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" And as the nation yawns and rolls over, heedless of the thrumming media harpies and their &amp;quot;Decision/Vote/Choice 2000&amp;quot; business, we realize: Rush was right. Not the talk-radio fattie--the band. People, whom do you think Rush was trying to reach with &amp;quot;If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice&amp;quot;? Correct: It was you. So now more than ever: Rush, powered by Neil Peart--chief lyricist, Ayn Rand devotee, bitchin&amp;#039; drummer, and more. Turns out Mr. Peart is an ardent libertarian. (They&amp;#039;re the ones who want to abolish taxes and legalize pot, we think.) As such, societal themes permeate the Rush canon, among them freedom, self-reliance, and Thai stick. Peart noted the individualism of Tom Sawyer; he celebrated the worth of philosophers and &amp;quot;ploughmen&amp;quot;; and long before Napster, he gave us his eloquent lamentation on record-company greed: &amp;quot;For the words of the prophets were written on the studio wall / [and] concert hall / And echoes with the sounds of salesmen / oooooffffff salesmen!&amp;quot; Our point? Not sure, but maybe it&amp;#039;s that the Libbies deserve another look--if only because their convention will probably not showcase Fleetwood Mac and might even feature a Canadian power trio whose logo involves a naked guy and a pentagram. Whatever: Rock the vote!  Week 1. November 7: Don&amp;#039;t look at it as selecting one bozo over another. Instead, look at it as selecting the bozo who will, in turn, probably tap as many as four Supreme Court justices--and those cats can really screw things up. Alternatively: Look at it as the first time someone with the flu attempted to sabotage a candidate by licking the doorknobs of his headquarters.  Week 2. Speaking of Canadian minstrels: Were there ever a perfect day to take in a Gordon Lightfoot concert, it would be November 10, the 25th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, no? (Lightfoot, of course, immortalized the tragedy in a 1976 hit.) Unfortunately, Gord&amp;#039;s taking the 10th off. Next best thing: the 9th in Lincoln, Nebraska, or the 11th in Minneapolis.  Week 3. This is in no way a reference to Republicans: November 18, Surin, Thailand, 240 miles outside of Bangkok--the Elephant Roundup. Seriously. There are processions, there are demonstrations, there are hundreds of great beasts at work and at play. Come for the elephant football; stay for the tug-of-war. Also: Say &amp;quot;Great Caesar&amp;#039;s ghost!&amp;quot; more often. Thank you.  Week 4. Things for which William S. Burroughs gave thanks in &amp;quot;A Thanksgiving Prayer&amp;quot;: &amp;quot;the passenger pigeons, destined to be shit out through wholesome American guts,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Kill a Queer for Christ&amp;quot; stickers, &amp;quot;the KKK,&amp;quot; and, our favorite, &amp;quot;a nation of finks.&amp;quot; In closing, Burroughs wrote, &amp;quot;You always were a headache and you always were a bore.&amp;quot; Hey, Ma, pass the gravy! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a341/agenda-november-0900/>