AND WE'RE BAAAAACK, BABY!!!!!

Why hello readers! It's been a while since you’ve heard from me, has it not? Well I’m back from my hiatus partly because I was inspired by the good stuff I saw coming out of my friends over at The Outlaw & The Elitist, partly due to having something to say, and mostly out of boredom.

Speaking of things I have to say…

I’d like to discussed how weirded out I am by the Tea Party. Not the Boston one. No, no, the Stupid one (that being their state-of-mind, not staging location). I think most people would agree that the group is a little strange to say the least, a bit crazy to put it mildly, and really f**king stupid to be accurate. However, it’s not really that I’m worried about them taking over the government. Even if they did, I'm not threatening to leave the country and go to Canada—much more likely I would grumble about it and go on with life. No, mostly I'm just perplexed by them, and a little weirded out. Perplexed by their beliefs, which I probably wont get into here, and weirded out by what they could do.

Let me explain.

So say all the Tea Party candidates win their republican primaries. On the one hand, this will move the Republican Party so far out to the right, I have a hard time seeing them as being electable to the moderate general public at all. On the other hand, what would happen if they did? Now--other than making me sobbingly laugh at my long held belief that through democracy, the best leaders will rise up and lead us--this might cripple the Republican Party more than George W. ever could have, in the long-term. And maybe even (God, I can’t believe I’m suggesting this) be good for the country. Or it will do absolutely nothing (the latter being most likely).

How’s that, you say?????

Well, I imagine it would be like this: at the moment, we have 1 “tea partier” in the Senate (1% of the vote) and 52 in the House (11.9%). Now as much as I would like to tell you how many are currently running for office and have won primaries, there doesn’t seem to be a complete list that compiles that information. The best I’ve been able to find is that there are 3 senatorial hopefuls, and possibly 2 for the house (this from diligent Wikipedia research). So on the one hand that would triple their voting power in the Senate (*snicker* wow impressive) and push them all the way to having 12% of the vote in the House. Again not exactly awe-inspiring.

It’s pretty clear where I came up with the idea that it would have basically no effect on our everyday lives (unless you are represented by these people, in which case, I feel for you—I'm from Texas), but how could I envision it hurting the GOP or being good for the Nation? Basically, the independence this group exerts on the GOP does two things:

First (and more in the foreground) it denies them reliable, controllable members of Congress. Sure they may share positions on many of the issues likely to come up, but when aiming to build a party consensus or work deals with the opposition (i.e. the Democrats), these TPers will remember their elections and how the party organization did not want or particularly support them. They would be more likely to take orders directly from Glenn Beck and the friendly foxes on Fox and Friends than from the GOP Whip. This will weaken party, as--though we laughed at their numbers in the last paragraph--3 Senators and 54 Congressmen are nothing to sneeze at. Even if the Republicans captured the majority in both houses, they would at best be left with the situation the Democrats have recently been living through, and at least the Blue Dogs have some loyalty to their party leadership (to needlessly continue this analogy, the party ‘publicans would be more like support/money-starved wolves, just as likely to bite their master’s hand as that of their foe).

Secondly, this independence could lead to them breaking away from the GOP completely. This would be actually a tremendous step forward for our political system, as there have only been 152 elected congressmen (31 Senators, 111 Representatives) not affiliated with a major party since the end of Reconstruction that number rising to 209 if they make all the gains they hope for in this cycle and then leave the GOP. That means, that the last few election cycles would have seen the election of 27% of the "new" number of independents and an increase of 37% on the historical one--an incredible gain when taken all at once. What I'm saying is that this could actually spell the beginning of a multi-party system in The United States.

While you’ll never find a more committed democrat in the country, I will also readily admit that a multi-party system based on working together and coalitions just seems like a nicer, healthier, and more fair way to govern a country. So you can see, I hope, as to why this just comes off as a weird situation to me. I know they're wrong and stupid and they mean to do terrible things if they get into power, it's just... well, I think they may accidentally also do good things for us. In the longrun. The very, very, very, verrrrry longrun. And while I still think that those *ssholes in the Tea Party should never be allowed close to law-writing quill pens, if they are able to get America into the multi-party spirit, well… I’ll try to keep my grumbling down to at least a manageable level.

Signing off, and, it’s good to be back!

Did I write something?? Yesh I did!! Who's a good boy??? I am!! Yesh I am!!!!

06/29/09 - So I haven't written in a while. For good reason--I've been busy. And I still am! So you don't get a full post today either. I just want to say one thing: Ann Coulter is a liar of the utmost degree. But I'll be damned if she doesn't have some amazing legs.

Also, click on the ads. Make me moneys.

^_^

I've Sold Out. I Hope.

05/26/09 - So the astute haganblog reader may have discovered by now that there are ad's placed strategically on the top of the main page. And probably the subpages too. I'm not sure, I didn't bother to check. The reason for this is simple. I saw an ad that advertised selling space to put ad's on your blog page. So I thought to myself, SELF! You have a lot of space on your blogspot that you AREN'T using! My inner voice likes to speak in italics, all caps, and exclamation points. Why not sell this space and make some money! ALSO, you should sell your kidney! You really only NEED one...! I ignored this second recommendation, but the first intrigued me. So i signed up for this service, and began waiting for the money to flow in. As it turns out, I only get paid when someone clicks on the ad's on my page. Also, I can't click on them myself. Which annoyed me: what if I saw something being advertised that I liked, or was interested in? I'm not allowed to click on it. I really feel like that's not fair. I clicked on that first ad. Obviously I'm one of the few people on the internet that click on those annoying little ad's, but I can't even click on the ones on my own site! Because of a conflict of interest or something. Which really it wouldn't be. I'd be interested in both my blog and the ad. But they don't really care about that.

Anyway, this is now no longer an indie blog. I'm commercialized. Let the boycotts begin. Oh, wait. What's that you say? The hipsters never read my blog? So they've technically been boycotting it since its inception? Well played indie punks. Well played indeed.

05/25/09 - So I was supposed to write a blog this afternoon, but I got to talking with my mom, and then I had to make dinner, and then we all watched a movie... I guess it just never materialized. Anyway, I'm writing it now, so that's that.

So. What would we like to talk about today? Or, I guess I should say "tonight." So I'm going back to work tomorrow morning. At 9 AM. So that should be fun. It could be worse, though, I suppose. Last summer, I worked for the county's Road & Bridge Department. I had to wake up at 6 every morning, be at work at 7, and then I wouldn't get home that night until like 5:30 or 6. so this year, work is a lot nicer. For instances, I'll be inside most of the time. I'll get to eat at nice places for lunch. I'll be paid a lot more. On the downside, I'll be doing a lot of rather mindless work, i.e. filing case documents. Also, I'll need to wear a tie everyday. Which isn't really a downside, as I actually like dressing nice.

I'm only working 4 days this week because today was Memorial Day. Did you remember that? Some people didn't, and so it was kind of a surprise to them that they didn't have to work today. Not me, though. I kept Memorial Day on the forefront of my memory. Also, I'm leaving Friday afternoon to go back to Austin for the weekend. Hopefully, I'll be getting out from work early (ideally 3 or so) and will leave straight from it for the city.

One thing I really dig man, is road trips. Partly because I love to drive, and partly because I love to listen to loud music. Or, more appropriately, I suppose, "music loud." Anyone who knows me will tell you that. I can never get my music up loud enough actually. I just keep turning up the volume, and it never gets too loud. That or I'm going deaf. Which is definitely possible.

My least favorite thing about my car stereo, is that my iPod plays some songs at different volume levels--even when sound check is on! I don't understand why it can't just make the Beatles play at the same level as Scary Kids Scaring Kids. I can do it manually, and I'm a man; why can't my automobile do it automatically? Anyway, it annoys me, but not enough to really do anything about it. Besides, whenever I get up for work in the morning, I'm just gonna listen to NPR Morning Edition anyway. 89.9 Red River Radio. Get excited in the morning for a little bit of Steve Inskeep with your cup of coffee. Renee Montagne? There's a reason you're on the radio.

That is all everyone. I gotta get up in the morning. Adios.

Summersong

05/14/09 - I haven't posted for awhile, so today I thought I'd write a song about the end of school and the beginning of summer. Here it is:

"Summersong"

Ah well,

The Summer's here, & babe, the Winter's reached its end.

And yes,

The end is near, but baby, Time don't break, It bends.

Oh well,

And don't you know, my Dear, that soon I go to leave.

And yes,

I hate the truth, but girl the proof's the sand & the sieve

Oh well,

The people come, & babe the people go afar.

And yes,

The moon it shines & babe the sun is gold, but you're my star.

Oh well,

I can't be worried, yes babe, we're all hurried along.

And yes,

We might have time, but girl don't forget this song.

The spring-time song is what we've been singin'

And like all good things, this too, it will pass.

And the Summersong will come along a breezin'

You & I will find the time to make it last.

There's

Hot air blowing across my face, and what's more

Is that

I smell the grass & I hear the thunderstorm.

Yes the

Earth is turning, & I feel it 'neath my feet.

And the

Earth is warmin', but I'm ready for the heat.

The spring-time song is what we've been singin'

And like all good things, this too, it will pass.

And the Summersong will come along a breezin'

You & I will find the time to make it last.

As I

Walk outside, the sand is in my toes.

And the

Pipe is smoking, & we're where no one knows

That to

Live is to die, but we don't need all that.

Because

It's Summer on the road & you know we never need a map.

The spring-time song is what we've been singin'

And like all good things, this too, it will pass.

And the Summersong will come along a breezin'

You & I will find the time to make it last.

Maybe it's trite, and maybe you just have to hear it. But take my word. It's a good fuckin' song.

Goddam it's a Good Day to be Driving

05/10/09 - So it's Mother's Day today. How do I know this? People have been reminding me. Constantly. I've been getting reminders since last Sunday. Apparently, no one wants me to forget about today. So i remembered. Love you mom.

So yesterday i went driving around Austin for a good thirty minutes. I left campus on 24th street--took it all the way to MoPac. I went south there, crossed the river, until I hit 360 North. I love that highway man. It goes through some of the most beautiful country in Austin. The canyons it goes through, the valleys it goes over. I dig that man, I do. I turned off of 360 onto the 2222 exit and then I followed that road all the way back to MoPac. After I got back in the southbound lane, I got off pretty quick afterwards onto 45th, which is the street im living off of next year when I come back to Austin. I took 45th up until I got to Lamar, which I followed down to 35th street. A couple of blocks going down that street and I was back on the drag. Man, now, that's a street I could go without driving on. Soon I was back on campus. I was home at Blanton, and god did I wish I wasn't. It's a shithole of a place to live--anyone who's been here can tell you that.

I like to drive around. I like to roll down the windows; turn up the music. I love the wind and the sun, but I dig the moon, too. When I'm driving around, everything is good.

My dad's favorite song is one called "It's All Right" by the Traveling Wilburys, but he always calls it "Ridin' Around in the Breeze" after a line in the song. George Harrison is the one who sings this particular lyric, and it speaks to my dad like nothing else does. I don't have the same feelings associated with it that he does, but it speaks to me too. I know the feeling of the breeze in you face, and the wind whipping all around; the feeling of taking the wheel and feeling like you're in control of everything on the highway. It's a high you can't get with any of the substances I've tried. I love it, man--and everything that comes with it.

I'm going out driving now, I'm going to have the breeze hit my face, and I'm going to live on this Sunday afternoon. I'll ramble on, hitting that open road. It's life, and so, it's love, man--it's everything it can be. Take it easy friends.

April Showers Bring May Mugginess

05/07/09 - So have you ever been talking to someone, and you think they may be interested in you but mostly you think that they're just being nice? Yeah, that sucks, doesn't it? Anyway, I was taking a psychology exam earlier today. Now this exam was kind of superfluous. I didn't need it for a grade. I'm already making an A in the class, and he drops the lowest test grade. Which would have been this last test had I not taken it. As it turns out, it will still be this last test. I did poorly. But not the point. Actually, that was the point. Okay, well sorry for the brevity tonight, but it's time for Thirsty Thursday.

P.S. I'm not really sorry.