State of the dis-Union, or Random Thoughts

The Oscars are not on the last Monday of March, but the last Sunday of Februrary. The Super Bowl is not on the last Sunday in January, but the first Sunday in February. Even the State of the Union Address, which was once on a late Tuesday in January, is now on an early Wednesday in Februrary.

To all of this, I ask, why? February was already good. It had Valentine's Day. It was a short month already. It always had the Grammys. March had nothing, except St. Patrick's Day, the Oscars, and the rare Easter. Now, no Oscars.

And what's with the Sunday fetish? The Monday Night Oscar Party was an event to look forward to. Sunday night? It's just part of the weekend.

I'm thinking of running for the Presidency in 2008. One plank in my platform is that I would submit my opinion of the State of the Union to Congress in writing, as the Constitution requires. But, as any mature and well-paid American man would, I would submit the message by the previous Friday and I would take Super Bowl Week off (hoping maybe to get a date with one of the attractive locals at the Super Bowl's host city). No self-aggrandizing, televised speech. To even think that such a crass display is necessary and/or appropriate, is evidence of a latent desire for Hitlerism, of a desire to worship a Glorious Leader.

I find it ironic in a way that over the last 30 years or so, when the Democrats had the Presidency, liberals saw the President (Carter, Clinton) as fundamentally flawed, whereas, especially with Reagan and this Bush, conservatives salivate in their uncritical devotion to their Glorious Leader. It is also true that Reagan/Bush II expanded the federal State, and busted the budget beyond all recognition, whereas Carter and Clinton did their best to cut the costs of the federal state.

So, if I ran for President, I'd have to run as a Democrat. It is the one major party in which budget-cutting, civil liberties, and peace are considered to be worthy goals.