a persistant little cloud of cynicism

i'm an opinionated, tenaciously argumentative pain in the ass. i have an opinion about everything and i'm usually quite loud. i have opinions about every tv show and every sitcom. i watch the episodes back to back laughing louder than the soundtrack. i then proceed to dissect the show and make snootish remarks about the peurile nature of the comedy or lack of comedy thereof. but somehow i don't have much to say about the grooviest comedy of them all - the bush presidency.


i've always thought of myself as being socially aware. and given my penchant for launching into diatribes, i often find myself arguing with people about the state of affairs. except now. except in the face of a farce calling itself a presidential election. all through the "incident" in iraq i watched cnn with disbelief on my face, waiting for the penny to drop. i refuse to call it a war. a war is when one country sends it's army in to attack another country's army. what we saw on live television was a mockery of independence and a nation's sovereignty.

each time this was discussed i cynically dismissed it as just another corporate takeover, definitiley hostile. each time the presidential elections were discussed i'd dismiss it with "you know who'll win - the guy who makes the loudest noise". i didn't bother to analyze the issues, i didn't bother to rationalize or condemn any of the behavior. i didn't question any of the violations of human rights or the freedom of a country. i didn't wear a t-shirt that said "the nation's on orange alert but the government's a lemon" (tm) - that's mine and so i better not see that on a t-shirt. in short, i did nothing. i sat by watching the circus.


until i was in a meeting with a senior developer from a team i work with. he'd always struck me as quiet and laid back. someone who kept his opinions to himself. and then i saw the sticker on his laptop. huge bold red letters shouted out "bush must be defeated". that jolted me. was i not even capable of expressing an opinion? is the cynicism in me stronger than hope? i hope not.


here's a well written analysis of some of the issues. i've been reading up at instapundit (the link's on the left) trying to assimilate current and past thinking. perhaps in a few weeks i'll actually have an opinion?


in other news i bought a camera. i promise to flood this blog with pictures in a few days, especially of those stubborn trees who refuse to wake up and smell the fall.


so long superman, now we'll never know why you wore your underwear outside your tights. more power to you.