Chapter 2: Dangling from a helicopter, expectantly...

I'm not sure if, four years ago, I would've expected this blog to see a second American election. I remember how badly I wanted Kerry to win at the time for the sake of getting rid of G.W. Bush. I have absolutely no idea whether Kerry would have made a good president. In fact, in the years since, I've made my peace with the fact that Kerry did not win, although one can hardly say Bush's last four years have been more exemplary than his first.

I think the fact is - and this speaks well for Obama - you just can't get a Vietnam vet elected in that country. Consider the generation of politicians the era gave us. Clinton was a war protester and Dubya was a deserter. Meanwhile, you have legitimate war hero Kerry getting spanked by a bogus smear campaign in 2004, and John McCain who was completely de-pantsed by Bush in the 2000 primaries, which lingers with him still. Obama was like 11 years old when Nam ended. That bodes well for him. Maybe McCain would've been a good president in 2000... he would've been far better than Bush and probably could've beaten Gore (something Bush never did) but times have changed and I will be gobsmacked should that man win the election. Let's not even get into Sarah Palin.

Ideologically speaking, of course, I'm very much into Obama. And from observing this absurdly overlong endless debacle of a campaign, I think Obama performed better by sheerly not running as terrible of a campaign as McCain did. McCain fought very old-school, used all the old smear tricks, the pandering, the double-speak that worked so well against him... to no effect. The American people are unmoved. Obama has been coolly removed from the old school campaign style, keeping in tone with his message of Hope and Change. He's very forward-thinking, and that's why I like him to be the next President. He's what America ought to be in this next decade.

But whatever. Here I am, being Canadian, of course I have my Liberal tendencies. But my deal is, I'm committed to re-evaluating what I think works and the way I think things ought to be. I've made my moments of consideration, of doubt. The truth is... who the fuck knows how Obama is going to perform as President? It's a mystery. There exists the potential for it to be a disaster. The world is a volatile place. But I've decided that a McCain presidency would inevitably be a disaster, so I could not in good conscience support that..... if I had a voice in the American election.

But like the rest of the world, I'll have to remain a spectator.

Of course I write about this because, well, my life isn't all that interesting these days. It was gorgeous out today, I suppose it's what you might call an Indian Summer. I bought a day planner because someday I may want to plan when I get my work done (and then do that work.)

I finally shaved today. After three and a half months, I'm all clean shaven. Once I wiped the excess shaving cream from my face I just laughed at how unfamiliar the sight was. It had been all scraggly and uneven due to my half-assed grooming, so I decided to shave it all off and let it grow back in. I estimate I took a good 20 years off my appearance by losing it... I went from 32 to 12.

Anyway man, that's life for tonight. Keep on rockin'
-Scott