Sulphur River Autumnal Equinox 1992 [antikvár]

TRIBUTARIES I did not want to discuss politics in this issue's Tributaries column, but that subject so permeates the country's atmosphere at this time that I can hardly concentrate on any other subject long enough to write coherently about it. This is a tough admission for me to make (picture me with head hung low in sheepish acquiescence) given my usual apathy for all things political. Well, nobody's perfect. And I hope you will keep that fact in mind when I say that I'm not voting in this year's presidential election. My father telis me that means that I ha ve no right to complain. I argue that as long as I pay taxes I have every right to complain. Be that as it may, my reasoning for not voting is based on my observations of the U.S. political system. Now, I am not a political expert, nor do I claim to be, but it seems to me that the machinery of politics has gotten away from that body that is supposed to control it-the people this democracy is supposedly of, by, and for. It kind of reminds me of a self-propelled lawn mower my father put me behind when I was a skinny little kid who thought mowing the lawn was a neat thing. Usually, I could steer the thing fairly well, but every now and then it would get away from me, and I had the options of either fighting the beast in vain and being dragged along, or letting go and watching in relatíve peace until the mower ran into something big enough to stop it, at which time I could go retreive it and continue mowing until the next time it got out of control. There was, of course, another option-one I never considered while panicking at the moment of decision-to simply turn the machine off. Well, I won't pursue that aspect of the analogy, but I do want to say that it was beyond my power to get a new kinder, gentler machine with which to mow. And at somé point, I decided that mowing was not such a neat thing after all, and anyone who wanted to do it might not be someone with whom I could relate in a meaningful way. (Now I live in an apartment and don't have to mow, thank you very much.) Okay, so I'm wandering a bit. That's allowed when one discusses politics.