Anna's Soapbox

Some lunatic with good aim and access to a high-powered rifle is gunning people down in the Washington, DC area. I'm saying a prayer for everyone I know there and everyone I don't, and especially for the 13-year-old boy who got hit the other day but survived. A child, people. Who is this shooter, and how'd he get a gun like that? Who needs such weaponry for anything nonlethal?

I'm also making plans to somehow go see Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine, which opens in New York and LA this weekend and in other places next week. Michael Moore is a premier gadfly -- if I could have dinner with anyone from the present or past, it would be him. He rouses the rabble and rocks the boat and gets in smug people's faces to tell them the truth they won't hear, and (probably what I most admire about him, since it's a quality I sadly lack) he DOESN'T CARE if he upsets people. He's like a Robin Hood with words, stealing false dignity from the rich and giving voice to the poor. Anyway, Moore says this movie is his "2-hour journey into the dark soul of a country that is both victim and master of an enormous amount of violence, both at home and around the world. With this movie I have broadened my canvas to paint a portrait of our nation at the beginning of the 21st century, a nation that seems hell-bent on killing first and asking questions later..." I must admit that I don't particularly like the title, perhaps because of the grisly image that "Columbine" conjurs up, but maybe that was Moore's intent: we have to face this part of our culture if we're ever to conquer it... in fact, my guess is that Moore has discovered that it's not cost-effective to "conquer" violence because it supports an awfully large part of the US economy.

While I'm rooting around Moore's site, I also want to call out his peace pledge: "I pledge to never vote again for any Democratic candidate for public office who has voted in favor of George Bush's war in Iraq.... To the Democrats in Congress, we give you fair warning: You are either with us, or you are fired."

Whew -- had to get that off my chest. Hey, I gotta get back to taking pix of my little guy! He's growing so fast...