We were sad to notice that the view from Bob’s Diner no longer includes the best piece of animated neon signage I’ve ever seen. Luckily I managed to photograph it in all it’s glory last year. Here is my attempt at rendering the simple beauty of the animation. 
Lots of stuff to say: the two nights at Coyles, the scary tuxedo, the massive steaks at Outback…but instead of that, I’m going to rant on about the most predictable topic imaginable. The US election.
Michele and I find it shocking to hear that there is even a single US citizen that is considering a vote for W. But what I’m beginning to find even more disturbing are the reasons people give (generally during vox pops) for choosing their candidate…Democrats and Republicans alike.
I was listing to the local NPR station yesterday morning, and in between the desperate, undignified appeals for cash, that made me yearn for Radio 4 and the licence fee (really), I heard people talking about the reasons for their choice. Frequently, on both sides, the same things were said:
“Well I think [CANDIDATE] is a real gentleman”
“I can see [CANDIDATE] as President. He’s very Presidential”
“[CANDIDATE] would make a strong leader!”
“[CANDIDATE] would protect us and lead us properly.”
“I like/hate [CANDIDATE]’s voice!”
“[CANDIDATE] is so charismatic!”
“[CANDIDATE] has strong opinions and stands by them!”
It seems to me that what the population want is Adolf Hitler, “Uncle” Joe Stalin, or Saddam Hussein . They’re very smart, very strong leaders, have very strong opinions and stand by them. They would protect you from outside agression using force if necessary. They would attempt to police the world by force if necessary. They wouldn’t be scared to bring in serious measures (like the Patriot act, pogroms, kerfews) to protect the “freedom” of their citizens.
And this is not just Americans. The British are exactly the same. I’ve heard the same shit said about Thatcher, Encoch Powell, Kilroy, Blair etc etc. Nothing changes. It reminds me of a line from Citizen Smith. Shirley asks Wolfie if perhaps the people don’t actually want freedom. “Of course they do!” he replies. “Well they’re going to get it whether they like it or not.”
