Posthuman Blues

Here's an idea: Why not make it a law that a former U.S. President's son (or daughter) cannot be elected to the same office? It sounds kind of silly until one remembers that the official reason the United States was formed was to break away from the tyranny that typically accompanies a ruling monarchy. If you argue that such a law is "un-American" and an insult to individual freedom, remember that persons born in countries other than the United States are not allowed to be President. If that's not an insult to individual freedom in a so-called "land of opportunity" in which "all men are created equal" I don't know what is. So at least there's a similarly contradictory precedent for my proposed law. Of course, this presupposes a fair, valid voting system.

I just realized that for all of my political diatribes, I've never commented on my own voting preference. I'll be honest: I didn't vote in the 2000 election. Partly because it was intuitively clear to me that Bush would be appointed President regardless of the actual outcome and partly because Al Gore -- certainly the lesser of two evils -- struck me as a worryingly bizarre and uniquely pathetic person. I thought Gore's campaign antics were whorish; Dubbya talks religion, so Gore proclaims on "60 Minutes" that he, too, is a "born-again Christian." Give me a break. And his infamous Internet and "Love Story" statements were disconcerting as well. I think it takes a generally misguided ego to enter the political arena in the first place; Gore seemed not only starved for votes, but possessed by an inflated, fictional counterpart a la Walter Middy.

Will I vote in '04? Somehow I really doubt it.