Song Lyric of the Day:
I’ve got it down to an art / Lonely sex with a desperate heart / Is the way to get over someone / Just to get under someone else? / And show them no mercy
Cherry Poppin’ Daddies / “No Mercy”
Well, I did my civic duty this morning. Went to bed early last night in anticipation of waking up early to get to the polls ahead of the crowds. Needless to say, that’s not how it went down. Even though I got in line at 6:05 AM, there were already dozens and dozens of people ahead of me. The volunteers working kept commenting on how they didn’t expect so many people to show. All told, I was in and out in 35 minutes.
I picked today’s song lyric mostly because I just love that song (the whole album is awesome), but also because of the line “Just to get under someone else,” which could very well be the case today should Kerry be elected into office. What changes will we see? How will the war be handled? Will he follow through — be able to follow through? — on his campaign promises? Time will tell. In the meantime, I should check out FactCheck.org to make heads or tails of what the candidates had to say throughout the campaigning. I’m just hoping to be able to stay awake long enough to hear the final outcome tonight.
I am not planning on watching election coverage on TV all night, though. Too many other things to do. Like tidy up the house some. Like finish rewriting my friend’s resume. Like work on a query letter for the kid’s book I wrote. Like start packing for Las Vegas. It’s almost here — 3 more days and I’m off to Las Vegas with one of my best friends. I’m so excited that I think I mentally checked out of work about a week ago yesterday. So far, our only concrete plans are to see a Cirque du Soleil show and one of those genuine Vegas showgirls in the headdress shows. When in Vegas …
In honor of the election today, I’ll close with parts of Patrick Henry’s famous speech. I copied this from Cindy Adams’s gossip column in the New York Post. Go figure.
“No man thinks more highly than I of patriotism . . . but different men often see the same subject in different lights . . . I hope it not be thought disrespectful if, entertaining opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve . . . only in this way can we hope to arrive at truth and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country . . .”
“They tell us we are weak — unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed? . . . Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our back, hugging the delusive phantom of hope until our enemies have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power . . . armed in the holy cause of liberty and in such a country as that which we possess, we are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us . . .
“We shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.
“Besides, we have no election . . . it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat, but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable . . .
“Gentlemen may cry peace, peace — but there is no peace . . . our brethren are already in the field . . .
“I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
