Simple Absurdity

The first presidential election I voted in was the 2000 race.  It was a disappointing year for new voters.  With such a close margin between both candidates, it was easy to see how even a single vote could make a difference in the grand scheme of things.  But what should have been a feeling of voter empowerment turned sour when the decision of who would become president became more and more detached from the popular vote.  There was an electoral system that left me confused even after the Poli Sci majors in my dorm explained it to me, and regardless of that system the eventual decision was left to the Supreme Court.  By the end, it was hard to feel empowered by the political process at all.

Radiohead’s release of  “Hail to the Thief” was a cathartic moment for me and, despite it being released three years after the election, it still reminds me of the endless weeks trying to follow the ongoing coverage of Gore v. Bush.  The election was in many ways an absurd upheaval of simple, mathematical fact, an upheaval which the song criticizes through its simple yet absurd refrain “2 and 2 always makes 5.”  It helped to both clarify and validate my frustration during the last few months of 2000, if only retroactively.

Late in 2003, I drove to Iowa to canvass for Howard Dean with three other folks from Chicago.  Some of us had only just met on the drive out to the Quad Cities, but all of us were passionate about politics.  We drove back to our hotel after a long day of knocking on doors in 4 degree temperatures and put this album on.  It made it easier to remember why we all decided to spend the weekend hours and hours from home, following strange maps of a strange town, trying to articulate to people why we felt so strongly about the upcoming caucus.  Sometimes the simplest explanation is the best: 2 and 2 always makes 5.