Uneasy Parallels

As Buffalo Springfield once said, "There's something happening here."

Two things I find interesting and oddly synchronous -- one, fans voted Barry Bonds into the All-Star Game, despite most polls showing that people think he's done steroids and aren't thrilled that he's about to break the holiest of holy records in baseball.

The second thing that happened is that Barack Obama raised an ungodly amount of money (over $31,000,000), mostly from over 250,000 unique small donors. The entrenched politicos find this shocking! It goes against the rules they understand and help define. Who are these unwashed masses trying to take over the political machine?

I'm in love with both of these things, both because I like Obama and the idea that small donors can have an impact on the political landscape - and also I think that, despite being a douchebag, Bonds is clearly - indisputably - the best hitter of his generation. (I can't really even get into this argument again for people who feel like arguing it, but trust me - there's almost no way to dispute this, EVEN if Bonds was the only person doing steroids, which he clearly was not.)

People who have been around, or are too close to the cooking, have a way of thinking about these things...and when "the public" acts against these conventions.

There's something happening here, alright. And I think it's a good thing.