Entry 107: Senator Sanitorium

I had a joke that I was going to put on Facebook. I was going to say, "I'm completely with Rick Santorum on this birth control issue... I hate wearing a condom too!" But then I thought better of it. Some people simply don't have a sense of humor about things, and you never know what might get back to somebody with some power over you. I actually know somebody who was fired from her job for comments she made on MySpace, and while something like that is extremely unlikely to happen to me, why risk it? I don't care that much about voicing my stupid jokes on Facebook (I'll just voice them on my blog, where at least I have a thin veil of anonymity). Some years ago, I heard Jello Biafra give a talk and he said something that has stuck with me, "Sometimes it's best to chicken out."

[A side-by-side of Rick Santorum (right, fittingly) and Dan Savage, the sex advice columnist (and Seattle resident) who coined the other meaning of santorum. If you want to see a very interesting image of Santorum, click here, and look at each pixel closely (warning: for adults only).]

Speaking of Santorum (a.k.a. Senator Sanitorium), his numbers are down in key states, and it seems as if his moment in the sun has past, and the GOP Primary continues to play out as Mitt Romney vs. Flavor of the Month. Romney, for his part, does what he's so good at doing -- saying or doing something completely reasonable and then backpedaling from it. I read an article saying that Santorum could potentially be a tougher opponent for Obama than Romney, due to the break down of the Electoral College, but right now I'm guessing Obama will win reelection against either one, perhaps easily. I mean, the economy could go down again and erase some very modest recent gains, or something else could happen, but as of right now, I think Obama's the safest bet.

This would be a huge boon for the Democrats -- having their incumbent win during a time of severe economic recession -- and a small win for rational thinkers. The Republicans are moving further and further away from the mainstream and adopting very strange anti-science, anti-compassion, anti-compromise, anti-sanity positions, and it might be the case that the country is going to mostly reject this shift. Sure, there are always going to have people who support them, because a lot of people see politics like sports, and the Republicans are "their team" the same way the Seattle Mariners are "my team", but most people don't really care about which team wins, and don't really care about politics at all. They just want to go along and get along. I think there is a legitimate chance the Reps are "righting" themselves right of the map with many voters, and we're going to see a push back to the center over the next few years. But maybe that's just wishful thinking. They're certainly not an option for me. True, they never really were, but they're such a ridiculous party now that I almost certainly will vote for Obama in November, when in the past I would probably have voted for a third party candidate. So there's that.

[This is what sane people are up against.]

In lighter news, S and I have started watching Friday Night Lights. It's pretty good so far. I am admittedly a sucker for any sort of sports-themed show or movie. I find myself getting genuinely excited during the football scenes even though they are super silly and usually end in a ridiculous, unbelievable last-second decision. S doesn't like the football scenes, but tolerates them, because they're actually pretty short. She isn't completely sold on the show, but there's just enough non-football drama to keep her interest. I've heard that the show is kinda cheesy the first season or so, but gets legitimately good later, so I want to keep watching. Plus, it gives us something to watch together. It's certainly better than Teen Mom, which is one of S's favorites.

[I, myself, played half a year of JV football in high school. I never really liked it. The worst part about it was just wearing the helmet. It hurt my head more than getting hit. I ran cross country the next year, which I didn't really like either. I should've gone out for the fall play. That's one of my regrets from high school.]

It was funny. I went to Best Buy on Valentine's Day to buy S the original Star Wars trilogy, because she's only seen A New Hope and has been wanting to see the other two (you know, like every other person in the world). But, they didn't have it, so then I was going to buy her Sex and the City, but they didn't have that either, so then I was just going to leave, when Friday Night Lights caught my eye (it was on sale), so I bought it on a whim. Then I stopped by the grocery store and bought a piece of cake for us to share and a bottle of sparkling cider. When I got home, she didn't want any cake and drank a few sips of sparkling cider, before complaining that her stomach hurt. So, for Valentine's Day, I got my wife the first season of a TV show she had no interest in watching, a piece of cake I ate myself, and a beverage that gave her a tummy ache. Oh well, it's a bullshit holiday, anyway.

Well, that's it for now. I have to do some work on a paper that will hopefully be published. It's residual work from grad school. Until next time...