If You Want to Impeach Bush, Don’t Wear Green Pants
Posted by Moose on September 16th, 2007. Filed under: Daily, San Francisco.
Politics and I don’t mix. Mainly because I tend to hurl glassware when I hear George Bush’s voice. I look at politics the way I looked at the boys on the other side of the gym during middle school dances – vaguely intriguing, not yet sure if they’re cootie free, but fairly certain they don’t have an actual effect on my life. Obviously, politics do affect my life, but I can’t afford to buy any more glassware. So I ask more informed people what they think. Opinions thrice removed, that’s what I have. I am rather ashamed of this, for reasons which include: peer pressure (if you have no opinion on political candidates, you sound like a moron at dinner parties), desire to be a good citizen, more peer pressure (my boyfriend reads Reason, Separation of Church and State, The Economist and I read Vogue), and an ever-blackening pessimism about the state of the world. (We all know that I could single-handedly save the world if only I would inform myself about it.)
What do I do about this, besides admit to the internet that I shouldn’t be allowed voting rights? I go take a nap in the grass and claim to have done my part. See the top of the I in Impeach? That’s where we are. The dog is sitting in a stranger’s lap while I doze contentedly in the sun. (The I was thinly populated so we all lay down to look bigger, which is where we realized that green pants? Blend into the grass and are effectively invisible from above. But we lay down and smiled for the camera – all except the dog, who trot to and fro, licking people’s faces. Equal opportunity licking, that’s Meeka’s only agenda.)
While we waited for the helicopters to show up, we filled out postcards to send to our representatives. My postcard was something less than brilliant and well-reasoned. I hope the intern who sorts through them is amused by the declaration that “George Bush really chaps my hide.” After the return addresses on our postcards were filed away for the CIA, the helicopters approached to hover over us like black buzzards circling tasty roadkill. We waved and the dog barked and the man next to me yelled “Republicans for Voldemort!” and they took a picture. Then we went to walk on the beach and watch the regatta sail toward the bridge.
September 16th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
After “Republicans for Voldemort!” I had to delurk. Hi! At least you did something, I was so engaged politically a few years ago I became burnt out. I stopped watching the news becaus it was only making me feel absolutely rotten, I now only listen to them while driving, much more sober, and I cannot even name all of our ministers (I’m from Portugal) and even though I still ALWAYS vote I often leave it blank because really, it’s all rather bleak. And the saddest bit is, I’m much happier now and much less tormented. Denial as a coping mechanism fully embraced – meh.
September 16th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Impressive! I’m not terribly active in politics because it frustrates me so much, which is probably the exact reason to be involved.
Let us all know when the CIA stops by to search your house.
September 16th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
what a cool photo! what a fun way to participate.
September 16th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Hey, you’ve got yourself a new political movement there. Beach to impeach! Clever.
September 16th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
a) I yell at the radio when I hear Bush’s voice. Luckily, I only listen when I drive, so glassware can’t get thrown. Probably I’d do it in my own home.
b) my husband is the same way – all Noam Chomsky and intelligent stuff, and I heart Marie Claire and Cookie. And chick lit. For shame, self.
c) I kind of have decided that any little bit of involvement you have is awesome. For a while I was trying really hard to know about politics and the news(so I could sound smart), but it made me depressed. The world sort of sucks. So now I listen to NPR most days and read some major headlines once in a while, and I sign a lot of petitions online and if I get really pissed I write letters to the editor. But beyond that, I sort of hide my head in the sand. Oh, and I vote, even in the tiny local elections, because it makes me feel like I’m doing my part. I wish I could be part of the “I” though, that looks fun.
September 17th, 2007 at 1:03 am
I totally want a t-shirt that says “Republicans for Voldemort.”
September 17th, 2007 at 2:12 am
AWESOME!!
September 17th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
I learned to enjoy the annual State of the Union speech AND preserve glassware, by filling and refilling the glass with a martini or margarita until the speech is over or i fall asleep, whichever is first.
September 18th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Nobody told me that napping in the sun and dog licks counted for political activism. Count me in!
September 18th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
What’s most impressive to me is that you actually *knew* about something like this happening BEFORE it happened and actually *went* to take part in it BEFORE it was over.
I usually find out about these things AFTER they’ve happened, and then I always wonder how people knew to go there.
GAH. Rambling. Do I even make sense anymore? I’m thinking not.
September 18th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
My girlfriend has a bumpersticker that reads: “Cheney/Voldemort ‘08″ hehehe…
I love that you did this…and what an awesome photo!
September 20th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
I hear ya, sista. I get my political opinions from friends of friends and call it a day. My Economist-reading boyfriend can hang out with yours when I move to SF, and we can go gorge ourselves on Vogue and Glamour on the beach.
September 21st, 2007 at 1:24 pm
I feel you on the observing from afar / cooties angle, and definitely definitely definitely the glassware angle.
I have no patience or time or savvy to wade through all the press and all the wesites and blogs and blahdeblah, so when my friend M sent me this link: http://www.selectsmart.com/president/2008.html?
It made my day. Just answer a simple survey, and it tells you which candidates are least likely to make you want to hurl glasses.
September 22nd, 2007 at 3:10 pm
I believe there are many americans who don’t believe that impeachment can be accomplished, especially after the democratic win that proved almost fruitless.
On top of that, the movement is seen as a fringe. I would guess only 10% of supporters would actually march. We need the energy to go into pins, bumper stickers, wristbands and the like.
We follow trends. If we see more people, especially friends and colleagues showing their support, we are likely to ask more. Marchers and protesters are preaching to the choir and cause us to appear as a fringe movement. That is why i started http://www.inapeach.com. A different subtle way to get friends and colleagues to ask questions. Strangers won’t.
Bush is on the verge of walking away unscathed. Don’t let him.
Pit Boss