Politics: Outraged Out
I'm spastic these days. I can't focus on anything, because everywhere I turn, I'm getting pissed. I feel like I did when the Supreme Court gave Bush the White House, or when the Democrats in the Senate laid down like dogs and gave Bush a blank check to declare war on any country with a letter Q, or at least one Muslim, or any natural resources, including Alaska.
I'm dealing with this as best I can, but it's nearing impossible. There isn't even one 'latest thing.' It's about a hundred latest things. They're moving too fast on too many fronts and the reasonable people (that I have to believe exist) aren't seeing what's happeneing, blinded as they are by the haze of happy Iraqis gleefully looting the homes of Baathists and toppling statues of Saddam Hussein. (Just to let everybody know, there is no solid relationship between knocking down statues of evil leaders [or even killing the real thing] and any sort of economic success afterwards. Take the example of Romania, who famously tossed the super-evil Ceausescu out of power and into a hasty grave after killing him mob-style. In the past seven years, Romania has experienced hyperinflation [exchange rate soaring 1500%], average wage sinking, foreign debt soaring, and better than 10% unemployment up from 6% seven years ago. While nobody wants Ceausescu back, it certainly can't be said that street-dancing and statue-dropping is a viable national recovery method.)
The reasonable people (as opposed to the American electorate, or rather the 25% who actually get to pick the leaders owing to most races coming down to very close 50-50 splits and only about 50% of the eligible voters bothering to phone in a vote or anything) are paralyzed. They want to feel great about the happy, shoe-banging, bank-looting, soldier-hugging people of Iraq. Their ingrained tendency toward schmaltz and over-simplified views of complex concepts like freedom makes it almost impossible for them to resist choking up slightly at the thought of a bunch of dirty, hungry Iraqis, miserable after a dozen years of war and a dozen more of crushing sanctions, finally celebrating something, and being free to think about, well, looting.
But the reasonable people need to take heed. The American electorate (with which I am out of step, obviously, and which should be regarded as code, from me at least, for all those SUV-driving pieces of sh*t with W-2004 bumper stickers) and their string-pulling right wing political servants are getting away with murder up here in Washington.
They're continuing the unbelievable march of evil theocrats committed more than anything to making America a Christian country. To this end, President Bush has nominated a judge to the 11th Circuit Appeals Court who believes Jesus put him on earth to protect the courts from, uh, the separation of church and state, I guess. And the Education Secretary endorsed religious schools, apparently over the public schools, of which he is in charge. Well, I didn't really have a lot of faith in ol' Rod Paige. What do you expect from a guy who said that the federal government should play a "limited role" in education. "Check out your business card, Paige, you're the EDUCATION SECRETARY fer Chrissakes!"
Don't look this way, reasonable people, because you might notice that, after the oil industry (which I think does the housecleaning over at Cheney's place), the American chemical industry is tightest on the ass of the Bush White House. "You Dupont fellas want to spew toxins all over the place for pregnant women and young children to breathe in? Great! Promise me you won't write anything down about it that will get us both in hot water, 'kay?"
Look, away, reasonable people, for you may be inspired to show up in droves at the polls next November (who am I fooling?) if you look closely at the nasty goings-on being committed in your name by your chosen (and not-so-chosen) servants/masters here in DC. You might see that a bill to supposedly fund the war effort (uh, didn't somebody just say the war's over?) has been so larded up with stinky Republican pork pie (as well as friendly Democratic kolbassi) that the whole works might just collapse under the weight.
Don't look this way, responds the International Monetary Fund, meeting this week right here in Washington, because the news is all bad. In fact, the IMF's chief economist, who is frankly pleased not to have to wade through a couple hundred bad-smelling white kids with dreads and large form puppets to get to the damn meeting, called the Bush administration's plan for a new round of $726 billion in tax cuts "awkwardly timed," given that it would further worsen a federal budget deficit that is already ballooning because of the costs of the Iraq war. Nice.
Yes, just keep your eyes focused on the breathless adoration of the Fox News correspondent as he reports on President Bush's stunted speech to the Iraqi people, so nobody notices that we are are intent on installing a U.S.-friendly exiled leader who hasn't lived in Iraq since he was a boy and who is wanted for fraud in neighboring Jordan. (That ought to make for an unusual state visit.) Pay no attention to the rest of that interim government, replete with string-pulling masters like Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz and on-the-ground nutsos like Michael Mobbs (whose devotion to keeping Jose Padilla in a brig is second to none), and former CIA Director James Woolsey, who apparently thinks this war is the beginning of WWIV, which is more than a little disconcerting.
See. It's almost impossible to maintain any kind of meaninful commitment to outrage in this environment. It all comes at such a brisk pace, without fail, without hesitation, and without even the hint of a belief that it is anything but the right course of action that so many of those reasonable people, looking right into the face of deception, don't see the lies.
Maybe this'll help. I doubt it.
I'm spastic these days. I can't focus on anything, because everywhere I turn, I'm getting pissed. I feel like I did when the Supreme Court gave Bush the White House, or when the Democrats in the Senate laid down like dogs and gave Bush a blank check to declare war on any country with a letter Q, or at least one Muslim, or any natural resources, including Alaska.
I'm dealing with this as best I can, but it's nearing impossible. There isn't even one 'latest thing.' It's about a hundred latest things. They're moving too fast on too many fronts and the reasonable people (that I have to believe exist) aren't seeing what's happeneing, blinded as they are by the haze of happy Iraqis gleefully looting the homes of Baathists and toppling statues of Saddam Hussein. (Just to let everybody know, there is no solid relationship between knocking down statues of evil leaders [or even killing the real thing] and any sort of economic success afterwards. Take the example of Romania, who famously tossed the super-evil Ceausescu out of power and into a hasty grave after killing him mob-style. In the past seven years, Romania has experienced hyperinflation [exchange rate soaring 1500%], average wage sinking, foreign debt soaring, and better than 10% unemployment up from 6% seven years ago. While nobody wants Ceausescu back, it certainly can't be said that street-dancing and statue-dropping is a viable national recovery method.)
The reasonable people (as opposed to the American electorate, or rather the 25% who actually get to pick the leaders owing to most races coming down to very close 50-50 splits and only about 50% of the eligible voters bothering to phone in a vote or anything) are paralyzed. They want to feel great about the happy, shoe-banging, bank-looting, soldier-hugging people of Iraq. Their ingrained tendency toward schmaltz and over-simplified views of complex concepts like freedom makes it almost impossible for them to resist choking up slightly at the thought of a bunch of dirty, hungry Iraqis, miserable after a dozen years of war and a dozen more of crushing sanctions, finally celebrating something, and being free to think about, well, looting.
But the reasonable people need to take heed. The American electorate (with which I am out of step, obviously, and which should be regarded as code, from me at least, for all those SUV-driving pieces of sh*t with W-2004 bumper stickers) and their string-pulling right wing political servants are getting away with murder up here in Washington.
They're continuing the unbelievable march of evil theocrats committed more than anything to making America a Christian country. To this end, President Bush has nominated a judge to the 11th Circuit Appeals Court who believes Jesus put him on earth to protect the courts from, uh, the separation of church and state, I guess. And the Education Secretary endorsed religious schools, apparently over the public schools, of which he is in charge. Well, I didn't really have a lot of faith in ol' Rod Paige. What do you expect from a guy who said that the federal government should play a "limited role" in education. "Check out your business card, Paige, you're the EDUCATION SECRETARY fer Chrissakes!"
Don't look this way, reasonable people, because you might notice that, after the oil industry (which I think does the housecleaning over at Cheney's place), the American chemical industry is tightest on the ass of the Bush White House. "You Dupont fellas want to spew toxins all over the place for pregnant women and young children to breathe in? Great! Promise me you won't write anything down about it that will get us both in hot water, 'kay?"
Look, away, reasonable people, for you may be inspired to show up in droves at the polls next November (who am I fooling?) if you look closely at the nasty goings-on being committed in your name by your chosen (and not-so-chosen) servants/masters here in DC. You might see that a bill to supposedly fund the war effort (uh, didn't somebody just say the war's over?) has been so larded up with stinky Republican pork pie (as well as friendly Democratic kolbassi) that the whole works might just collapse under the weight.
Don't look this way, responds the International Monetary Fund, meeting this week right here in Washington, because the news is all bad. In fact, the IMF's chief economist, who is frankly pleased not to have to wade through a couple hundred bad-smelling white kids with dreads and large form puppets to get to the damn meeting, called the Bush administration's plan for a new round of $726 billion in tax cuts "awkwardly timed," given that it would further worsen a federal budget deficit that is already ballooning because of the costs of the Iraq war. Nice.
Yes, just keep your eyes focused on the breathless adoration of the Fox News correspondent as he reports on President Bush's stunted speech to the Iraqi people, so nobody notices that we are are intent on installing a U.S.-friendly exiled leader who hasn't lived in Iraq since he was a boy and who is wanted for fraud in neighboring Jordan. (That ought to make for an unusual state visit.) Pay no attention to the rest of that interim government, replete with string-pulling masters like Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz and on-the-ground nutsos like Michael Mobbs (whose devotion to keeping Jose Padilla in a brig is second to none), and former CIA Director James Woolsey, who apparently thinks this war is the beginning of WWIV, which is more than a little disconcerting.
See. It's almost impossible to maintain any kind of meaninful commitment to outrage in this environment. It all comes at such a brisk pace, without fail, without hesitation, and without even the hint of a belief that it is anything but the right course of action that so many of those reasonable people, looking right into the face of deception, don't see the lies.
Maybe this'll help. I doubt it.
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