BECAUSE I ABSOLUTELY, POSITUTELY, HAVE TO POST TWO DAYS IN A ROW

For that sense that things are . . . somehow ok, somehow "right" in the world.

(They're not, but appearances matter, so roll with it, ok?)

I don't have all that much to say, in fact, except that I have this lingering, dreadful feeling deep in the guts of my gut that the American people are gonna show their true colors (as it were) and send Obama to an historic and gruesome ass-beating in November.

I've said it before but I'm hardly a huge Obama fan: he's a helluva speaker, and he cuts an attractive, charming figure. Plus, to the degree it matters in terms of his ability to lead the country, I really dug his take on race & class in the two famous speeches -- let's call them "The Wright & Race Speech" and "The Bitterness Speech." Compelling stuff. But I'm not sure there's an awful lot of there there as an executive. Who knows?

Anyhow, to say I prefer him over McCain is as much of an understatement as saying "George Bush is an ass." I may even consider abandoning my usual third-party voting patterns and pull the Obamalever in November.

But, as the last 20 or so-odd years of my adulthood have proven, the American People & I don't see eye-to-eye on too many issues involving the economy, foreign policy, social legislation, the role of the federal government, constitutional interpretation, religion, or judicial power. Nor do we see eye-to-eye on culture, education, philosophy, or the importance of wearing an American flag lapel pin. More like eye-to-knee, and that's how it feels sometimes.

(The American People & I do see eye-to-eye, however, on botulism, Kim Jong Il, and French rock music, so all is not hopeless.)

Anyhow, even though I have no real basis to believe that Obama or any other mainstream Democrat has any intention or ability to improve the lives of the rank-and-file, at least he talks of somehow getting universal healthcare. He talks about the environment. He talks about ending the fucking war.

McCain? Who really knows, but since I missed the memo about him turning in his RNC card, we can assume he'll extend the war, flex his environmentalist muscles by planting trees on the White House lawn, and do his part to improve healthcare by explaining that one of those grapefruit knife/spoons works fine for removing cancerous tumors if you wash it well enough.

So who will the American People vote for? The same American People who've had 8 years to see their standard of living drop, their federal government intrude into their lives, and their sons and daughters die and get maimed in the desert?

I think deep down we know it ain't gonna be the Black guy with the name that rhymes with Osama.

Maybe I'm wrong, but deep down I don't think I am.