Some of Nothing

Independence Day
Wednesday, November 5, 2008

I celebrated going to bed at 2am by getting up at 5:30am to attend the church of pugilism. At church, I spent most of my time dutifully taking orders from my kick-ass pugilism instructor, who just happens to be a kick-ass lesbian. During the time I spent not taking orders, I reflected on the inanity that is California's Proposition 8, thinking all the while that kick-ass women of any sexual orientation should not be discriminated against. Period. And as I was hitting things, I got more and more impatient with the injustice and inequality that pervades our society. Eventually, my sarcasm gene kicked in, and I began having imaginary conversations with the haters, starting with our new President-Elect, who--though he was against Prop 8--failed to really stand up for marriage equality during this election:

Barack Obama (as heard many, many times): "I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman."

Me: "Oh yeah? Well, I believe that 'all men are created equal,' you anti-American jackass."

And then I stopped. Maybe it's the three and a half hours of sleep talking, but I suddenly realized that thinking of the president that I spent so much time and money to help get elected as an "anti-American jackass" for not fully embracing the spirit of my favorite part of the Declaration of Independence is probably not the best way to let the Changing begin. In fact, it pretty much does the opposite. As Obama implied in his speech last night, the same old "immature" politics tend to yield the same old results. We can't keep doing it.

So, with that in mind, for a while, I'm going to take a time out before I embark on one of my many reflexive rants. This change stuff is serious business, and I, for one, plan to take it seriously. I'm going to start constraining myself a bit more. Because if the substance of my rant is worthwhile, it often won't require any name-calling in its expression. That's not to say that sarcasm and name-calling aren't useful messaging tools. It's just that the more the knives get thrown, the duller they become; I want to keep my knives sharp (or, more accurately, sharpen them again). And besides, I'm simply tired of the playing by the culture warriors' rules. It's time for a change.

Nothing New byslag at 8:49 AM