Well, there's the blatant part. Richard posted his picture down a post or two, so why can't I, with this vintage photo of the SpinDentist circa the Kennedy Administration? Hey, check out those pearly whites.
Is this picture appropriate? It certainly has no political value. Yet perhaps it might bring a smile to a face or two, and that might be necessary right now. In the blogosphere the indignation and outrage is sometimes hard to keep going, and I've seen some signs among the amateurs among the progressive blogging ranks that the stress is beginning to take its toll.
Check out Spontaneous Arising, who points us to both RudePundit and our own Richard Cranium. RudePundit posts a heartbreaking story of a man whose brother is being sent into Fallujah, a big old brute of a guy crying for a brother he is mourning bitterly in advance. That is far from the usual rudeness and biting bitterness. The images he conjures tear at his soul, and ours. Our own Richard Cranium's "Wounds that Don't Heal" is also an emotional roller coaster that is a necessary read.
A part of me is afraid of burn-out before this election is handled. And we must avoid that at all costs, lest these stories multiply.
That picture of the little SpinDentist is our innocence. It is our innocence in the time of another JFK, when he promised us the moon and energized our country until we got there. Now the Dumbya is promising us Mars and can't commit a dime to the project because of even on top of his Project Quagmire he spends money like a drunken Yale Cheerleader. We've got a mission here, and it is about the positives concerning THIS JFK.
There are many things that should give us hope. Fully half my students have voted already, and the rest say they will. That demographic is going Kerry by ten points in this state, and while they usually don't vote, I've got anecdotal evidence to the contrary. Further, the polls seem to be trending our way. That 291 electoral votes was 284 just hours ago.
I'm going to take a few days off to deal with family commitments. I must drive Mom down to Florida, but first I'll attend the Eagles Browns game in Cleveland. I'll post tomorrow, but then it will be a couple days. Rest assured, though, I'll be here for the stretch run. Let's all be ready for the stretch run, with our full compliment of outrage and hope.
OK, you can rinse and spit now.
