Like many people, I’m totally into the Presidential race. Obama is my candidate, though I confess I only registered as a Democrat so that I could vote for him in the Democratic primary. Otherwise, I don’t really consider myself part of any political party. There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that I already have enough crazy made-up shit in my head. I don’t need to subscribe to any more constructs.

It’s a losing proposition for me, of course. As a human being, I will spend the vast majority of my life clinging to such constructs. What other choice to I have? I don’t know how I arrived here, what my purpose is (if any), or even what this place really is. Sure, observation, analysis and speculation are there to serve me. So are some really interesting stories. I even have the option of placing my faith in a force, entity, or consciousness that I can’t actually detect with my senses. But while seeing stuff and feeling stuff is compelling and arresting, I still don’t know anything about anything in the big picture. Space is infinite - there’s literally a never-ending place beyond our planet, full of all kinds of stuff that we have never seen or even imagined - and we don’t even know how to get there. Let alone all the stuff right here on Earth that we still haven’t figured out, like the ocean floor, social justice or even the brains and bodies which make this entire experience possible. Yes, we have gears in our heads – but if we’re honest with ourselves, it becomes clear that we don’t know much.

So we owe the constructs. They help us make meaning and maintain santiy, stability and structure in our individual and collective lives. Yeah – this election us ultra-important, and I’m really behind my candidate. I’d even admit to having a full-blown case of Obamarama. But I also know that human beings are prone to becoming mired in their own constructs: from representative democracy to tribalism, from dogmatic theology to atheism, from the cities to the suburbs and the past to the present and probably into the future. We forget that the possibilities in this universe stretch well beyond those we can imagine.

Sigh. Obama/Biden ’08.

ENDNOTES:

▪ ISSUE ORIENTED (the podcast) is your new crush. Recent guests have included The Bouncing Souls, Bridge and Tunnel, Jesse Michaels (Operation Ivy), Brain Cook (Botch/Russian Circles/These Arms Are Snakes) and many more. IO is also the official podcast of The FEST 7! What are you waiting for? Hit IssueOriented.com or iTunes.

▪ Hatebreed’s Live Dominance DVD is now available everywhere from Koch Records. I conducted the band interviews and wrote the liner notes for this bad boy. Directed and produced by my good pal Kevin Custer (The Gaslight Anthem, Soulja Boy), the bulk of this DVD is a crazy live show in Detroit, shot in HD (9 or 10 cameras!) and featuring audio production and mixing by Grammy award winner Josh Wilbur (Lamb of God, Atreyu). This is Hatebreed’s first-ever DVD and it’s an incredible release from one of the most undeniably powerful forces in aggressive music.

▪ Lots more to come. Isn't that always how it is?