On the off chance you noticed I haven't been around lately it's because I spent the last week in the hospital. Don't worry, I'm ok and haven't been in any pain (except for some of the tests they ran, especially the bone marrow aspiration, which I'll be glad to never do again)... it was just a complication from a medication I've been on for about 2-3 years to combat a disease I have called ulcerative colitis. I went to my doctor and got a blood test last Friday and ended up getting called to the ER the next day because the results said my platelet count was "dangerously low". I went in to my doc again last Monday and they decided it wasn't safe to send me home and .. 7 days later, here I am. I've never been hospitalized before, so everything was a new experience to me. I am SO lucky to have a great support system, both in terms of actual coverage and my family. My doctor is excellent and I'm confident I'll recover.
One of the things about being in the hospital was I didn't have Internet access but I did have TV. And a TON of time that needed passing. My roommate watched the news a lot, both local stuff and the cable networks. If you've read me before you know how I feel about TV news and ... well, I've had this rant brewing in my head all week and have been dying to get it out so here goes.
Judging by the TV, the most important issue facing America is Reverend Wright. No, not Iraq, where our soldiers fight and die every day. The most important thing, the only thing worth discussing is Reverend Wright. From my bed I looked out into the hall and saw people struggling with walkers, had three successive roommates who each endured excruciating physical pain, and a couple nights ago heard a lady crying for hours, but the most important topic of discussion in American politics is Reverend Wright. I'm hooked up to an IV and my arms look like I spent the last 2 months with Anthony Kiedis and all I hear is Reverend Wright this, Reverend Wright that. Even when the TV was muted, Reverend Wright is still on the headline or the caption or streaming across the ticker as the talking heads bob up and down, pretending to express opinions that deserve audiences.
This election is no longer about who's the best person for the job. This election is about the election. There is simply not a single substantive, policy-related thought left in Wolf Blitzer's head. Him, Russert, O'Reilly and the rest of the clowns have nothing to talk about but the circus. It's just entertainment to them and it'll never end because they make it themselves. Barack Obama has been torn down. Hillary Clinton has been torn down. McCain hasn't gotten his yet, but he will. In some sense I understand why the media no longer talks about the dead in Iraq or laid-off workers, people who can't afford medications, etc. The personalities vying for the presidency are too interesting for their own good. This election has become the Jerry Springer Show, except instead of people throwing chairs at each other, they throw words, and even when they don't, others accuse them of it.
Awhile back Michelle Obama got attacked for saying she's proud of America for the first time in her life. I saw where she was coming from, but I'm glad I never said anything like that because at this point I would have had to take it completely back. I am so ashamed of this country right now. Ever since she got blasted for that quote, we've retreated into the very worst aspects of our culture and gradually destroyed the opportunity of a generation. When her husband isn't being crucified for not wearing a flag pin by people who murdered 4,000 of our countrymen, he's being judged by the media for things he didn't even say and has emphatically, eloquently demonstrated he disagrees with. It's just so disillusioning to watch all of this.
I feel even more terrible for it because there's not much I can do without screwing up my health worse than it already is. Frankly, I shouldn't even be following this crap anymore, and I intend to cut back drastically. All it does is drag me down and I can't even contribute that much. But someday I'll be healthy and with it again, maybe in time for the general but I doubt it. It's so ironic and painful for me that for all the ideals I've fought for during my years as an activist, finally I find the candidate who I believe the most in but he's running in the election I can do the least in. It's so devastating to watch the Blitzers, Hannitys and Russerts of the world uniting to destroy it before my very eyes, ruining the fabric of democracy in a bid to drive up ratings.
Despite them, Obama may win. Or he might lose, I don't know. But I do know the ideas he's voiced are good and must be carried on regardless of his fate because these ideas will determine our fate. Somehow we're going to have to learn to reject tabloid politics, the politics of opportunism and attack, and have respectful, meaningful conversations with the object of creating solutions, not just scoring points. A "democracy" facing a bloody war, environmental catastrophe, an energy crisis, a collapsing economy and assorted other Really Big Problems that anchors its entire election narrative on Reverend Wright is not a "democracy", it's a joke. If we expect to live in a decent country, we need to confront real problems, not invent fake ones.