If you haven't been there today go take a look. You know how they change the "google" image at the top of the page every day? The image made me smile today. It's a green view upward into a forest, with the tree trunks and branches forming "google". There are birds and fungus on the trees. Their continuous small effort to vary my experience is educating me, it is keeping my brain fluid. I like that. I'm not wild about the way you have to move the mouse to get the links to show up, but I do like the cleanness of the page when I open it. Aesthetics matter. And gmail is the best free email I've tried. By far. Yahoo has gotten really irritating, though I'm still using the groups. Hotmail has been hacked. There are the fancy more secure emails but it's more work getting into your own account there. I wonder when Google is going to start costing me money. Their creativity and work are definitely worth something. I hope they're raking it in.
Just heard a report on NPR about the Tea Party. It was excellent to hear all those perspectives spoken out loud. They were all true. The Tea Party is not a party. It began with a few politically aware people who were alarmed at how deeply our nation is going into debt. They were mostly libertarian in slant but perhaps not eager to slap that label on themselves. Then all the angry racists, gun nuts, and other people who agree showed up. The regular people, who of course should be supporting this effort because it is in their best interests, are not always particularly politically aware. They may not be able to articulate a political position, they just know that we're dooming ourselves by letting our government sell us out. Then the Republican party tried to co-opt the party. There are layers to why this works (or doesn't). The most fundamental reason that it doesn't work is that the Republicans have been the ones who led the way to selling us out. Shrub spent us into this hole. Sure others have helped. Now the Democrats have jumped on board, and have been selling us out with the same relish as the Republicans did for so long. The degree to which our government serves corporate interests and "the economy" as if that was actually in the best interest of the regular Joe is appalling. It is taken for granted that the best way to help people is to have "jobs", but I think that is short-sighted.
So there's this split in the tea party. There are the ones who are dimwitted enough to support the current Republican party because...? Because Palin is pretty and says she is for freedom, maybe. Or because they hate gays. Or because they are big business owners or rich people. Or because they think Obama is the anti-Christ, or maybe just an illegal alien. It must be an uncomfortable mix, especially for the rich and educated who must know what they are doing. And there are those who are educated and sharp enough to recognize that the Tea Party's most basic principles are directly opposed to the current ways of the Republican party. I fall into this second group. I don't trust Palin. She's ignorant and simple, and will go to her fate with a big smile. She could end up doing great good. Like Obama, I have the feeling that her heart is in the right place. But Palin is a pawn, just as Shrub was. At least she is brighter and better spoken than Shrub. He was painful to behold. And if Palin had Ron Paul for her running mate, I would vote for her hands down. And if regular independent liberals took a good hard look at Ron Paul's proposals for our nation, their point of view would adjust a little. And if the social liberals became convinced that a period of financial conservatism would be beneficial for our country, that ticket could win. Then we just might turn this corporate run train around. So you just never know. I still have hope. Obama's election is a miracle, but we haven't begun the change that we need.