2000-11-13 - 6:18pm

On the internal soundtrack: Some awful song I heard on classic rock radio that sounds like they stole a lot of ideas from "Sweet Home Alabama". Or perhaps it was the other way around.

I was trying to remember the method for dealing with children obsessed with equal portions awhile back, and couldn't recall it for the life of me. You know how sometimes kids will cry foul because "You gave her more cake than me!" or something like that?

The solution finally popped out of its hiding place in my memory today. You designate one kid the portion-maker, and the other kid the portion-picker. In the case of cake, one child would decide on the size of each piece, and the other side would be the one to choose his/her piece first. That way the portion-maker is forced to make them as equal as possible because s/he doesn't want the other kid picking the bigger piece.

I wonder if there's any political relevance here? Probably not.

Got into a discussion with Jay today about the Democrats' demonizing of the Republicans.

Most Republicans I know see Democrats as well-meaning but misguided -- their hearts are in the right place, but they often have not thought out the larger societal implications of their methods for achieving their means. Most Democrats I know, however, seem to think Republicans as a whole are -- quite literally -- evil and uncaring. Any Republican they may know personally who is, apparently, not evil, is generally considered the exception that proves the rule.

(Note that I am speaking here of "lay people", not politicians. Politicians have their own weird reasons for wanting to be politicians and evil may very well enter into it on both sides.)

I was upset about this. While I'm not perfect, I think it's safe to say that I'm not evil. I want to help old people and children too. I just think that this activity should not be performed by the government, preferring that it be performed by individuals, families, churches, and other charitable organizations. Many Republicans I know feel the same way.

There is also the damaging economic effect of charging higher taxes to pay for (inefficient) government services, which I won't go into right now because it'll take forever.

At any rate, I have been attempting to convince Democrats, through the Web medium or personal interaction, that Republicans are not evil.

Well, I won't be doing that anymore. Yes, we are evil. Definitely. Rotten to the core. You're absolutely right. You go right on believing that.

Jay pointed out today that partisanship, which is helped along by demonizing the opposition, is my best bet for preventing government from getting bigger. After all, all politicians, whether Republican or Democrat, just want to take my money and spend it someplace. They're far less likely to be able to take the money and spend it if we have nearly 50-50 splits in Congress and there is bitter acrimony on each side towards the other. Since I am, above all, a libertarian, this is the best possible scenario within the current system.

I feel better. I can sleep at night now.

Dinner last night. Food was great. He made bread with roasted garlic, tomato sauce from scratch, and some deeply rich chocolate brownies.

The host was nice. Very nice. He invited another couple to dinner, who confused me. Poindexter and I had a HELL of a time trying to get the female half to make conversation. We'd ask questions, and she'd respond shortly and then make no attempt to expand on her answer or carry the conversation anywhere else. Yet she didn't strike us as the shy type. Sometimes she'd actually warm up to us and ramble on for a while. Then she'd get cool again. I really didn't know what to make of it.

Her boyfriend, though initially quiet, turned out to be cool as shit when I got him talking. I asked where he was from, and he turned out to be from Morocco, and I asked what drew him to the States and it turned into a whole thing about his impressions of Morocco vs. the States vs. Paris and all kinds of things in the interesting journey his life had been.

I would have liked to talk to him more, but since the TV was on and we had the aforementioned troubles drawing out the female half of the couple, we mostly just sat around and watched FOX shows.

When it comes to social gatherings, I despise the television. Ours is always off when people come to dinner. There's no quicker conversation killer than a TV. It may occasionally bring up a good topic, but it also disrupts the flow of the conversation and is too distracting.

Tommy is a fabulous punk rock singer. I loved it. The whole screaming and jumping-around-the-stage thing. He was perfect.

previous index next