Shallow as spit

I think I'm about as shallow as spit. I finally checked back on Julia Sweeney's blog because she had abandoned it for a couple of months and I gave up. But now she is back at it, very motivated by the recent political changes to write and rant and worry. I am worrying along with her but I haven't been worrying to the same degree and I feel bad about that. While her worries are on a grand scale and center now on politics and the world situation, I've been sleeping poorly the last couple of nights because I have had trouble balancing the account of one of the students at the university where I work and I feel in my effort to fix it I have made it worse.

I swear I am envisioning the downfall of an entire university or at the very least their massive software program that operates all aspects of the organization because I entered something I shouldn't have in a way I shouldn't have and rather than stop there I tried to fix it. Julia is concerned with the downfall of a nation with the very real possibility of a certain Alaska governor's rise to the White House, and I'm magnifying an error that can probably be fixed by any number of more knowledgeable people than me in a heartbeat.

Shallow. As spit.

Okay, about Palin. She IS a ridiculous choice for vice president on every level. I told myself that although I am an Obama backer and a tie-dyed in the wool democrat, I could at one time have tolerated a McCain presidency because I felt he had separated himself from the Bush leagues on enough occasions to be at least something of an independent thinker. But he has ruined any hope I ever had for him to handle and make thoughtful judgments regarding the position. I love the idea of a woman in the office. But I also love the idea of a person of color. I also love the idea of an intelligent, old white guy (once we find one). I just don't love the idea of a fundamentalist, crazy, going-off-half-cocked nutcase with an updo. Whose idea of putting a good spin on the news of a 17-year old pregnant daughter is to announce that she will marry her underage boyfriend (is anyone finishing high school here?) Who has problems with dinosaurs, polar bears, and former spouses of her siblings. Who was for something before she was against it (sound familiar?) and still makes the point that she was against it as one of the main qualifications for her candidacy. And who, for God's sake, doesn't know the what the Bush Doctrine is. Heaven help us.

I keep thinking that one day she'll announce that indeed this is too much, too hard, and she just doesn't have what it takes. Kind of like someone who makes an incorrect entry in a student's account and needs to own up and step aside so it can be fixed.