I watched Bobby and it got me thinking.

Really, this movie, if it did one thing, it introduced me to a very awesome speech made by Bobby Kennedy, and... honestly, what passes for political speech these days...

But everybody wants the President to sound like their "buddy."



Today I went into work and I put the phrase "End the War in Iraq" on my nametag. When my boss saw it he told me to take it off. I expected this, it didn't surprise me one bit. I put up a little bit of a fight but I knew it was against the established rules. I just wanted to see if he would enforce it. And he did, and I don't blame him. But he was really baffled by the whole thing and kept asking me why I did it.

I told him that it was a way of expressing a political opinion in a subtle way. He seemed to think it was pointless, and it probably was. My goal, really, was that maybe it would invite a conversation about the issue. Any kind of conversation, really. I was up for anything. Now, odds are, no one would have taken the bait. My boss pointed out that "these people don't care" and I agree with him, he's right... about most of them.

Bottom line is, if it started a conversation with anyone, one single person, then it was a success. And so, I guess that one person ended up being my boss. And I said as much to him, but he was like, "we talk about politics all the time," which is true. But I didn't just want to talk about the issue of the war, necessarily. I mean. The point was less the issue and more about where the conversation was taking place.

At my job, I see all kinds of people. Some of them just once, some of them nearly every day. These are the people that I live with, they make up what passes for a "community" these days, right? I want to know what they think, I want to know if they think about the war in Iraq or the president or what.

But everyone's trained to not talk about that shit. Don't talk about politics, it isn't polite conversation, no one wants to hear it, it makes people mad, it offends people, blah, etc. But jesus christ, isn't this shit worth talking to people about? And yes, I get the fact that I was at work, and it was my job to represent and serve well the Big Giant Logo. But I even had a disclaimer ready. It would have hung around my neck and read:

"The opinions expressed on my nametag at any given time are solely
my opnions and do not represent the opinions of COMPANY NAME,
it's employees or affiliates."

Or SOMETHING like that. I think that would have been fair.

He also said it was juvenile. But I wasn't trying to stir shit, not in the least. My intentions were genuine. I was looking for a little public discourse. You know, if we're gonna chat about the pollen count or the fucking Braves, why not this.

Anyway. I want to be more politically active in more realistic and meaningful ways as well. This is a phase and will likely soon pass. It's really logistically impossible for me to do anything more than what I am currently doing anyway, unless I give up sleep completely.

Which I hear works for a lot of people.