Butterflies

So I have butterflies today.

I have a call back tonight for Go Comedy Improv Theatre. Folks tell me I had a great first audition. I am trying to just relax and not think about it, which is what I did on Saturday for the initial audition. That seemed to work well, Anyone who knows me, however, knows that I am not one to just leave something alone without analyzing it to death.

Butterflies before an audition though are good. They keep us on our toes, give us energy, and I think are a good reminder that we haven't lost our sensitivity to the fact that we CAN fail. By that I mean that confidence is necessary, but attitude and expectation is not. I believe I'm a good improviser. I believe as well that I'm in this with a lot of very talented improvisers, FABULOUS improvisers in fact, of whom I consider it a priviledge to be holidng company.

I will be, and truly am, excited for everyone who makes it to the final cut, who has the chance to bring a home for improvisation back to the Detroit area. This is a moment to again create a fostering environment for creativity, to open up the sandbox and begin to play. Finding this gift nearly 10 years ago (Good Lord!...) was truly a life-changing experience. This is a great time for Detroit's improv community, and I couldn't be more excited.

There was a time when the differences between Republicans and Democrats were based on basic principles. Republicans thought that people should be independent of the government and pick themselves up. Dems always looked to the poor as mistreated and unable to pick themselves up and therefore in need of a public advocate.

It used to be that we could argue about big government, wasteful spending, war, civil rights, liberties, and the like.

But things have changed, and in a big way and I don't think that's ever been clearer than in this election.

Democrats are no longer fighting against beliefs in certain principles or the proper ways of governing. We are now fighting against misconceptions, lies, and hype. The old adage perception is reality has become rooted in a stranglehold of this country and I am bewildered to find a solution.

Barak Obama routinely states that he is not a Muslim, has NEVER been a Muslim, nor has he ever attended a Muslim school. The news media has confirmed all of this, and his pastors have made public spectacles of themselves proving it, and yet 10% of this country still believes he's a Muslim no matter what he says!

Then there is the off-shore drilling fiasco. Statistic after statistic, proof after proof, fact after fact proves without a shadow of a doubt that the real issue at hand is NOT drilling - but giving the RIGHT TO DRILL to the oil companies. These same companies have the RIGHT TO DRILL on thousands and thousands of acres of on and off-shore land right NOW and they aren't doing it. Instead they're using this momentous occasion (high gas prices & an election) to propagate the idea that we need to drill more, now - when they know full well that even with the rights, not a machine is going to be put in place for 5-10 years... all the while they get a government kick-back on the unused property as a write off or pay off.

YET even with such a blatant scam, the Republicans are mocking Obama for being practical, for being sensical, and for standing up for wasteful Republican spending... both in this off-shore oil business and in the oil business of the Iraq war. Fact after Fact about Al-Queda and Iraq and so many people still believe there was a connection between Saddam Hussein and Al-Queda.

How can we educate and enlighten when so many seem to be willing to live in the dark?

I just don't get it. I just don't get it at all.

The truth no longer sets us free. We are bound in shackles by the deceptions, lies, and fear mongering of Fox News and their minions.

I am praying for the wisdom of this nation and her people every day.
God help us. And God TRULY bless this country. We sure need it.