I'm having trouble formulating anything today, so I'm afraid all you're going to get this week is a series of inchoate ramblings.
That's a really good word, isn't it? "Inchoate". It doesn't see enough use. "Many of Iraq's problems stem from the inchoate nature of the post-war planning."
Speaking of, the State of the Union address is coming up. Oh, I won't watch it. I simply cannot stomach seeing him speak - the image of leader of our country being a stumbling, simpering, mendacious buffoon is too much to bear. I'll read it post facto, as I always do, and grumble to myself about the blatant falsehood and misrepresentations it will largely consist of.
The truly wicked and sad thing about this administration and their buddies in Congress is that they are unrepentant liars. I disagreed with George H.W. Bush, I disagreed with Bob Dole, but they had respect for the truth. To be honest, I think George H.W. is a remarkably under-respected president; he had to pick up the economic mess after eight years of Reagan's bullshit, and did a remarkably decent job of it. Sure, they were politicians, but underneath that they cared about what was true and what was not.
What angers me most about this current crew isn't their political philosophy, although I disagree with most of it. It's that they are utterly willing to lie, and they are perverting every agency of governance in their image. Time was you could trust statistics from the Department of Labor or the Federal Reserve or even the EPA. The agency might have an axe to grind but they didn't futz with the truth.
That's no longer the case. Now we have conservatives on the payroll at government agencies solely to hand out largesse and slant the news. Facts are squelched, reports are re-written, lies are promulgated, journalists are bribed with tax dollars, all to serve political ends. I'm sorry but if you think this sort of thing has gone on forever, you are wrong. Not on this scale. Not since the 1920s, when the government was a whole lot smaller.
That's really what makes me sick. The utter disrespect these people have for America. For our institutions. For the truth. Power and money are their only idols, and they are tearing down everything else to serve them.
And speaking of bad people being elected, how about that Hamas?
You know, I can't really get worked up about them either way. One the one hand, yay for real democracy. Elections aren't democracy - the handover of power is democracy. Any tinpot dictator can hold elections. Only democrats can go into opposition.
On the other hand, they're terrorists. I don't get as worked up about that as many folks. Terrorism is bad, yes. But to say that having been terrorists should preclude them from governing is hypocritical. Israel was founded by terrorists - anyone remember the King David Hotel? The planners of that went on to lead the nation. And what about the PLO?
I think it would be foolish to deny Hamas the chance to prove that they have matured. Responsibility might be the catalyst necessary to wean them from bombing. Of course, it might not be, either - but to spurn them outright at this juncture would be a mistake.
And hell, they're less corrupt than the folks we're laboring under.
- Sun Ra