West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval & Voting Tomorrow

I didn’t make it to the Rally to Restore Sanity (and/or Fear) in DC, but I had a blast attending the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval in my hometown last night, along with 200,000 or so others.

And you know what? It was a spirited showing of what America (and the first Amendment) is all about – freedom of expression. The crowd was a microcosm of the diversity that makes our country great. The night was a celebration of our inherent creativity and the ability to accept that of others. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Gay, Straight, Old, Young – some came purely to revel, some to make the Guinness Book of World Records for Time-Warp Dancers on the 35^th anniversary of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, some to issue political statements with flare – saying yes to prop 19 to legalize marijuana was a popular costume –  the pot-infused air pockets punctuated the sentiment. The cops took pictures, instead of arresting people.

Beyond being one of the largest street parties in America, the Weho Halloween Carnaval is about participation. Unlike the Parade in New York City, where people line the sidewalks to watch the extravagant and awesome floats – people here ambled together - participants and audience intermixed. It struck me walking with the crowds in my short-skirt and high-heels – that this is what democracy is all about – people gathering to express themselves as individuals, while being part of something bigger, and more wonderful, as a whole.

Tomorrow is election day. The media and a slew of pundits and polls have talked all about voter disillusionment, as if false promises are the property of one party vs. another, rather than politics as we know it. All that posturing hides the real truth - people are sick of being lied to. Rhetoric doesn’t get you a job or save your house. The promise of change doesn’t guarantee that health insurance companies wont hike your rates another 14% next year, like they did this year (Blue Cross Blue Shield doesn’t play party favorites.)

Here in California, the two major party candidates for governor Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown, spent nearly $170 million dollars to get us to believe them. They blocked ‘fringe’ candidates, left, right and liberatarian – most appallingly exemplified by the arrest of Green Party candidate, Laura Wells, for the shocking act of trying to attend a debate two weeks ago. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Green, or Libertarian – that act of anti-participation and expression is not what American is about.  We should have more collective balls than shutting out voices outside the realm of well-funded majorities. We shouldn’t be afraid of opinion or options. 

Whatever happens tomorrow, I hope it marks a new beginning for sorely needed  hyper-expression beyond the voting booth, of the Weho Halloween Carnaval kind – in public forums, in blogs, at universities, in our homes, in the streets.