The Queen Of Goth has apparently converted to Christianity. The article says that “It’s the most startling public turnaround since Bob Dylan’s Slow Train Coming announced that he’d been born again.” I’ll say. She apparently converted in the period after a series of traumatic instances in her life. I’d be fascinated to get a glimpse of the journey she took to her conversion. She’s just written her first novel on the life of Christ — Christ at age 7 — and it seems to be getting good reviews. I hope that, like Bono and Dylan, her conversion transforms her art without compromising its edge.

I’ve never used Flash drives the way that this article on Yahoo describes, probably mostly because my ass is firmly planted in front of my machine most of the day. How cool to just take all of your digital stash with you and whatever PC you land in front of temporarily becomes your PC. I think it’s a killer technology and one that starts making portability of your digital life much easier without having to necessarily invest in expensive laptops or handhelds. I’m geeking out over it right at the moment… Am I way behind? Do you out there in reader-land use this technology a lot?

Jordan Cooper just had a great post about partisanship in America. He was reading a post on the Daily Kos (which, even as a Democrat, I’ve stopped reading for the most part because of the yammering, tiring rants about Republicans on there) and asked this very relevant question:

“…how much damage comes to a nation when the opposing sides hate each other this much?”

Answer? A lot, and of the type where it will take a lot of years of real bi-partisan cooperation to turn it around with a president that has enough humility and strength enough to facilitate the discussion. I posted this comment in reponse to his entry:

Partisanship in America is basically a control mechanism to use the worst instincts of Americans for political advantage. The fierce, disgusting, horrible fights and rants are mostly just grease for the fund-raising mill — designed to turn fence-sitters into donation-paying partisans. The reality on the ground is that most Republicans and Dems go to work productively together, live next door to each other, have fairly similar lifestyles, and generally love their families and America. The rancor in the political debate arena doesn’t mirror reality, which is why I think it’s manipulation. In fact, Jon Stewart said as much (and spoke for a lot of the rest of us) when he ripped the talking heads on Crossfire a new one. We are facing intensely important issues right now that will determine the fate of America and the world, and there’s precious little real productive debate going on. And when it does happen, like the great writing over at http://www.andrewsullivan.com, it’s attacked by partisans on both sides who can’t stand to have their silliness revealed for vacuousness it is. It’s frustrating.

I like to be right as much as the next guy – maybe more. In fact, I feel somewhat pleased about how suddenly and completely the Bush arrogance and hubris have circled back on him and is not just eroding support with Republicans, but literally destroying it. What the Bush team took as a triumphant mandate last November to do whatever they damn well pleased is disintegrating faster than the Iraqi security situation, and they are powerless to stop the slide because they don’t have the true leadership to be able to do so.

But despite seeing this just and fitting process happen in real time, I’m too sad to gloat and dwell on the “I told you so”. There is so much destruction that needs to be repaired that it’s hard to know where to begin. And the only way we’ll come through this stronger is if Reps and Dems that are able to be sensible enough to set aside the petty visciousness and get to work on constructive responses to the last 5 years of leadership breakdown in America.

So in that spirit, and because the Dems can’t seem to find a leader with a strong conviction and moral center, I’ll say — McCain in 2008. (Unless Obama runs, which — sensibly — he would never even consider.)