The other day was MLK day, and it depressed the shit out of me. Why? Because no matter the good intentions behind it, it seems to have evolved (devolved?) into a “Black” holiday. Just about every single person I talked to was working that day, because it seems to not be a real holiday based on company policy. It’s an either/or, floating holiday kind of situation like Veteran’s Day or, at some company’s, your birthday.

And, on top of that, which is already stupid, given Americans stupidly have fewer defined, everyone stay home holidays than the rest of the “first” world, a big chunk of folks make jokes about taking it off only if you’re black. “Saturday Night Live,” which I haven’t watched in forever, had a whole sketch about the black guys not having to work because of MLK day. A colleague of a friend cracked a “joke” at a meeting about needing to work on his “blackness” so he could stay home.

You know, like it’s a religious holiday or something. Last I check we all fucking benefit from civil rights. And, if Bush let all the minorities vote and didn’t try to con the ones he let vote with fake promises, it would have really, really benefited us all.

Oh, and the thing I am most not doing today is paying attention to the record large shindig keeping mere mortal citizens off the streets of D.C. (I linked to an African paper, because clearly worldwide this inauguration is yet another example of Americans’ being dicks.)

Nothing makes you whip out the cliched comparisons to Nero’s fiddle playing than a massive public celebration during wartime. I wish I had one-thousandth of the self-love, self-faith that old GW seems to possess in abundance. With that much confidence, I’d be dangerous, which, I guess, helps me understand our president a bit more.

I just keep reminding myself that with that kind of hubris, there’s a better than average chance he’ll try yo best Nixon in manipulating a nation and, like Tricky Dick, get caught. There’s four years for a girl to dream.