The Cochran Column

Pure and absolute horror.

I just saw the photos from Mumbai. Suddenly the whole world stands in perspective, and even my most major problems seem minuscule and insignificant when staring at these photos. Pure and absolute horror is the only phrase that comes close to what I feel as I look on as human beings destroy the lives of one another. The images are graphic, but I'm glad I can see them. Not glad that such terrible things have happened and continue to happen, but glad that we as people can still see the truth in its most horrific form. In that, we see the evil that lurks in all our hearts. This is what we are capable of.

I'm not a religious man, but right now I wish I could pray.

A moment, and suddenly I remember, images like this flow from cameras to the US from Iraq, only to find the blind eyes of 'patriots' shouting for their removal as they "embolden our enemy." When armed militants destroy homes and lives, that's news. Show the people, show them the evil that happens there, but when these deeds are perpetuated by governments, take no notice citizen, the liberals just hate America and want you to doubt the infallible state. It makes me sick to the stomach. I'm not a liberal, and I am not a conservative. The spell broke for me a long time ago. Violence perpetuated on people is wrong, no matter what bloodthirsty group carries out the deed.

"If you see something, say something."

Aftermath

So here I am, standing in the wake of election night. Since the primaries passed I found myself an injured veteran of the Ron Paul Revolution. So election day for me was neither trauma nor glory, but a sad feeling as I watched the conclusion of what seemed to be a car crash happening before me in slow motion.

I see the cheering faces of the crowds screaming 'we did it!' and only can envy them. Never in my life have I seen a candidate I could believe in make it all the way. But what, I have to ask, does this man, have that makes these people believe?

Solemnly I may never know. And very soon, when the honeymoon is over, the 'Obama People' will start becoming ordinary people again, capable of critisizing government.

I am also however filled with a sense of both relief and determination. The election is over. We are past that now, and able once again to start discussing real issues, not who some candidate hung out with in college. This is a time for the freedom movement that half went back to sleep when it knew not where to go should rise back up, a force like it was in the election. We have plenty of avenues to explore, plenty of places to go. My suggestions are paultry ones at best, but I'll give them anyways.

• Listen to Free Talk Live. Join the AMP program and try to get them on a radio station near you. Pass out fliers and get others interested in the show.
• Get yourself involved with DownsizeDC. It's a clean and simple electronic lobbying system that you can use to make these bastards in government hear your voice.
• Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty, duh.
• Join the Mises Institute. Educate yourself and help them educate others.

You'll notice that neither the Libertarian Party or the Republican Liberty Caucus are included in my suggestions. We're out of the Electoral Politics season and back into a time of changing minds one person at a time.

Election night blues

Its 1:53am Pacific standard on November 5, 2008. The late night aftermath affect weighs heavily on all the strung out election junkies. I myself am obbsessively drinking coffee and refreshing the results page for the outcome of all the propositions in California. I stare blankly as I read the results for prop 8, the gay marriage ban. I see its passing as the most barbaric sign of how far we have before true civil rights exist in this country. Everyone is equal now, so long as they are christian and heterosexual.

A lot of people like to imagine they live in a hip place. The kind of place where historical figures like Sartre or Voltaire would love to hang out. They forget all too easily that they live in an environment more suitable for the masterminds of the spanish inquisition. You can see it on the face of every bloodthirsty jesus freak armed with a sign declaring 'God hates fags.'

But a black man is president. Yes, Barack Obama pulled in for a win by a wide margin. I can hear the cries of joy streaming from all my friends from High School. 'Finally,' they say, 'A president who really represents us.' Well he's not my President. No one opposed to Gay marriage, in favor of continuing the 'War on terror' and opposed to privacy in general could ever be my president.