John's Blog

Some days you pick up the morning paper and just want to go back to bed. A solid parade of stories that make me ask, what happened to the country that I thought I lived in? Once there was at least the facade of fairness and compassion in this country, even if the results weren't always there. I always thought that I lived in a country that gave me hope for the future, and not a continued fear of what atrocity or outrageous decision will come next. A place where the next generation will live in a world that's a little bit better than what came before it. Any sort of optimism is rather tough to maintain these days.

First, I read that school curriculums around the country are being narrowed and "dumbed-down" in order to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind act. Teaching to the test seems a sure fired way to lower the bar and bring down the quality of education. Not the best way to invest in our future, I'll make the cynical assumption that these students will be more likely to vote Republican.

But there are so many other issues on the front pages daily that are just as bad. Our divisive immigration policy which makes illegal immigrants felons is another shameful chapter in a dark moment of American history. The continuing quagmire of death & violence we've stired up in Iraq is another. Dubya and his minions continue to embrace torture and preemptive attack as public policy, and deny the existence & effects of global warming, to the amazement of most of the country and the rest of the world. We have an economy, which despite all the Preznuts' assertions of health, seems to be moving in the wrong direction, at least for most Americans who don't reside in the upper echelon income brackets.

Where are the voices of outrage? Where are the Howard Beales? Where is the Democratic voice OR strategy for that matter? To assume the the large black cloud that is hanging over our country will result in a cleansing spring shower that will wash the bums out of office isn't the best strategy. Despite the polls that show people viewing Democrats a bit more favorably, this shouldn't lead to a sense of complacency or entitlement. Races are won or lost on the local level, and current sentiment means nothing by the time people go to the poling booths. And let's hope that they aren't Diebold machines.

Normally, a rant like this makes me feel better. This one just made my head hurt. I need some event that will return my optimism to me. Soon; very soon.