Jealousy and fatalism

I've been reading War and Peace for what seems like an eternity. One of the things I've noticed (because it'd be impossible not to) is Tolstoy's insistence that "great men" of history haven't really controlled the course of history. He says it's the collective spirit of many that controls things. And while I think he may go a little overboard with his historic fatalism, it's interesting to view this year's presidential election in such a light. The more I think about it, the less power I think the president has. We can all blame Bush for the war in Iraq, sure. That's the exception. But this current financial crisis wasn't his doing. It was the collective will of Wall Street execs, legislators, and homeowners that did it.

Likewise, how much difference (apart from declaring another unilateral war on Iran) could the next president make? Aren't we, the collective masses, the real holders of power? Shouldn't we affect the zeitgeist to some degree? I think so. So while Obama is sliding away from his policy of change, while I don't trust McCain now that he's so obviously in the neocons' pocket, while Palin is leading by several lengths in the People Who Should Never Have Power Derby, I don't think the world will fall apart on November 5th. It's a nice feeling.

An open letter

To the members of mainstream American media, including but not limited to:

NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, their local affiliate stations,

and to the presidential candidates of both major parties and all members of their respective staffs, every concerned citizen who finds it necessary to pass on hateful email forwards to everyone they can, Focus on the Family, political bloggers, and anyone else I may have missed:

We need to talk about the issues, and nothing but. We need to realize we all love this country and want what's best for it. We need responsibility, courtesy, and respect for each other. Stop feeding me with rhetoric and spin. Stop the tantrums, stop the hackery, stop the name-calling. If we don't work the actual issues out in an adult way, nothing is going to get better. You're all acting like a bunch of children.

That is all.