Do I wake or sleep?

I am no expert on Arizona politics but I have visited there several times and my father and stepmother go to their house there all the time. It's...sad, I guess, that Arizona has been cast in the role of this super-conservative, xenophobic area. I can't say how accurate that is but I will say at least the Sedona area is a mixture of very conservative and very liberal, hippie-ish, New Age. And they all seem to get along just fine. I'll also say, regarding their draconian response to illegal immigration--they're on the front line. Arizona has to deal with that situation is a very different way than most of the rest of the country. I don't agree--AT ALL--with demonizing or otherizing illegals, and I think demanding to see their papers smacks of Nazi Germany and is ridiculous and racist. But they're desperate. I strongly support legal immigration--in fact, I think it should be easier to get citizenship--but you have got to wait in line.

I probably could've written that a few months ago, but it came up again when I was at the gym watching Nightline last night. They showed this...sea, this beautiful sea of flowers, balloons, notes outside the hospital where Congresswoman Giffords and some of the other wounded are, all well-wishers, all Arizonans who came together to unite. I especially loved seeing the Native Americans chanting. You see a lot more of those cultures out there--we've pretty much eradicated that here on the East Coast :( but there are reservations and stores and constant reminders over in the Southwest. It's really lovely. I thought that chanting was as great a response as praying or writing a note.

And this is sad (from the Post):

While federal lawmakers debate how best to increase safety for themselves and their staff, some Arizona Republican party officials are choosing to leave office in the face of threats.

A conflict that has been going on between local Arizona Republicans came to an end in the wake of the shooting in Tucson on Saturday when Arizona's Republican District 20 Chairman Anthony Miller and several others chose to resign.

The Arizona Republic reports that Miller, 43, a former campaign worker for Sen.John McCain who was re-elected to a second one-year term last month, has been concerned for his family's safety by constant verbal attacks and blog posts from some local committee members with tea party movement ties.

I can't blame him for not wanting to die but--yeah, way to stifle debate through threats of violence.

I have to say, I find the recent revelation that the "study" linking MMR vaccination with autism to be so terribly sad. I'm not particularly surprised that the study is a fake--it just seemed so obvious that the science was fishy, although I thought the guy behind the original paper, Wakefield (no longer a doctor now) was just being sloppy, not necessarily attempting fraud.

But as annoying as I found the know-nothing parents (the ones who had autistic kids, that is) before, I just feel really bad for them now. Crushed hopes are so, so hard to bear--and these parents, who were motivated by their love and fear for their children, are now back where they started. They are left with their autistic child and no answers. And now they know some fraud just manipulated them for his own agenda--even if they won't admit it now, they will eventually.

As for the parents of non-autistic kids who refuse to get their kids immunized, I have much less sympathy for them. You're the reason measles has come back in such great numbers.

My knee looks bad--it's considerably swollen. I have no idea what happened but I'm putting ice on it for awhile. Julie let me go early from rehearsal, as I was gimping around the studio feeling like Tiny Tim, so I can kick back and rest for a little while.

They caught Saddam Hussein! I wanted to post this earlier today (news junkie that I am, I'd turned on CNN when I first got up) but again, my internet access didn't work. But only this morning--I was able to get on just now. Weird.

Duncan's party was lots of fun. I really wish I'd gotten there earlier--I'd intended to leave my apartment by 9:00 at the latest but Susan called and delayed me for a bit. I got there around 11:00 and then left around 2:00 which wasn't enough fun. But Susan was going back on the PATH and I wanted to go with her.

God, my knee is hurting.