I'd Prefer Not

Now that I am over forty and a single father, I have been thinking about my next relationship. Or my lack of interest in such a thing.

America is very big on couples culture. For many people, their love relationship is the relationship, so much so that they get a large part of their identity from the relationship. But what if you choose to go without? What if you dig living by yourself, coming home to an empty house, staying up late and then bedding down all by yourself?

Don't get me wrong. An occasional friendly shag with a pretty lady, sounds good. But a bona fide monogamous domestic set-up, thank you no.

Does this make me a misogynist because implicit to this argument is the implied suggestion that woman are great to have around as long as they're busy on their back. But once their mouths start running with relationship talk or shopping exploits, exit stage right. The thing is that now, thanks to wisdom and a controllable libido, it is possible to politely excuse yourself from courting situations where you know you'll probably score but frankly you'd prefer to be home watching the US Open. Alone.

The Meaning Of No Meaning

It's the day after the Virginia Tech massacre and every talking head on the telly is asking the same two questions: Why did Cho do what he did and what does it mean?

The first question is pretty easy to answer: He was enraged at life, at the world, and his predicament in it. He wanted out and he wasn't going alone.

The second question is also pretty easy: There is no meaning.

Coming to terms with that answer is the hard part. If the killing had no meaning, no higher purpose, if the victims, young and beautiful and ambitious, weren't "fated" to die by a loving God who wanted them "to come home because it was their time," then their deaths were a horrible waste plain and simple. This conclusion, for so many people, is unacceptable. The absurdity of existence is a mountain too cruel to climb.

Yet if we face the music that life is random and that God will not intervene in human affairs, perhaps we can begin to take more responsibility for our actions here on earth. Health care, global warming, alternative energy are issues that demand realistic understanding of our human condition.

And gun control isn't the limiting of an individual freedom. It's a community project that recognizes that life is difficult and that people need people to thrive. Gun mania is symptomatic of toxic individualism energized by paranoia, alienation and existential dread.

Whither the future for America's youth? They will be watched every more closely and policed ever more strictly as they stay at home safely in front of the computer.

I am glad my boy is going to grow up in Canada where the social safety net still exists both as ideal of community and a reality of practice.

Dark Horse

First the press dropped the ball on Bush's absolute unsuitability for the White House while trashing Gore, who is now enjoying the fruits of a well-managed comeback.

Then they bollixed the Iraq War by not asking the questions they should have simply because they didn't want to upset the American public still reeling from the 9/11 fearmongering of Bush and his chickenhawks.

Now we get play by play of the Obama and Hillary slugfest for the next two years!!! Oy vey. Enough already. I don't fancy either one of them and John Edwards isn't much better although he's at least put forward a health care plan.

What the devil? How about Bill Richardson? Great resume, including a second term as the governor of New Mexico, arguably one of the most challenging states in the union to govern. When you really think about it, Obama and Hillary seem like antiques, each representing old factions of the Civil Rights Era. Hispanics are the new and powerful minority in America. But Richardson refuses to blatantly play that facile card.

Bill Richardson is perfect for the White House - reasonable, experienced and above all, competent. He's all the things the current resident is not.

I sincerely hope that Richardson hangs on as the bench dwindles. Eventually there will only be three or four left. If there's any justice, Richardson will be in the thick of it come February of next year and the American public will get a good look at a good man who could be a great president.

Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead!

They killed Saddam in the Emerald City before the dawn and the munchkins are still going at it hammer and tongs. Bombs and bodies everywhere. The acrimony on the gallows between Saddam and his executioners proves that Iraq is dead pool of hatred and tribalism. And now Bush wants to mount a "surge" in Baghdad?

How do you make sausages? By pumping meat into the grinder. But who will mop up the blood? The tears?

Thank god my boy is getting his Canadian passport.