Party people?

Whoomp there I am. I attended the DuPage County Democrats (shit, I just gave away which party I'm involved with!) open house for future committeman today, and I have to say, I'm glad I did. I continue to be impressed by the kinds of folks I have met there, and I'm actually looking forward to becoming the York Township 90th Precinct Committeeman (slogan soon to come).

I like canvassing, which I used to do a lot as an organizer with my union. It's a chance to talk to people, and in my case, they'll be my neighbors, many of whom I don't know. I definitely have a few houses in mind where someone has a peace and justice bumper sticker on their car, and I want to talk to those folks.

Besides let's say I really suck at it (an entirely likely outcome). The York Township Dems don't have a committeeman there now, and I can't possibly be any worse than no committeeman.

See, that's how you set goals. I'm better than no one! I can't possibly suck as bad as no one!

Try it yourself, it's fun.

At today's function, I was gladhanded by none other than the Honorable Richard Durbin, Democrat. He seems like a pretty decent guy. He recently got into a flap as of late, when he basically stated that our camp at Guantanamo Bay isn't different enough from a Soviet Gulag, or the Khmer Rouge, or a Nazi concentration camp.

There was sound and fury (signifying nothing, of course) from the usual corners about how Durbin had compared our troops to Nazis, or whatthefuckever they were talking about. I don't know, I mean to say our troops have engaged in torture is not exactly a revelation. And to say that A,B & C other nations have engaged in these other acts is not exactly news either.

But to somehow draw the two sets of events together is apparently treasonous. Maybe Durbin should have used more careful language, but when he's talking about the torture that is in fact going on (despite the Chicken, two kinds of fruit, and rice pilaf that are no doubt served before the prisoners get urinated on), it's pretty hard to justify those things.

But, I'm a liberal, so what do I know?