"I got a rock."

I'm feeling a lot better tonight; when I got home from work, I was still pretty steamed. So after dinner, I sat down in front of the tube and watched the DVD of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". I watch it every year, but didn't get a chance to before Halloween. On the DVD, there is another feature: "You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown" from 1972. It's a bit of a hoot, actually: Linus decides to run for student body president after Lucy's poll numbers determine that Charlie Brown would receive no votes if he ran. Linus does the debate thing; a call-in show ("First time caller, long time listener"); campaigns by claiming the school is "in the midst of a moral decline"; when a reporter paraphrases his platform, he claims the press is against him; and then he almost blows the election be evangelizing about the Great Pumpkin to the other students at a rally. He eventually wins by one vote, and is almost immediately accused of being a corrupt politician by an indignant Sally. It's nowhere near the sublime quality of the Charlie Brown X-mas or Halloween specials, but it certainly is funny, especially after the high melodrama of the last 48 hours. And Lucy van Pelt does an amazing imitation of Karl Rove, constantly polling and arranging campaign events; at one point, she waxes somber on how the campaign staff does all the work, and the candidate gets the glory. She eventually vows that the next campaign she will work for will be her own.

For some reason, this cartoon made me feel a lot better. I would vote for Linus, in spite of his unorthodox beliefs. I have great respect for a sincere pumpkin patch.

Speaking of Linus's unorthodox beliefs, a related piece of fiction from Strange Horizons.

Mood: Still Mad -- But Good Mad, Not Evil...
Song: Vince Guaraldi Trio: "Linus and Lucy"