Why no, I'm not violently angry, what makes you think that?

Since you asked, however, I am a mite . . . frustrated is the best word, I suppose. Hence, grrrrr.

One of the various choral groups with which I sing has a concert on Sunday, and we were to perform "Testament of Freedom" by Randall Thompson, along with the Duruflé Requiem. Due to the intervention of a bunch of damn commie hippies, we're no longer performing the Thompson, and instead performing four Duruflé motets. Seems a bunch of whiny liberals were dismayed that by singing patriotic music, we might be perceived as supporting "Gulf War II: Bush Gets Jiggy."

I'm conflicted about this. On the one hand, I never really liked "Testament of Freedom." It's nifty and patriotic and warms my heart and all that crap, but . . . well, I don't want to say it's boring, perse, but I've never fallen asleep during a rehearsal before.

On the other hand, I'm really frigging tired of people who don't have anything other to do than be "politically active" running my life! I mean, come on. These people are liberals. They live to do things that annoy the establishment, be it protesting the war, supporting gay rights, chaining themselves to giant redwood trees, suckling baby seals from their own human teats, etc. That's great. I'm all for some of that. The problem is: if you are forcing your own political views on another person, you become the establishment! I wouldn't recommend pointing that out to an anti-war hippie, though; the paradox would cause him to snap, and suddenly he'd start calling himself P. Chadwick Hollingsworth IV and start slapping the maids around.

Actually, I take that back. You can't really affect the mind of a hard core liberal any more than you can the mind of a hard core conservative. I think I know why, and the explanation can be summed up as follows:

• Rich people should get huge tax breaks to "help the economy."
• Drugs should always be illegal, that way inner city gangs can kill each other off over distribution rights, and save money on welfare.
• The government should be able to make war on any country who has something (oil, cheap labor, gold, clean air) the big business leaders want.
• Alcoholism is my birthright.
• Abortion is wrong; crack whores should forced to bear their children, even if the kids will be born 3 months premature and addicted to cocaine before they leave the womb.

For example, true blue Libertarians believe that the government should not take a hand in environmental control, that private companies are willing and able to regulate themselves. This is nice idea, but horribly naive: companies have been dumping chemicals into the air and water for hundreds of years without any qualms at all, and it has taken government intervention to get them to stop.

On the other hand, I believe all drugs should be legal. Why? Because if I want to smoke a joint, I'm not harming anybody else. I believe that gun control has only made it easier for armed criminals to prey on unarmed Americans. I believe the federal government could be cut down to a fraction of its current size with little detrimental effect on the country, cutting taxes by more than half. The government spends far too much money trying to protect people from their own stupidity, which only makes things worse for those of us who have some sense. It prevents us from doing things we want to do, and also circumvents the Darwinian process, increasing the percentage of people who are incredibly moronic.

I'm sure it's a coincidence, but it seems like many of them are also extreme political activists.