Fear and loathing in America...

(With apologies to the late Hunter S. Thompson)

With the election drawing near, I am beginning to dread turning on the TV. All I hear and see is the fear and hatred of the backward-looking elements of our society. I hear how the folks that show up at Republican rallies are the "real" Americans. I hear how Proposition 8 will "force our children to learn about gay marriage" as if two people loving each other was the moral equivalent of disemboweling a puppy. I am so VERY tired of hearing about people that think if you don't do things as they do, you have no right to exist. I have said before that there is too little love in the world. There is also too little tolerance, civility, polite and considerate behavior, personal responsibility and the basic human virtue of kindness.

We live in a society that invented and refined "road rage". A place where a naked sword is perfectly acceptable television fare but a naked person is pornographic. A place where armored gladiators can hurl their bodies at each other with intent to destroy, but a woman flashes her chest at halftime and it spawns repercussions that we feel to this day. A nation where the followers of a mythical man that preached universal love for your fellow man can support turning a significant portion of the population into second-class citizens.

I just finished watching Obama's half-hour ad. Why is Obama the only one espousing kindness and tolerance? Why are the Democrats the only ones trying to get the majority of Americans a break? My fondest current hope is that America will see through the bullshit that the McCain campaign and the "Yes on 8" campaign are spouting and show up at the polls to make sure that both McCain and "Proposition Hate" go down in flames. We will see in one week.