It’s a jumble of things today. The obvious, there’s a new President Elect heading for the White House. That’s the good. What did it take to get him there? Money. A whole lot of money. That’s the bad. I’ve heard it bandied about that for Obama and McCain alone the final totals tallied up to somewhere near a billion. Then according to a Wall Street Journal report, it’s entire run of the 2008 election is totaling nearly 5.5 billion!! Think about this for a second. The amount of money spent on electing a leader is becoming a massive amount of cash that could easily fix domestic problems in the country. And that’s only for a president. Are there any predictions that Obama will have to start running for re-election in 2010 for 2012?
Then let’s look at the most expensive proposition on a ballot in history. Guess which state it was in… here’s a hint, California. Prop 8. It was also on the ballot of a couple of other states under different titles. Prop 8 is a ban on gay marriage. Mind you, I’m not gay. I like women. However, I don’t have an issue with seeing gay people married. In fact, I rather prefer it. Give them equal happiness and give them equal misery. The amount of money spent to get this on the ballot, and to get it out to the public for awareness on both sides totaled somewhere around $75 million. No other proposition for a change in the law has come at such a great price in the history of our country.
How sad is it, that people care so much about what others do in their personal lives that they’re willing to spend copious amounts of money to lie. Oh wait, I forgot, we’ve gone thru a number of years doing that now for things like taking away privacy rights, and going to war for unknown reasons that were lies. Again, $75 million for a single new law to say, no you can’t get married if it’s not between a guy and a girl. Exactly who does it hurt to say otherwise? And do people really believe that attraction between people is a learned response? I didn’t learn to like women instead of men. No, that’s pretty innate. I understand for other people some prefer the same sex – so what.
It’s amazing how out of wack all this is. Especially when people will throw gobs of money at things far away from home, then complain about problems right next door in the same neighborhood. Is that a case of irony, or more a case of ignorance using blinders?
What I do hope changes going forward is that America changes the road it is on. The honeymoon is on for Obama. Which is sweet. However, I think people will soon see he can’t cut taxes like he was hoping to and ran as a promise. Obama owes too much to the big donors. That is a high price to pay, for all of us.
At least there is hope for change.
Speaking of big money. There is one band that comes to mind that has a song about it, and it’s actually called… The Big Money. Go figure. Actually, you probably realized that already if you’ve gotten here. Listening to the song it’s kinda hard not to notice the title in the song, and the fact that it’s in bold print at the top of the page.
Rush. A band from the great white north of Canada. I can’t help but wonder if most people would think of Rush as a musician’s band. Considering that their music is labeled as progressive rock. Yet if you attend a Rush concert you’ll find that their appeal somehow extends way beyond that. Rush is one of the few bands that can pull off doing a show without an opening act without any issue. Why? Die hard fans. It also doesn’t hurt that they’ve been around for decades, so they’ve had a long time to accumulate fans.
I’ve had the pleasure to see them on the last tour. Massive. Huge. Long. Those are some words that come to mind. Much like the last election process. Massive, huge and long. The difference is that after a Rush concert you leave with a sense of music floating in your head. I don’t get that feeling from the election.
There is so much to explore in the world of Rush that there is no way to choose one song. If you want a great cross-section of their material, the best place to start is with Chronicles. Which is a really good name for a “best of” without the cheesy “best of” in the title.
It’s a brave new world. Don’t forget to bring a little cash with you. The Big Money makes the world go round. I expect that you’ll part with a little of it for Rush.