republicans subscribe to it as well. I can definitely see its appeal. I mean, it's easy, and we all want life to be easy, right? When the system isn't serving you very well, though, and you constantly see other people who are getting TOTALLY screwed over, it's harder to subscribe to the conservative philosophy. Unfortunately, the philosophy is apparently common enough that Bush can ride it to victory not once, but twice. (And yes, I know he probably stole the last election, but he wouldn't have been able to if he hadn't gotten almost as many actual votes as Gore.)

Hmm, "riding the philosophy" is kind of an odd metaphor, isn't it?

Anyway, I'm disappointed, but I guess it's not the end of the world. Not yet, anyway. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens during Bush's second term. I think I've gotten into the state of resigned helplessness, where you realize that nothing can be done, and it sucks, but it's also kind of a relief in a way. Unless something else significant happens (which I suppose it very well might), this will probably be my last post on the election.

To start on my new trend of non-election blogging, I might as well mention that I picked up the new Minus 5 EP today. It's called At the Organ, and it's another project that they did with Wilco. I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but it's pretty cool so far, and I like the sticker on the wrapping. "New seven-song EP featuring Scott McCaughey, Wilco, Peter Buck, and this awesome bar code!" I think I'll need to cut that out and save it.

Comments

[onib.livejournal.com]

Well, on the up-side, this is the last time Bush can be president. So, at least he'll be gone in just a few years (unless Jeb takes the White House in 2008 and keeps him around as an advisor).

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Or if he somehow manages to amend or ignore the Constitution so that he can come back, but I doubt that will happen. What might well happen, though, is that we'll get someone else equally bad or worse. When I talked about this last night with bethje, though, she said she thought a Democrat would probably win in 2008.

Of course, the fact that Bush can't possibly run for another term means he has even LESS reason to listen to the people.

[onib.livejournal.com]

Not to scare you, but they have been talking about an ammendment to allow citizens born in other countries to run for president. I believe people are referring to it as the Arnold Ammentment.

Maybe with Republicans firmly in control of all areas of government, they won't be able to throw the blame for all our problems on anyone else.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

The thing is, I actually think people who weren't born in the United States SHOULD be able to run for President. What does where you were born have to do with anything, especially if you've spend most of your life here? On the other hand, any law that keeps Arnold from becoming President can't be all bad.

If that amendment IS passed, it would be cool if someone who wasn't born in the States and has some actual qualifications would win the election, essentially beating the Terminator at his own game.

[onib.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't that be great?

Wow, opening up the field to candidates that are actually qualified? What a concept!

[revme.livejournal.com]

I ordered the new Minus 5 EP from Yep Roc, but I don't know if they actually shipped it or anything. I got a couple of notices from CCNow saying they were cancelling my order, but the first time I got a message immediately after saying "NOT ACTUALLY CANCELLED!!! ERROR!! ERROR!! MY HOOKS ARE FLAILING WILDLY!!!", so I don't know whether or not I still have the order or not. I've been keeping an eye on my checking account to see if they ever actually take the money. If they don't by next week, I'm just going to order it again. Although maybe from a store or something instead.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I just bought the EP from a store. I'm kind of surprised they had it, but I'm glad they did.

Did you get the package deal with the T-shirt? I thought about doing that, but I couldn't figure out exactly how it worked, and whether I would save any money that way.

[revme.livejournal.com]

I just emailed Yep Roc, so I'll probably find out tomorrow.

I didn't get the package deal with the shirt, just because they mentioned that they had it, but didn't put it up yet; I figured I was just getting the shirt, like, free or something (since 10 bucks is a little expensive for an EP and all), but then they put up the special Shirt/EP deal. But I think that it actually worked out to the same as buying the shirt and the EP separately, so... yeah. (And it's the standard Minus 5 shirt with the Down With Wilco 4th Side design, not a special shirt.) So, yeah. If I have to re-order At The Organ, I'm not sure whether or not I'll get the shirt, too. Maybe, but probably not (I'm not honestly too into the design, really).

[vovat.livejournal.com]

The EP cost me $10, which is a lot for an EP. Stores do tend to jack up prices, but that's actually LESS than they're charging at Amazon. I guess it's worth it for new Minus 5 material, though.

[revme.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- I've actually seen ads for it in the Stranger (the Seattle free weekly) where it's only 7 bucks, so I might just either cancel the order/accept that it is cancelled, and then pick it up at one of the places that advertised it for cheap.

(I have to admit that is kinda neat living in Seattle, where the record stores are all "WHOO!! NEW MINUS 5!!". For a while, you couldn't go anywhere in the Stranger without seeing an ad for a store mentioning that you could buy "Down with Wilco" from them for a couple bucks cheaper than list.