McCain – Chris Gammell's Analog Life

I am definitely a fan of Keith Olbermann. There is no denying that he is more than a little left of center, but I feel that he is a bare-knuckled reporter first and foremost and that he will take it to just about any politician, including Obama. Also, I know it’s corny, but I like that he has adopted the Edward Murrow sign off (“Good night and good luck”) and I think that some of his blunt and thorough investigative reports have earned him the right to do so. He definitely gets a little more riled up though…

Anyway, I think this report that Olbermann gives (see link below) is pertinent to this blog because of the effect of gas prices on renewable energy. Aside from the fact that there really are some crook speculators out there (Ben Graham is rolling over in his grave), I have to wonder if this blog would even exist if the gas prices weren’t so high? Would America really care about the environment if our pocket books weren’t shouting at us? Would anyone really care about solar power other than the environmentalists who were investigating it in the first place? I think the answer to that is no. Americans would have happily gone about their world if gas prices stayed the same. There would still be some fringe interest about the environment and about generating cheap, renewable energy (eventually). But otherwise, we’d still be loving our SUVs here in America.

As I’ve written about before, renewable energy will require economies of scale. There’s no other way to really bring down the prices enough for anyone other than Hollywood celebs and Internet startup gurus to afford the power methods available today. And so even though they mention the banks coming in and hurting the consumers in this clip (as I also mention here), it might be a necessary step in the overall evolution of renewable energy.

To make a big impact in renewable energy we have to accept that it will have to be big business.

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So I had a dream last night about Barack Obama.

No, not that kind of dream sicko.

The dream was that there was a debate between Obama, Clinton and some new lady who entered the race. During the debate Obama gave some rousing speech and then actually began to cry at the end of his speech. My first thought was “Oh crap, now we people will make fun of him for that”, but that really wasn’t the focus of the dream. Then at the end of the debate, the third candidate lady decided to withdraw from the race, at which point Obama immediately announced that he would have her as his running mate. And I remember thinking “wow, that’s a killer team”. But this STILL wasn’t the focus of the dream. Next, I was in a different part of town and I spilled some of my drink on my shirt. So then I went down to my basement and started scrubbing my shirt trying to get the drink off of it. I woke up still scrubbing when my dog started pacing around my room, wanting to be let out to go to the bathroom.

The point of the dream and this post: I had a dream about politics/politicians/something that wasn’t me scrubbing a shirt for 3 hours straight (although that did happen)

Why would I have a dream about politics? Why would I write a blog post about it? Why would I involve myself with something I have been trying so hard to ignore since it started (much much too early)? Why are you now here reading this?

Because I now care. That’s all there is to it. Check out my other blog posts, you’ll see. I hardly ever post to my blog. I definitely don’t post anything having to do with anything other than myself. So maybe this is me turning a corner or maybe it’s just not wanting to deal with thinking about this stuff anymore, I dunno. Maybe I just no longer just want Hillary or McCain to be in the white house (although I’ve never really wanted McCain in there). I think what I really want is to be able to listen to NPR in the morning on my way to work and not be like “Goddamn it, Bush” or “What the hell are you thinking, you stupid #$@#%#$@! politician?!”. Prime example: This morning I was listening to a story on NPR about Bush trying to move a deadly cattle disease (foot and mouth) research center from its secluded island location to right next to a bunch of cattle on the mainland in NY. All I could think about as I heard this report was “Oh, who is he helping out now? Which of the good ol’ boys needs a building contract or a military contract or a favor or wants to kill his neighbors cattle?” WHEN THE HELL DID THIS BECOME ALRIGHT? OK, calming back down now. Ooooohhhhooommm (Zen chant).

So that’s what I want. I want to turn on the radio in the morning and not be disappointed with what I hear. I want some other country to talk positively about the US. I want the good ol’ boys and girls of the country to stop getting handouts from the government. I’d like those same people to pay some goddamn taxes.

And sure, in the process I’d love to have better education, health care, foreign policy, equality, social programs, accountability for politicians, environmental conscientiousness, a thriving economy and so on and so forth. But really, I’d settle for a decent story on the radio in the mornings (the reporting is good, they just have to give crappy news). And to go along with the Obama campaign message, I HOPE this can happen if Obama gets elected.

So I did something I’ve never done before and from what I’ve read more people are doing than ever before. I gave money to a political campaign. It wasn’t much but I plan on giving again for the general election. I also plan to do something I haven’t done in the 7 years I’ve been able to do so. I will vote. If that isn’t a measure of how this election season has gotten my apathetic butt motivated, I don’t know what is.

Well, maybe this blog post.