VK here, I am the American press lead for Europe 2008. Today I’m reporting from a coffee shop in San Francisco. I am in a room filled with people, each one sipping on one cup of coffee each for five hours while they look for new homes, new jobs, and new friends on Craigslist. The economy is seriously crumbling and that is evident from the foamy latte I’m peering over. At the same time, SF is infamous for being full of unemployed people who move to the city equipped with degrees and laptops but no real plan of action. Despite all the ploite in this city, it is politically progressive. Very European-minded. It is from here where get in the right mindset to work for presidential candidate Hannah Jefferson. My job: I will record American-European history as it happens. I will probably fall into the trap that Howard Zinn forewarned readers about in his book A People’s History of United States. MEANING I will mention the truth quickly and move on the other things that are more important to me. As you can see from the self-portrait, my key concern is the maintenance of the flora and fauna in this country. I have a lot of faith in Jefferson’s plans for the environment. She pledges to cut greenhouse emissions by 50% in 2025. Considering the apocalypse is scheduled for 2012, that will give her enough time in the post-apocalyptic years to make this promise a reality.
Tomorrow I fly down to Los Angeles where I’m getting picked up from the airport by Jefferson’s Austrian campaign manager Bernhard. Then we begin shooting the documentary. Think Tanner ’88 on peyote. We will spend quite a bit of time in Baudrillard’s America—LA, Las Vegas, the desert—until we eventually saunter into the Democratic Convention in Denver, chain-smoking and blasting techno. I provide a daily account of this journey and turning point in my country’s future.
