so even republicans are saying that now that kerry has named a running mate he should get as much as a 15 point bump in the polls during the month of july. hopefully now that he's tapped edwards and the DNC is fast approaching, he'll be able to put a less wooden face on things. the good news is that even though kerry has been running such a crummy campaign bush seems to be losing it for him... his approval ratings are at the lowest rate they've ever been, and under the 50 point mark. there are all these cool mojo formulas for predicting presidential races. one of them is that an incumbent with approval ratings under 50% at this point in the race never wins. of course, i've heard some also very credible braiiins say things about in an economy this good, and low interest rates, yadda yadda, the incumbent never loses. oh yeah, except in one instance. bush senior.

so john edwards. i do like him, although he's a little clintonesque in a skeevy way maybe. but he's a populist, and very charistmatic, it's true. maybe he'll help people see the "softer side of kerry". it's strange to me that he's such a good campaigner and great speaker and yet he didn't win but one primary, and that in his home state. what goes on in the minds of these white haired old dems? either way, he's big with undecideds, independents, and swingers, i mean swing voters, who are about the only voters who anybody cares about in this unprecedentedly polarized election. when i heard the announcement on my clock radio this morning, i was so relieved, since all the polls have shown that the kerry/edwards matchup would be the best. although i feel like kerry read those polls too, which is a little calculating (this is one of the criticisms the bush camp is gonna lob at him.) but with edward's politician smile and grassroots style, we could be looking at 16 years of democrats. maybe by then the rebulicon gestation period will be over and their thoraxes will explode or they'll just return to their home friggin planet fer fuck sake!

Sorry Paul, the lung crusties are still cute... [inlink]paul,1261[/inlink]

This is a pretty scary story Robin told [inlink]robin,214[/inlink] about getting mugged on Franklin Street. With all the vitriol of my new conservative curmudgeon phase, I say we form an Angry Horde, maybe get some pitchforks, torches, that kinda stuff. We can mob the street looking for her assailant but, like any good angry mob, kick the shit out of some completely innocent bystander who is not related to the crime in any way. Then mob justice will be served.

Seriously though, I hate to say shit like this, but maybe young women should have someone walk them to the door? I know I always wait when I drop a woman friend off at her house to make sure she gets inside safely. I hate that I, we, have to be more paranoid, and I hear myself thinking vaguely lascivious warnings like "so much more than your purse could be stolen". I don't want to live a life of fear, but here it is, women getting their purses stolen on a street we wander down drunk all the time.

As for cops, I'm not opposed to calling them when the shit goes down, which is why I bad-mouth them a lot less these days. I feel like a hypocrit when I'm all like "fuck the po-lice" then call them as soon as someone is lost in a blizzard or something. That's what they should do for society, I think.

But Steve Kurtz has been smacked down by the thought police-- the protectors of paranoia, the propigators of permanent war. I was thinking the other day about how they put Ulysses, the book, on trial for obsenity. Wily Ulysses won out in the end. But only because the judge had a smidgeon of subtlty and aesthetic sensitivity. What I keep hoping is that Steve will get some judge who has enough sense to say "This is Art, not Terror!"

Congrats to all the nascent non-smokers, but I thought the lung crusties were really cute! I heart you, my leetle lung crusties!
[inlink]paul,1257[/inlink]

Did anybody happen to notice that the handover we've all been waiting for happened on Monday? Where was I? Why wasn't I told? I'm beginning to think this government of mine doesn't want me to be part of its descision making process at all! Hmmphh!

Signed,
the young curmudgeon

On purpose. Before even taking my coat off. Who knew? I'm middle-aged. Getting naked at dawn on a work night just struck me as well... pointless. God that's how old I am. (I hear all the youngsters in the house hooting "pointless is the point!"). I see a long line of bookshelves for this librarian, stretching into infinity and my approaching decrepitude. What's that sonny? You're looking for "The Eight Moral Pillars of Alienated Labor?" Why that's just down this aisle (said in a scratchy granny voice... pretty much what I sound like now after a night of smokin' and boozin'). My knees are creaky, my tongue is mossy, my eyes are shot through with oily red veins. From now on I'm staying inside like a good recluse and dedicating myself to bizarre, reflexive artworks. Am I too young to be a curmudgeon?