I come before you tonight to expose and atone for my addiction. I vow to clean up my act, purge my bookmarks, do whatever it takes to get on the road to sanity -- and save myself a serious time sink, to boot. Yes, I've become obsessed with the upcoming presidential election. I read blogs and newspapers, click refresh and click through to all kinds of analysis and controversy. I believe strongly that this is an important election year, that the contrasts are stark and our votes matter more than they have in a long time. But that doesn't mean I should spend hours reading and thinking and reading some more. I have a child to play with, dinner to make, books to read and stories to write. I have a life to live and I can't live it online, nor can I change a damned thing by sitting at the computer reading about other people's struggles to make a difference.
I come by it naturally, I'm afraid. My father is a political junkie, especially when it comes to national elections. He's so biased he thought Dukakis came off well in the debates back then. But unless I'm willing to throw myself into campaigning for the Dems -- and I'm not -- or ferreting out secrets and lies and analyzing them on my own blog -- and I'm not that either -- I should back away from the computer slowly, my hands at my sides and my WiFi inactive.
I need a break. November 2nd is still weeks away. I need to think about something else for a while.
The question is, can I?
Posted by Tamar at October 6, 2004 11:26 PMOhhh, did I laugh hard when I read that! My morning literary blogs, starting with you, have so often been supplanted by the latest Atrios and Marshall and Jeanne and one more look at Liberal Oasis and and and the debates and -- yeah/
I think I'll have to blog in response to yours for the second time this week.
Meantime, what we *can* do is send money. I never thought I'd be a DCCC contributor, but Kerry's win will be dolorous if we don't git Congress too.
Sweetie, we have exactly a month left. As addictions go, it's better than some.
You can do it, Tamar. Think of it this way...You already know what you're going to do. None of the information at this point is going to change your mind. You know what the Right Thing to do is, and you're going to do it. Anything you spend time on from here on in, unless it's going to try to convince someone else of how wrong-headed they're being, is just going into negative energy, fear, rage, that how-can-there-be-people-of-the-same-species-as-me-who-can-stand-to-listen-to-much-less-vote-for-Dubya feeling.
Hm. Somewhere in there I sequed to talking about me, didn't I...But it fits for you, too! ;-)
Posted by: Tiny Coconut at October 7, 2004 01:52 PMI can exactly relate to this, except for me the election is tomorrow. Oh, I'm following the US presidential election campaigns as well, of course, they affect me too.
But right now my focus is on the Australian Federal election tomorrow. And I am very much afraid that there will be nothing to celebrate tomorrow night. I'm still hoping for better news in November though.
Posted by: kay at October 8, 2004 06:32 AM