My politics are pretty far left, which should come as a surprise to no one. I respect the opinions of honest conservatives, because though my gut tells me I'm right and they're wrong, I can't demand that everyone listen to my gut. But: I don't think the people running the country at the moment are honest conservatives or honest ideologues of any persuasion. I don't think they have a vision for the country that happens to be contrary to mine, as, say, the Reagan people had. I think they're lying greedy rich people who want to stay on top, and I think they're leading the country down disastrous roads.

So I watched the convention and I'm sending money to the Kerry campaign (though I missed the Big Speech last night in favor of a rather extraordinary event involving Bhutanese monks, which I'll blog about later)and I'm trying to get excited again. I'm having trouble, not because I don't trust Kerry and Edwards -- as far as it's sensible to trust politicains, I do -- but because I feel as though I've been through this so many times, and every time -- notably with Jimmy Carter, and again with Bill Clinton -- I thought we'd found the right road, people with an interest (usually economic) in the wrong road found us and turned us around. If you're my age you'll remember the Carter-era oil shortage and the small, fuel efficient cars Detroit produced to combat it. So where did all these SUV's come from? If you're more than 5 years old you'll remember the enormous world-wide outpouring of good will toward the US after Sept. 11th, which we managed to turn into animosity in such a short time. I'm having trouble feeling like I can go through all this again, though "all this" is admittedly hard to define.

You see why I let Dan be my political mouthpiece?