I Feel Better:

I feel a lot better, every day, when I remember that voting is a largely instrumental act. I am not going to judge my vote for Obama, or Obama's actions, against a hypothetical perfect political figure who didn't exist. Personally, it would have been me, but taller, sexier, younger, and phenomenally successful at campaigning but far to the left of Obama. I would have been great. But I wasn't on the ballot. And never will be. And neither will some other great leftist leader--who, btw, isn't Nader who is a craptacular person as well as a really limited intellect politically.

So when I vote, or support a candidate at all, its with the full knowledge that all I can achieve is to try to stop the shit from flowing downhill and crushing the poor, the middle class, the third world countries. Think of Obama and the Dems as a weak bulwark against absolute disaster, not as a stepping stone to something better. I mean, they might be. But they probably won't be. Voting and choosing among Democratic candidates becomes a different exercise, more like breeding homing pigeons for better conformation, speed, and intelligence. You never get a dragon out of the crossbreeds, no matter how hard you try. But its a darned interesting exercise, and sometimes you get the message to where its going fast enough.

This comforts me, when I think of the water rising slowly to my nostrils as the arctic melts.

Originally posted at Alicublog.