The Way Politics Should Sound

I for one was very pleased with the debate and feel more confident in calling it a Kerry victory than you dudes seem to be. I thought he stayed on the offensive - a consistent problem the whole campaign - was as concise and clear as he could be while still having nuanced positions, and seemed, for lack of a better word, "presidential." Even the few Bush supporters I've seen today conceded they thought Kerry won the debate. The fact that we all felt he did a good job is probably the most important index in that the Kerry base was encouraged and energized.

Any of you dudes volunteering in any capacity? I'm feeling very motivated in this capacity and want to do more.

In other news, I am reading "1968" by Mark Kurlansky - of "Basque History of The World" "Salt" and "Cod" fame - a popular history of that year. In it, I read a Bobby Kennedy quote which I honestly think is the greatest, most poetically inspiring thing I've ever "heard" from a politician. Course, that whole authorizing spying on MLK, among other things, wasn't great, but he could've been quite a president:

"We will find neither national purpose nor personal satisfaction in a mere continuation of economic progress, in an endless amassing of worldly goods. We cannot measure national spirit by the Dow Jones average, nor national achievement by the Gross National Product. For the Gross National Product includes air pollution, and ambulances to clear our highways from carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and jails for the people who break them. The Gross National Product includes the destruction of the redwoods and the death of Lake Superior. It grows with the production of napalm and missiles and nuclear warheads...It includes...the broadcasting of television programs which glorify violence to sell goods to our children.

And if the Gross National Product includes all this, there is much that it does not comprehend. It does not allow for the health of our families, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It is indifferent to the decency of our factories and the safety of our streets alike. It does not include the beauty of our poetry, or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials...The Gross National Product measures neither or wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile, and it can tell us everything about America - except whether we are proud to be Americans."

Pretty good, huh?