Have I lost my mind? Barack Obama, please bring it back!

Megan and I watched a documentary on HBO tonight on the plight of Al Franken's radio venture "Air America" in the months prior to the 2004 general election. I'd never before listened to the their broadcasts, but I was anticipating an enjoyable evening of left-wing fellowship. However, I didn't experience the enjoyment I'd hoped for. The documentary was interesting and, I believe (though I'm no film student), well made. I couldn't blame my dissatisfaction on the documentary itself. Instead, observing the comments and attitudes of the various liberal talk-show hosts, I realized that perhaps my traditionally obstinate leftist stance needs reevaluation.

I've spent the past six years increasingly embracing the dogma preached by the modern gurus of leftist thought. While I attribute some of this embrasure to the guilt that stems from eighteen earlier years of rabid, righteous, religious fervor, I'd like to think that a good portion of it was birthed solely from the labours of the Bush administration. Maybe education could explain some small percentage of it. Yet perhaps it's the flipping from extreme right to extreme left that is making me consider pausing my liberal development.

At this point, I feel it necessary to establish that I absolutely hold to my liberal ideals. I will always support stem cell research, gay marriage, and a woman's right to choose. I think that gun control is long overdue and that universal healthcare shouldn't be a fantasy. It's not the issues I'm worried about, it's more the attitude.

Almost everyone marvels at the switch in tone that the Republicans and Democrats have made. Democrats pushing for fiscal responsibility? What???!! Republicans all for granting more power to the government? MADNESS! John Stewart and his Daily Show cohorts joke (poignantly as all hell) that it's probably due to the power shift in Congress, the presidency, and (Oh, merciful God PLEASE NO!) perhaps even soon in the Supreme Court.

It's the switch in paranoia-agenting that gets me. Back when I was a God-fearer, I was privy to the theories of the Emmanuel Baptist faculty pundits. Those brilliant minds would have had me believe that any bill put forth by a Democrat was really an ingenious plot to grant gays the right to abort the fetuses inside our career-oriented wives. "Loopholes and technicalities, people!"

Now, however, the conspiracy theories I hear today are filled with rhetoric like "election fraud" and "blood for oil", and they once again are coming from my side. Although I am very unhappy with the outcome of the 2004 election and fear the actions that will result from it, I am realistic about the reasons for it. The majority of people in these United States wanted a Republican government. Don't waste time crediting the Republicans' victory to a crafty campaign of values either. Values are central to any election. I would've been ecstatic if Kerry had been elected by a majority that demanded gay rights.

So tonight, when I saw someone on the documentary recovering from the election say, "People want us to be in their faces in four years! They want us to be like 'Fuck you! We're gonna fight even harder!", I had to disagree. Obviously, most of the population doesn't want that. Not even I want that. Instead, how about if we stop nitpicking over insignificant legal battles that we're so scared of losing and focus on restoring dignity to this country. And I'm blaming both sides for the lack. You know, before tonight, I thought Barrack Obama was a brilliant strategist for his "purple states" ideology and how it seems to be "exactly what the country wants to hear." Now, I wonder to myself if it's not just incredible foresight, and What if he really, truly believes in it? I'm desperate enough to hope he really does, and I hope we'll believe in him.