As we all know, San Francisco is a weird place. Which is why we all love it so. Because of it, though, it seems like the loudest, harshest voices are those of the anti-war movement. It’s especially true of where I’m living now, in the Mission. Everywhere I walk, there’s posters or graffiti calling for Peace or something that attacks America. Some are rather tame, like about Teach-Ins or quotes from Gandhi, but some are rather provocative, like the poster showing one of the planes slamming into the WTC with the phrase "Got Terrorism? End the Empire." There was another thing of graffiti that I saw that was something along the lines of "Go ahead and wave the flag of the leading terrorist nation in the world."

For some reason it’s really getting under my skin. It’s not necessarily because of the naiveté of some of the arguments (you know, that if we ask the Taliban really, really nicely and say pretty please with sugar on top, they’ll hand over bin Laden). It’s the tone that's associated with it. That if you support some sort of war effort you’re, at best, a victim of group think brought on by blind allegiance to the government and brainwashed by the mainstream media or, worse, a racist, warmonger. I deeply resent that. I consider myself fairly well informed (maybe more so than a lot of the people marching out in the streets), a pretty bright person and have a mind of my own. I think it’s a natural conclusion to draw that if some fanatic with a lot of money and followers declares war on you and turns four hijacked planes into missiles, killing 5,000 people that it probably makes sense to go into Afghanistan and get them. So, what if I get most of my information from CNN, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Chron? What information am I missing? What is it that I don’t know or what lives have I bought into? Hell, the "Daily Show" spent most of last night’s show interviewing the Newsweek reporter who wrote that story about anti-American rage in the Middle East. He thinks we’re doing the right thing and he seems pretty bright. Is there something he doesn’t know? Has he been brainwashed too? And Tim Redmond, the editor of the Bay Guardian keeps on calling against the bombing, but Tom Friedman of the New York Times supports it. Redmond edits a weekly, free alternative paper that regularly rails about how Yuppies are ruining San Francisco. Friedman has covered the Middle East for years, lived there and has interviewed or talked too a lot of people who are now involved in what's going on. Now, why should I listen to Redmond over Friedman? Is Redmond more enlightened than Friedman is?

I don’t know. When I walk down the streets, I find myself wanting to tear down posters or write counter-graffiti. I find myself muttering things like "well, if you think this country is so awful, why don’t you move elsewhere" or "damn, dirty hippies." And I don’t like it. Sometimes I think that maybe I should start a group like "Liberals for War" or "Liberals With Our Heads Not Stuck Up Our Asses" and march in the streets just to show people that it’s okay to be liberal and intelligent yet support what we’re doing. But, of course, nobody would actually want to march in support of war or people dying. So the only voices you hear are that of the anti-war effort.

I'm just not sure I'm the one who drank the cool-aid.

And on a lighter note- why don't they just get Phoebe & Joey together? Everybody knows it's coming, it's the only couple they haven't gotten together yet. Maybe they're just how pathetic it'll look that all six characters wind up with each other.