Thursday, July 27, 2006

It's so darn hard to be a (social) democrat

Mr. Reich, Sir, I hear you:

I'm sitting on the beach last week trying to relax into an abbreaviated summer vacation when someone I barely know comes up to me with a scowl. "Did you read that dumb-fuck middle-class agenda Hillary just put out? If that's all the Dems have to offer to deal with widening inequality, we're screwed," he says, and walks off.


I know exactly what you're talking about. In my case, it isn't Hillary the people are blaming me for, but Kurt or Gerd (yes, still!) or Heidi or... you name it!

I feel my spine tingle, my shoulders begin to ache.

Same with me!

To distract myself I pick up the paper and skim the headlines --


Um...nope. I never ever pick up the paper to distract myself. Big mistake, Sir! Because, here's what you get:

Hezbollah and Hamas attacking Israwl, Israel bombing Lebanon, Iraq tumbling into civil war, more chaos. (...)

By now I'm feeling nauseous. My cell phone rings. It's my good friend John, a welcome distraction. "How'dja like to go to a movie tonight?" he asks, a welcome distraction. Great, I say, eager for any escape. "Fine, he says, I just got tickets to Al Gore's film on global warming."


*giggle* That could not happen to me either, since global warming isn't that hot a topic in Germany. Because, as you probably know, Germany is world champion in fighting global warming and "extreme kyotoing".

People, go read Robert Reich's Rules for a Sane Vacation, three simple, easy to follow rules included.

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