Some Kind of Monkey

George W. is in town today. I guess it's pretty big news around here, but I don't care enough to try and get in to see him or to try and protest him outside. It's just too dang hot and humid. I guess he's speaking to the FFA and stumping for his social security plan. He's just flying in and out tonight, but the marines who have to secure the campus flew in this past weekend and have been staying at Amelia's hotel. But I didn't vote for him and I don't like him, so I made no plans to go support him.

Speaking of politics, I was watching The Daily Show yesterday, and it had an interview with Newt Gingrich (it was a rerun, so maybe you've already seen it). Anyway, Jon Stewart was talking about non-partisanship and how rare that is in politics lately, and I have to say I agree. I hate that politics (and I'm not a very political person) has become divided so firmly. I hate the idea of people who vote only on party lines. Though I disagree with them on a lot of things, I think there's value in some of what Republicans say. And though I disagree with Democrats on a lot of things, too, I'll still listen and take to heart what they have to say. Lately, though, it seems like it's "All Democrats hate Republicans" and "All Republicans hate Democrats"--even to the point that people actually talk about the whole "Red State/Blue State" dilemma. Now I'm no expert, but I come from Kansas (Red State!) and I now live in Pennsylvania (Blue State!) and the people in both are pretty nice and have a lot of similarities. Granted, I lived in a pretty liberal part of Kansas and I now live in a pretty conservative part of Pennsylvania, but that just proves my point. States aren't all one thing any more than people are. I know about as many open-minded, socially conscious republicans as I do open-minded, socially conscious democrats. And I know plenty of people in both parties I would hate to be locked in a room with. Party affiliation (either of them) doesn't make you a better person or right all the time. OK, I'm bored of politics already (just one reason you'll never have to worry about this blog coming back to haunt me if I run for politics--I get bored with them too fast), so rant over.

If you show up here tomorrow or next week and it looks completely different (say, even a new title), don't freak out. I'm toying with some possible changes to make this blog look way more spiffy. We'll see what happens.