It is a rainy Friday night in Seabeck, a small town near Seattle. It doesn't really matter how I got here or why I am here. If you must know I am at a conference, a gathering of Unitarian Universalists. That is a whole other story.

I have driven here across the country. Yes, in the Beetle. (who will also report about his adventures) People cringe when they think about that old car, and the drive. I verify their fears and say the Beetle was nothing but trouble. You know every 200 miles it was some problem, but amazingly you put in more gas and it was all fixed.

I fear writing about cross country trips. I fear failing at trying to make the mundane interesting. I fear my writing will read like On The Road, the only book I ever started that I could not finish. But then it was really how lazy that jerk Kirouac was that bugged me. He had no goals.

So what I need for this trip are goals. What I need is a theme and inspiration.

Sadly, I can not report that I have one. In a lot of ways I am wandering lost. My life has changed so much in the last year, and as of January first 2001, I have no plans at all for the future. It is a strange thing to be on the road with no future. It is an empty feeling.

But this is not what I have decided to write about for my first mobile digest. For better or for worse, I have been uninspired. So this is what you get.
 

October 27, 2000   Politics across the country....

Nader. Nader. Nader. Is what my friends had been saying to me for weeks. And what did I say? "A vote for Nader is a vote for Bush." But after I found that no one I asked was still voting for Gore, I had to reevaluate. I looked up the web page, (VOTENADER.org), and I read. The more I read, the more I felt good about Nader. I had assumed that he would be a one or two issue candidate with no depth and no plans but to shake up the two party system. I though he was the token disestablishmentarian, like Perot before him. The more I read the more I liked. It was really the morning that I was leaving for this week long drive. Allison was sleeping in and I was watching a speech by Michael Moore, entitled "reasons to vote for Nader." Allison could not figure out who I was talking to. Despite the thrill of having a political speech come from my computer, and despite the weight of Moore's reasons. I chose Nader for another reasons. I read Nader's position on defense. He talks of 'waging peace' and of changing a mind set. I read LaDuke's position on fishing treaties with North western Native Americans. I was impressed that the campaign addressed even smaller issues, and also that her position showed a level of morality, or something, I can't think of the word, that I just never would have expected from a national politician. When I was done reading, I knew that I would vote for Nader. I checked the poles to see if Gore lost my vote, if Bush would take the State. Bush will not take New York, because of Nader. But it would not have made a difference to me. I have voted now in four presidential elections and Nader has made me finally feel good about one of those votes.

Unfortunately the decision will not be as easy for some of you. In Minnesota, Washington and Oregon, three states that I have heard about recently, a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush. And Bush may well take these states and win the election. I can only ask that you read all of Nader's material and consider your vote carefully. There is only one reason to vote for Nader and that is because it is the right thing to do.

After making the decision to vote for Nader, I have only felt better and better about it.
Today we visited Ground Zero, a center for nuclear disarmament that shares a fence with a Trident Submarine base on the hood canal. According to Brian Watson of ground zero, the democrats have done less to disarm than George Bush did. That is not a good record, And this Ground Zero place was scary. The whole goal is to bring the issue of nuclear arms back to the forefront of american minds and conversations. Do you all remember when Reagan was elected? I remember so well that day in November. It is a good thing that I was not a fragile child or I may have been damaged by this fear. Well, it is wrong to call it a fear. It is better to say that it is good that I was not a reckless child, for I would have had nothing to lose. I may have gone on a crime spree, for what did I have to lose? On that day, I was sure that we would be dead within a year. I was sure that Reagan would have us cooked and radiated. I had a long talk with Joy, also of Ground zero. It has been too long that we have believed in speaking softly and carrying a big stick. Our Big stick is the Trident nuclear submarine. Have you heard of one? Do you know what it does? I challenge you to find out and tell me that you are not afraid. (www.gzcenter.org) I learned today that to think globally and act locally has a whole new meaning when there are 8 subs with 24 missiles  each, with 8 warheads each capable of hitting a target within 300 ft from 6000 miles, in your backyard. Not to mention the stockpile of refills. Not to mention that one missile does the damage of 40 Hiroshimas. It is time to wage peace.

MiXiM

More politics:
A 'Buy Nothing Day' Almanac

Learn about my trip:
Days 1-7 (the mundane or the inspired version, you decide)
Days 8-15
Days 15-22
The Beetle Speaks (the photo version, for the beetle is vain)