Where have all the anarchists gone?

I'm trying this for the third time after a night of not being able to connect to the internet. Conspiracy theories aside . . .

I wonder what has happened to all the anarchist, socialist, communist, revolutionary people I used to know. If ever there was a time for them to put their money, well their barter system, where the mouth is, now's the time. I mean when's the last time we saw a good act of civil disobedience? An assassination attempt? Err. . uh not that I believe in such things. I love America!

I know the older folks are mad at us younger people. P. Diddy's death threats weren't enough to turn out the youth vote. Not that he cares; he made a grip on those $30 "Vote or Die" T-shirts. A part of me wonders if it's not a media tactic to trick young people into thinking their voice didn't matter in this election (conspiracy theories back in play), though the thought that Ashton Kutcher or Justin Timberlake in a Tee was enough to move youth to the polls is equally disturbing.

There's been a lot of talk about the Dems loosing Black votes on the issue of gay marriage. Just goes to show that the media spin machine has done a great job since neither candidate supports gay marriage. All states that had marriage amendments passed them, Mississippi with 92%. For the life of me I can't understand why people care about other people's marriages. There is the other issue that the wording on the amendments was confusing (true of my Arkansas ballot), making people think that voting no is a vote in favor of gay marriage and a vote of yes is simply confirmation that marriage is between a man and a woman.

That wasn't the only issue with my Absentee Ballot. Fayetteville, Arkansas is a unique place in the state that hosts an interesting amalgamation of upper middle class hippies and red necks. The way the ballot was composed acknowledges this mix by placing Nader at the top, Bush second, the other third party candidates, and at the very bottom Kerry. Only someone looking for Kerry's name on the ballot would find it and with the hardcore liberal sentiment there, Nader was definitely a factor.

The republicans have declared themselves victorious already. We all know, well let me say I know because clearly we all don't know, the power of self fulfilling prophecy in US media and saying you've won is akin to actually winning. The Dems moderate positioning didn't seem to win them too many votes. Daschle lost. Others lost. But the beacon of light that is Barack Obama shown brightly, sweeping Illinois with nearly 90% of the vote. I hope he doesn't get shot.

Well, I'll leave on that optimistic note.