Having promised to avoid posts about sports, politics, bad television shows and movies starring Steven Seagal in favor of updates about my creative life has had some unintended consequences, not the least of which is that I'm not posting very often, mostly because writing about my own creative work isn't very interesting to me most of the time. I particularly miss blowing off some steam here and there about the loonier elements of the Left. Such posts unfortunately result in my being branded a Right-Wing, Racist, Homophobic, Sexist, Imperialist, Fascist Doo-Doo Head by trolls on Internet discussion boards and chronically offended Punk Rockers, but I was getting called those things 15 years ago in the letters section of MaximumRockNRoll and my bones weren't broken then so let the sticks and stones fly, I say.
As it is, I am not, in fact, any of those things on the above list (though denying it seems to make the problem worse). I support most of the the ideals normally attributed to the Left and I loathe most of those thought to belong to the Right. I've never voted for a Republican. I've voted for a whole lot of Democrats, one Socialist and Ralph Nader, but no Republicans yet, in 20 years of voting. So you've got to understand that when the more extreme elements on the Punk Rock Left start calling me a Bush-loving, Cheney-hugging, Jesusland-inhabiting meanie, though I can't help but find it ludicrous I also puff up a little bit, like a uniformed paintball fanatic being mistaken for General MacArthur; even if the mistakes are being made by the blind and/or mentally retarded you can't help but feel a momentary burst of pride at being thought to be so fierce when you know perfectly well you're as harmless as a kitten. And in fact I don't usually bother to defend myself against these accusations, lest the stream of unintentionally comedic vitriol slow to a mere trickle of amusing bile. Besides, while I disagree with much of what the people on the Right believe, I don't find them to be so personally repugnant that I am horrified by the thought of being mistaken for one of them; I'm quite comfortable in Jesusland and find it much more to my liking than any of the haunts frequented by the movers and shakers that comprise the SF Elite.
But at certain times it is important to note where you stand, and this is one of those times. The Euston Manifesto might as well be my own personal manifesto. It puts forth points that mirror my own political beliefs, albeit with much more clarity and brevity than I'd likely manage to muster. If some points have been stressed a bit more or less than I might have they're in any case all points worth making; having read the Manifesto several times since it was first published I can't find anything in it with which I disagree. So in keeping with my vow not to write about politics, I'll spare you the soapbox and instead direct you to the Manifesto to read for yourself.