Excuses and Expressions

I wanted to attend every rally and scream at President Bush and his cronies until I was hoarse. I was going to go down on my lunch. I was going to go to the Rock Against Rumsfeld Concert. I was even contemplating changing parties long enough to get a ticket to see him de-plane on the tarmac at the National Guard base.

But life interfered. I had homework to do on lunch. I had class after work. My Master's degree interfered. Does that mean my priorities are out of whack?

I mean, is my Master's degree really all that important if somewhere in the world an innocent civilian is being killed in the name of "democracy"? Should I be worrying about homework when our world is careening towards climate catastrophe? Should I be reading academic nonsense whan my partner's mother is dying and President Bush's veto of stem cell research is precipitating her demise (even though she still loves Bush with all her heart)? Should I be cutting construction paper for my latest homework assignment when the right I have to be with my partner for the rest of my life is so uncertain?

The answer is unclear. I have these deeply held beliefs and opinions and these deep need and want to express them.

We had a discussion in class the other day about Plato's Cave and my professor made a comment about how sometimes we have to focus on something besides the things we know to be true, because sometimes they're so overwhelming, and you realize that they're so nearly unsolvable, that if you dwell on them you spiral out of control. You get deeply depressed. You feel helpless.

This is how I felt when I watched President Bush's speech to his sheep when he got off the plane last night. I thought about the shadow's he was casting on the wall in front of these people in their cave, and how they wholeheartedly refused to accept anything else but these shadowy representations of reality that this administration works overtime to create. I thought about how many of these people would always believe every word the President speaks, regardless of how many times he misrepresents the truth. And I thought about butting my head against the cave wall trying to change someone's mind.

And I went to do homework. Because this is something I can have control over. I can control my own future and destiny, and I can get a Master's degree, and love my partner, and work hard to get the things I want and need, and live a happy life.

And luckily, I can have this avenue to protest and express my opinions. So, in light of that, here is my protest sign that I would have taken if life had not gotten in the way:



God Bless President Bush.....
For Vetoing My Mom's Right to Live
For Sending my Brother to Iraq
For Lying to Me
For Being Able to Sleep at Night.