'Burque Babble: Please Make It Stop Now! Move Election Day to 7/29/08

Dear Scot --

Barack recorded a special video invitation for you to join him at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Watch it now and make a donation of $5 or more before midnight this Thursday, July 31st, and you could go backstage with Barack:

--from email sent 7/28/08, one of the 47 such postings your humble blogger will probably get today on the subject

Maybe you're like me and have indicated enough interest in an Obama Presidency to make the colossal mistake of getting on some e-mailing lists.

Ugh.

I'm finally unsubscribing today to "Obama for America" and I could claim it was in response to his vote on FISA, but it's really just my unwillingness to put up with Election '08 at this point.

And we still have 99 days to go? Must I go into a total "kill my television/internet/electronics of all kinds" mode to successfully avoid this thing? And I like politics! Well, sorta. Think of those seven or eight remaining "undecided" voters nationwide who are getting carpal-tunnel from trying to avoid Election '08 on their remote controls while simultaneously trying to find out who is winning the far more important contest on "American Idol" or "Insert Reality Show Here"?

Faithful reader(s) of this blog will note that I'm big on the idea of a 90-day campaign, tops. I know many argue that limiting the campaign is unconstitutional as it somehow limits free speech. Not to mention that it provides Wolf Blitzer with a job. But who is a continual campaign really geared for besides Mr. Blitzer? It certainly can't be "undecided" voters and non-voters...they are doing mental somersaults to avoid thinking about the damn election.

Meanwhile, those who do follow this stuff pick sides, get all giddy when the opponent makes a "mistake" and try, very unsuccessfully, to change other people's minds. A total waste of time.

And a total waste of money. Maybe I'm more frugal than most, but I'm not paying $5 to "go backstage with Barack". I have no interest with going backstage with him, having a beer with Big O or trying to drive the lane in a pickup basketball game with the guy. I just want the guy to win the election.

But then I've never understood the "I shook hands with the guy so I must vote for him" mentality. And I've always distrusted anything resembling a cult of personality. Which, if you think about it long enough, is what this whole Election thing tries to be about. For instance, if you're really into this Election thing intersperse viewing the upcoming national party conventions with clips from Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will". It will all start to blur within about 15 minutes, especially if you can switch the 2008 coverage to black & white.

But I'm not going to try to think about that, or anything else regarding Election '08 after this Tuesday the 29th. At least at the Presidential level. I am officially declaring the campaign over tomorrow (the last Tuesday after the last Monday in July), and will simply put my fingers in my ears and go "la, la, la, la, la, la, la" whenever I hear/see/taste/touch/smell anything remotely pertaining to McCain or Obama or Ron Paul or Bob Barr or Cynthia McKinney or the Electoral College or "swing states" or "latest gaffe" or any of that.

Wake me up when the rest of your come to your senses and we can concentrate on organizing the many parties dedicated to celebrating the exit of our current President. Come to think of it, I fully support a continual campaign to celebrate the end of the Bush 43 Presidency. I'm wailing on a party favor and wearing a stupid conical hat with "Ding Dong The Shrub Is Gone" stenciled on it even as I type.