I want to watch High Noon now more then any other time. I've read that its a presidential favorite going back to Ike; the first man who really understood the power of media in politics. Never seen it. Maybe if I can get my hands on a copy I'll make it an election night thing. It would be perfect for TV number three.

Oh yes.. That might be useful background. Watching TV, as much as it does hurt, is best done in concert with other things. I've been desiring the three television setup. Elvis had it, the president has it, I want it. He used to sit in a yellow room watching them with a gun in one hand, and a drink in the other. I have a general idea of what it was that finally made him pop off a round. Elvis that is, not the president. I wonder how much he gestured with the gun.

I don't have the three television setup, but I can fake it to a degree thanks to laptops. I certainly don't have the evil boardroom wall o' tv thing that's been made popular in movies. Almost all of my viewing is done in the kitchen, on a little TV. Its like watching TV in a foxhole. I sat in the same kitchen, watching the same TV, and typing furiously on the same laptop while watching the Iraq war. What a show that was. Several scenes are forever burned into my memory, such as watching the 3rd ID burn across the desert of Iraq in realtime while sitting in my kitchen foxhole listening to River Euphrates. Priceless.

Its been one hell of an election cycle. I've disliked administrations. Hell, that comes naturally. However, I've never actually been scared of one before. I'm glad I can still be surprised. Politics have never been so engaging. Clinton and his dick don't even compare.

This is about the time I'm used to hearing people start complaining about the electoral system. Oh yes, it has its problems sure. At the very least realize that your state does speak for itself in how its elections go, so try not to shit up your section of the fucking union. Ok? That is the way it works. Its your state versus all the others. If you state sucks, its your problem. Its your state. Shutup. (Yes, yes.. Florida. Don't be too hard on them.. They have had a bad year. And don't put too much stock into the whole message from God thing either. If anything, it was just a scream. Could mean anything.)

At the very least, I'm happy to be in Jersey. We seem to have outdone ourselves yet again in brilliantly sucking. Our past few years continue to expose us for the pit of corruption we are, but we continue inventing new ways to get out of it. How America of us. This time around, we have been holding up as a swing state to the very end, even though we all know Jersey will go blue. Being needlessly contentious is our style. Check out those polls. The way scale works here, every one of those bumps represents hundreds of fist fights. I know, I was a participant in one that broke out during the last debate.

I love a good election. Who needs sports when you have Governments, Wars, Markets, and Crime?

So anyway.. I took it easy today. I did not toss my assault rifle in the back if my car as a statement. I did not listen to Bruce Springsteen. I did not give it up for the queers. I didn't tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree. I didn't think about the economy. I didn't contemplate a holiday in Cambodia. I did not mosh to the polls in my black hoodie. I did not think of wacky pop culture references.

My election routine was very simple. I had a cup of coffee. I looked over the ballot and made my final choices for the local stuff. Then I took a shower, got dressed, and drove to the poll listening to Freedom of Choice by Devo. There were no lines. No waiting necessary. I stood a little to the left side of the polling both, slightly left of center. I hit six buttons, said "pick good judges", loudly, then I slammed the big button, loudly. Then I came home and wrote this.

Will I be better off four years from now?