Another Disappointment

In addition to the tragic discovery of the cockroaches, I have also realized, through Isabella Bird's Hawaiian writings, that she is a little bit racist. I know the Avenue Q people would assure me that everyone is a little bit racist (perhaps especially in England in 1873), and I know that she was extremely progressive for her time, but it's still disappointing. I didn't notice it in her Rocky Mountain writing, I suppose because in that case her racism was directed toward Americans, and it's hard to feel very defensive about a country that would one day give birth to George W. Bush.

I've tried to avoid any politics here, because it would give birth to a rant, and I hate reading them on other people's blogs, but July 4 is coming, so I feel it is excused this one time. (And now I wonder, in the spirit of Graham Greene, if the FBI will now start a file on me. You know, even try to break into my library records. I would wonder about the CIA, but everyone knows how good they are at collecting information. Well that was a cheap shot. But Republicans, any who might be reading, know that only real love of country and the resulting heartbreak could take me to that level, at least in a public forum.) That said, happy 4th everyone. Here's to something nobler than Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay in the Republican's next (and hopefully last) 3.5 years.