The City Veins

In my previous life as a political pollster, two things never ceased to amaze me: 1) the slimy new lows to which politics can sink (especially those of the Republican party), and 2) how the American people continue to fall for this stuff. It is truly incredible how easy it is to get American voters to vote against their own (and the country’s) best interests by repackaging the same lies, biases, and fears and selling them to people every four years.

Case in point: Sarah Palin.  I know the shine’s been taken off of her a bit, but the level of support she still gets astounds me.  There’s any number of reasons why, as she’s one of the most hypocritical and loathsome people I’ve ever seen come on to the national political stage. But the one I can’t get over, and can’t believe more people don’t see, is that Sarah Palin IS George W. Bush with a vagina.

The similarities between the two are not just striking, they are terrifying, and I’ll name 3 of them that scare me most:

1) Their undeserved, cocky swagger. Neither one of these people have accomplished anything worthwhile before tricking a bunch of backwards rednecks into making them a governor.  W lived off his family’s money and ran several businesses into the ground, while Palin played the flute in a bikini and was mayor of a town of 12 people.  Some qualifications.

2) How proud they are of lacking intellectually curiosity. It’s one thing not to know something; it’s totally another thing to not know it, be PROUD not to know it, and never want to know it.  Palin and Bush both share an uncanny lack of intellect or curiosity; to them, knowing things or asking questions makes you one of those liberal elites.  And it’s not just that I disagree with them.  I disagree with Dick Cheney, but I think the man is knowledgeable (he just doesn’t use it for good).  Sarah Palin, on the other hand, a former JOURNALISM major, doesn’t apparently read the newspaper. Any newspaper. Not even the conservative ones.  Why would she want to know about the world outside of Alaska? Judging by how she speaks, it doesn’t matter - the rest of the world needs to learn how things are done in Alaska and adapt accordingly.  (Come to think of it, I seem to recall a former Texas governor with the same view of his state…)

3) Empty, angry, fear-mongoring rhetoric. I’ll give the two of them this - they sure know how to find the lowest common denominator and exploit the hell out of it.  These guys would make George Washington sound like a commie liberal terrorist if he were alive today and running against them.  Sarah Palin has more baseless, patently untrue, and vile one-liners than any candidate I’ve ever seen. And about 40% of the country is right there swallowing it hook line and sinker.

I could go on for days, and these are just three things that I’ve noticed.

This is not, however, a condemnation of all Republicans. There are some very thoughtful, capable, and truly good ones out there, and pretty sure that these people cringe when they hear Palin and Bush speak too. These two truly represent not only the worst of their party, but the worst the country has to offer. After 8 years and Bush’s 12% approval rating, though, it appears that for a lot of Americans, nothing has changed.

This partially explains our semi-disappearance in the last few weeks:

At the firm where I work they often refer to the “work-life balance,” which (fairly obviously) comes down to  how much time you spend working and how much time you have for everything else in your life.  To have both a full-time job and a fulfilling personal life can often be difficult enough to achieve; being in a band further throws that balance out of whack.

I’m writing about this because after a whole host of shows in August (not incredibly smary planning on our part) we’ve been pretty inactive since.  Initially, on my end anyway, it was just to take a breather and get away to the woods for Labor Day.  Since then, though, Aaron has started up a new school year (he’s a teacher) and has had all the responsibilities that go with that, my professional workload has increased pretty dramatically, and I’m not sure about Charles.  So it’s been pretty quiet in City Vein land, except for booking some fall shows.

I am reminded lately of something my good friend Charles said when we set out on this endeavor a year and a half ago: being in a band is something only insane people do.  (Maybe this explains why so many musicians are egomaniacal lunatics).  Seriously though, with all the competing interests of modern life, it can be difficult enough to find the time to balance work, significant others, friends, family, money, etc.  Why would any rational person want to start a venture in a crowded, competitive field that is almost guaranteed to lose them money, suck up a lot of time, and have very little chance of ever being successful?

I guess the answer is 1) for the love of music, 2) for those unparalleled (yet few and fleeting) moments of feeling accomplishment, and/or 3) for the overriding desire to obtain what is almost unattainable glory.  As long as you put your priorities on the first two, I think you remain sane.  Trouble occurs when being in a band is more about chasing a dream than it is about doing something you love and having fun with it.

And that’s why I’m thankful for this band, because I think that Aaron and Charles are on the same wavelength.

Anyway, that partially explains our recent abscence, but the good news is it will be fairly short-lived. Our friends Bellman Barker had to cancel a show at the Black Cat on Sept. 24 and have offered us their slot.  It’s a pretty great bill, with Brooklyn’s Wakey Wakey and DC up-and-comers The Tiger and the Snow, and we’re on last. Details to come.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/xxfactor/archive/2008/09/04/mainstreaming-the-mean-girl.aspx

There’s nothing like the Republican National Convention to remind me anew how low and vile the Republican Party can be.

As has been documented here, I’ve had my share of differences with Obama.  I’m not totally in love with the Democratic ticket the way many others are.  However, his speech last week reminded me of the best that America has to offer.  The worst he said about McCain was that he was too much aligned with Bush’s policies.  Other than that, he sought to inspire, to get us out of the name-calling, partisan mire we’re in now and recognize that we can disagree with the hate and vitriol that has come with that in the past.  Agree or disagree with his policies, you could never say he’s unfairly vicious.

Sarah Palin’s speech last night was everything that’s wrong with politics.  For almost an hour, it was low blow after low blow, many of them personal and quite hypocritical.  After 30 minutes, I was so disgusted I turned off the TV.  I cannot tolerate the low-brow insults of the Republican party anymore.  What’s so wrong with civility to them anyway? Are they afraid if people look rationally at what they’ve accomplished, they’ll realize how badly they’ve left this country?

If America is to ever advance and meet the myriad challenges we face, we have to get past this kind of nonsense. Sure, it’s funny and makes for good soundbites, but that doesn’t help end a war, revive an economy, or inspire people to come together. The snarkiness and sarcasm displayed by the Republicans are exactly the opposite of what we need today.

But I guess that’s part of the Republicans unspoken motto: “If you can’t inspire them (or lead them), insult them.”

Just when you think you’ve seen it all.  Hillary Clinton just led the charge to close the nomination roll call vote at the Democratic Convention and to unanimously accept Obama as the nominee.  Who saw that coming?

Whatever her motivations, you have to give some credit to Hillary Clinton.  Her speech last night went above and beyond what Obama needed.  And this move today just left me stunned.  Given how bitter the primary got, I didn’t know she had this in her.  Either she is the ultimate Democratic team player or one of the most savvy politicians on the planet (probably a little of both).  Either way, I’ve really gained a lot of respect for her since the end of the primary and I have to say that I kind of wish Obama picked her as veep.  I mean Biden’s alright, but he doesn’t win any votes (see this for evidence).  Hillary might have pretty much ensured a victory in the fall.  I was all aboard the change train, but seeing how much Obama has stumbled since March, I’m starting to think there was something to that “she’s already been vetted” business after all.