Ok ok, I'll post. Just stop hitting me.

I apologize for the distinct lack of bloginess lately. After the repeated “what the hell?” e-mails and my demotion by Brett, I figured I should get my act together.

In my own defense, my blogging remission is not because I don’t have anything to say, but rather that I have too much to say and not enough time to say it. Aaaanyway…in an effort to catch up, here’s what been going on lately:

Started my job at the Depar+ment of L@bor Tuesday. So far so good. They’ve got me working on an archiving project. I’ve now become a self-hating bureaucrat. I’ve got mixed feelings about this, but I’ll get to it later.

Something that’s been irking me lately has been the whole midterm election thing. I said before that it was going to get really low and dirty, and it has. I was watching the UGA/O|e Miss game with some of the DC Alumni, and a campaign ad for one of the Maryland candidates for Senate played during halftime (the fact that we were actually in Virginia notwithstanding). It just seemed utterly unnecessary. I know the political persuasion of very few of my alumni friends, and I’m fine with that. We’re there to watch football, drink alcohol, and make fun of each other. I’m perfectly content leaving politics out of it completely.

What’s been irritating me most, however, is the whole “George A||en is a racist” campaign. Granted, there was the whole “M@caca” incident, where he referred to an opposing political operative – who has Indian ancestry – as “M@caca.” Apparently, the word was used by European settlers to (negatively) refer to native populations in Africa.

Now, call me cynical, but I find it quite hard to believe that Senator A||en knew this and then used it in such a way – particularly when he knew he was being video taped. As I see it, it’s just an incredibly unfortunate coincidence. Of course, it probably wasn’t the best idea to make any remarks on the man’s ethnicity at all. But to think it was some roundabout racial slur, I think, is a bit of a stretch.

Then there are the accusations that Senator A||en used the “n-word” back in the 70’s, as well as stuffed a severed deer head into the mailbox of a black family.

Now, I don’t know if these things happened or didn’t happen. I have my doubts about the severed deer head. First of all, there’s no police report of any such thing ever happening. It would stand to reason that such an incident would at least be reported. I could be wrong. At any rate, there’s no proof that it actually happened.

As far as using the “n-word” in college, that at least seems plausible. It’s not that much of a stretch to think that some college kids from Virginia, particularly football players, may have said some politically incorrect things. But there’s a difference, at least in my opinion, between making racial jokes and being a racist. Hell, Rober+ Byrd, right next door in West Virginia, said the “n-word” – on television no less – in 2001. And he’s in his 30th term as senator. (Don’t look that up.)

Most importantly, why are these accusations just now coming out? George A||en has been a congressman, a governor, and a senator before. It just seems a little too politically convenient that this is just now coming out. What, did these people just all of a sudden remember that George A||en is a horrible racist? That’s like remembering a priest molested you once the Catholic Church starts settling lawsuits. It smacks of opportunism.

At any rate, thus far it looks like A||en will only win reelection by five points instead of 15. That’s a shame. He probably also spent a little more money than he hoped, putting him a little behind for his presidential bid. But, it could be worse.

More to come on the election as a whole. In the words of M@tt Drudge: “Developing…”