Once more into the breach, dear friends

I'm not going to listen to the spin. I could not take it.
The debate is over, and I come away surprised. I had resolved to vote for Kerry no matter what, but now I feel better about that resolution. I want to vote *for* him, not just against Bush. It doesn't matter what is said in the next couple of days: when Bush's hate mongers have time to isolate negative soundbytes from Kerry's performance and try to twist his words. I heard it tonight, and I was really moved, I was.
I actually found myself nodding at things that Kerry was saying: especially about Sudan, how we can't let it turn into another Rwanda. Bush didn't even attempt to pronounce Rwanda, just kept saying we were sending candy bars and band aids, would continue to send them after the rains, while people are dying. That meant a lot to me, that Kerry would mention Rwanda, and our failure there.
I also liked how he combated the flip-flopping blitzkrieg; he did it exactly right. He said that he was certain about his principles, what changes is how to implement those principles, as we learn new facts and realities; we should be able to adapt to the situation at hand. I think Bush really cripples himself when he carries on about remaining steadfast and certain about everything, even when he is wrong.
Towards the end, Bush really lost it, in my opinion. Especially when he said that he might have to put a leash on his daughters!! The women of America collectively bristled with rage. Then when Kerry was wrapping up the N. Korea issue, he made a very good point that just because the president says something can't be done, doesn't mean it can't be done: he's a liar.
The moderator offered Bush a chance to respond to that; he had nothing to say obviously. He half heartedly muttered about Saddam Hussein, as if that was the issue!
Yes, I am pleased with the debate tonight. I liked it when Kerry would say things like "That's not the issue." I hate how Bush keeps invoking hollow phrases he never has to justfy or explain, and I think Kerry did a good job at calling him on that tonight.
It almost makes me reluctant to watch the subsequent debates, because it would be hard to improve upon Kerry's performance tonight. And I can bet you that Bush's "war room" is hard at work to correct the mistakes he made tonight, while Kerry will be riding high.
I will watch though, because I hope Kerry surprises me again. I look forward to nodding affirmatively along with his plans for health care and education.

I can't remember what I did with my gum

Did I have it when I sat down at the computer?
Was it with me while I dyed my hair?
Is my puppy chewing on it now?
Why can't I remember what I did with my gum?
I had gum in my mouth, about an hour and a half ago.
Now I no longer have gum.
I am frightened. I am worried.
It could be anywhere.
You would think I'd recall spitting it into the trash.
Or wadding it up in tissue.
Some act of disposal, since it is absent.
Yet nothing: just the memory of gum, and
An empty feeling, like I misplaced my name.

With a green and yellow melancholy she sat like Patience on a monument

Today went by so slowly. Perhaps it was because I accidently awoke when my alarm went off. Usually there is much snooze-button-pushy, but I must actually have gotten enough sleep last night. Fell asleep watching "Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer," which kind of pissed me off because I didn't make it to my favorite part.

• you remind me of a man
• what man?
• the man with the power
• what power?
• the power of voodoo
• who do?
• you do
• do what?
• remind me of a man

The debate is tonight. I will watch it. Not that I care how Kerry does; if I can vote, I will vote for Kerry so that the world stops hating us. Or at least hates us less. I am still sick, I have been sick since Sunday. I wish I could be more witty and such but I am just exhausted. You will have to settle for semi-coherent. More later...

That for a fantasy or a trick of fame go to their graves like beds...

Watching the news, the war steps forward as "multiple explosions rock Baghdad." But I thought we were at war with "Terror", does Terror live there? Alternative news venues are telling us that the situation on the ground in Iraq is much worse then we (the American People) are being led (misled) to believe. Go here: http://www.back-to-iraq.com for a report from an independent journalist in Iraq. He raised his own money to go, and so he does not have to account to the media or say what someone tells him to say. He says its much more than a few cities holding out...
Meanwhile, Terror is *here*, not in Baghdad. We just implemented this protocol where all visitors from Europe and Asia (our allies) have to be digitally photographed and fingerprinted when they enter the country by plane. Mexican and Canadian citizens are exempt, mind you. So really, we are only pissing off our allies by implying that we don't trust them, and the country remains wide open and easy to enter for anyone else.
Carol Costello (CNN) fearfully asks some official: Won't the terrorists find another way in? And I am flabbergasted. First of all, I suspect that there are some terrorists that live here, and are here already. They don't have to break in like some jewel thief. Secondly, it is impossible to seal up a country of this size inside a tupperware container of security. If people want to get in, they will find a way. But apparently most Americans live in fear that these shadowy figures will somehow invade us.
I am not really afraid that terrorists will enter the country. I assume they will. I am more afraid that our policies at home and in the world will consolidate anti-US sentiment to the point that these people will recieve more support, and so have more resources to carry out their attacks.
They keep saying that "We have to attack them over there so we don't have to deal with them at home." Do people really believe that we, alone, as one nation in a world of nations, (and a disliked nation at that) can defeat a *form* of violence that exists in many countries, including our allies, including our own? I'm waiting for when we decide we must carpet bomb London to stop Al Qaeda.
The world is changing rapidly, this isn't the Cold War. We need to change the way we think about our country, our borders, our influence in a global community. Lines on the ground don't make a whole lot of sense anymore. And when it is relatively easy to acquire dangerous weapons, having more of them doesn't necessarily deter. We *knew* where all the Soviets weapons were, at all times, and how many they had. That's why mutually assured destruction worked. But if you can't pin your enemy down, that strategy loses its effectiveness.
I agree that terrorism is unacceptable, and must be stopped: but I don't have a lot of confidence in the ability of our leadership to address this problem.

Beginnings

"If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, absent thee from felicity awhile, and in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, to tell my story."