beautiful, funny, sad & true

As you know, this is not normally a political blog, but I saw something on CNN today while I was at lunch that completely floored me, and I knew I had to share here too.  My friend and I were in a newly renovated Vietnamese restaurant (it was excellent, by the way; much better than it used to be), in which they now have a flat-screen television mounted on the wall, showing CNN, just like McDonald’s does.  (This restaurant also displays a small bust of Jesus on the wall, right next to the bar, but that’s neither here nor there.)  Normally, I’m fundamentally opposed to televisions in restaurants, because television is ubiquitous already.  Do we really need to be constantly distracted and entertained while we’re attempting to eat and converse with our friends and/or family?

We weren’t even able to hear it, anyway, because they had cheesy Christmas music playing over it.

Having said all that, this ONE TIME I’m actually glad that they had the television in the restaurant, because it allowed me to see this footage:

I haven’t laughed that hard at anything in quite some time, and I’ve certainly never seen anything like it in my entire life.  Apparently, the Arabic translation of what the shoe thrower (who, incidentally, is an Iraqi journalist living and working in Egypt) yelled is, “Here’s a farewell kiss, you dog!”  This guy had the courage to do what it seems that many Iraqis (and, dare I say, many Americans!) would love to have done also.

Here’s one account of the story; here’s another.  Here’s another.

Enjoy!

Today is Election Day here in the U.S., and this is one of the only times I will ever use this blog to write about politics.

I was old enough to vote in 1988, just barely, but I wasn’t politically aware enough yet to make any kind of educated decision, so I declined to vote. 1992 was the first election in which I participated somewhat actively. 1996 and 1998 were the first ones in which I was really old enough (and informed enough) to have my own opinions, and we also had some very important ballot measures here in Oregon (such as physician-assisted suicide) that I felt the need to weigh in on.

2000 was another milestone election, in so many ways. We had no way of knowing at the time, but it was full of many historical lessons and pitfalls that have been documented at great length, not to mention greater eloquence and erudition, elsewhere.

In 2004, I did my part, albeit somewhat grudgingly, but this is the first time that I’ve been very engaged in the entire process, from the earliest candidates’ nominations clear through to the end of the election process.  I feel that this is the most important election our country has seen in at least fifty years, and that we would be remiss if we let it pass without taking part in it.

I’ve never felt an adrenaline rush as I filled in the little oval on the ballot with my pencil before. I’ve never felt an adrenaline rush as I dropped my ballot into the mailbox before. I’ve never listened to every single newscast while biting at my fingernails before. This is the most important political time I’ve ever lived through.

Many people seem to be of the opinion that it “doesn’t matter who you vote for, it just matters that you DO vote.”  I’m not one of those people.  The Bush administration and their cronies have run roughshod, pretty much unchecked and without serious opposition, for too long over the country and the world, and destroyed our country’s status and reputation in the eyes of the world, and they need to be stopped. Those of us who consider ourselves progressives need to do everything we can to promote change.

Here ends the diatribe.

We now return you to the witty and insightful (and non-political!) blog you’ve come to expect and love, already in progress.