Vocabulary Work

I watched the last 20 minutes of the debate yesterday. Even though they couldn't ask questions, they discussed opponents in ways that couldn't go unanswered. When it was over I tried to listen to the pseudo-intellectual discussion of the debate, and after a minute or two went to finish my previous blog entry. I was pleased to see my current posts are not currently dominated by political diatribes. They'll be back I'm sure -- this may be one. It's an indication I'm finding my balance now that I'm getting back into rehearsals and classes.

Thanks to the debate, I did learn the meaning of a slang term. "Meat puppet" really clicked as I watched our president. While Kerry was talking Bush was making playground faces, rolling his eyes, smirking, and biting the inside of his cheek. Contradicted any notion of leadership, strong or otherwise. He'd respond with his worn out, usually off-topic sound bytes which made him look ridiculous. I thought he did more than hold his own with Gore -- he's had a serious indentity and intellectual break-down in the intervening four years. A picture came to my mind, of a puppet made out of hamburger and questionable cuts of meat left dangling in the breeze.

The meat's gone bad, yet it still looks like we're likely to reinstall him. The population of the most powerful country in the world is being effectively manipulated by a festering meat puppet. Maybe it's a good thing the GOP is intentionally bankrupting the country in hopes of getting budget and money for social services redirected to large corporations where it can do them the most good. While it is bad for us, it may be the best thing for the rest of the world. Much like the USSR collapsing under it's own weight served the rest of the world.