I didn’t watch a lot of the debate. I wasn’t in the mood, I was actually in a bad mood and watching a debate was not going to make it better. But I did flip to it a couple of times while watching One Tree Hill (which is not a good show, but I like it), and reruns of Sex and the City. The one thing I did get out of the debate was that John Edwards was straight up rude to Dick Cheney. I hate politics, and before last night I did not have strong feelings about Cheney or Edwards. I have actually always liked both of them, if I thought about (which I normally didn’t). But they both seem to have cool families. I know very little about Edwards, but I have heard great things about his daughter from friends of mine who know her, and I think this is a strong plus for him.
After watching the debate last night, I changed my mind. Edwards acted like a jerk. I feel bad for his daughter. You know he talks to his family like that when it strikes him. My dad and I would have it out. Anyone that could treat a colleague the way that Edwards treated Cheney is not a nice guy. I couldn’t even listen to Edwards well spoken arguments because he spent so much time trying to rub what he was saying in Cheney’s face. Cheney spoke to the camera and the nation, Edwards spoke AT Cheney. I mean, common courtesy is all I ask. I know that I am little idealistic, but I think that regardless of who you are, you need to have some manners. I wanted to think more of Edwards than that. I hate politics.
I met Justice Scalia this summer on my study abroad program. I was introduced to him by the head of the program at the breakfast table. Scalia had finished eating and was sitting around drinking coffee with his wife and the other teachers, enjoying the Aegean Sea. The head of the program stood up and gave me a hug, and introduced me to Scalia. I am standing next to the table. Scalia turns to me and shakes me hand, but does not budge out of his chair. I’m sorry, but I was offended. I was the only person he was being introduced to, it was a private setting, and he wasn’t being harassed. And he was being paid to be there. By me and my friends. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I have been introduced to a man sitting at a table who did not stand up. He should have stood up when I approached the table. But I don’t expect that. All I would expect is that a grown, cultured, intelligent man would have the manners to stand up and meet a young women that is studying his profession. He wouldn’t have even had to stand all the way up, he could have just done that half stand up thing. It would be different if he was in the middle of a eating (even though most men I know would have still stood up), or if he was doing something important, but he wasn’t. Especially for being so conservative, I would have expected him to at least have manners. But as my brother says, maybe I expect too much out of people. Maybe not.
the thin line between optimism and delusion... 
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