I gladly accept rebukes about my apparent inability to respond to what was, by all accounts, a good Kerry performance. I gladly acknowledge the possibility that I may be a speakingcorpse, and not a living breathing man. It brings me pleasure, in this context. If the world is going in a good direction, and I no longer fit into it, well here's to the world, and fuck me.

But I must object to the suggestion from Mr. Abote that I "fall into line." Of course this suggestion has merits. Rat once said that criticizing Kerry in public is not acceptable. Right; but I refuse to think of this blog as "public." It goes against the very purpose of the blog. This blog has a small audience, of like-minded people. It has been shrill and nasty and outraged from the outset. It has never engaged in rhetoric likely to convince anybody of anything. Writing on this blog is not, in short, a political act. If you think it is, you are frankly deluded about what politics is, how hard it is to make a truly a "public" statement, how delicate is the art of persuasion, etc. This blog is, at its heart, a-political. Which is not the same as anti-political. Participation here certainly does not preclude more meaningful and useful forms of participation. But you'll never convince me that this is a useful activity.

We ought, of course, to do things to help Kerry. Volunteer, knock on doors, go to Ohio and convince swing voters to vote sanity. This is essential and requires a good mindset. But I see nothing contradictory about doing all that, and at the same time venting bile, fear, and confusion on this blog--which, in case you had forgotten, is called "American Coprophagia." This blog in itself has never persuaded any undecided voter to change his views. It has never been read by an undecided voter. The closest we have le chien, who reads it for his own perverse amusement.

Negative capability, my friends. Acknowledging dark feelings and acting otherwise.