Virulent Anti-American Propoganda To Follow

I got nothing. Our country is grrrreat! I've so lightened up.

Arrogance repudiated

First things first:
Onion Headline "Politicians Sweep Midterm Elections"
--
Arrogance only ends in humiliation. And so it goes with Donald Rumsfeld.
Here's a frightening thought: How would the election have turned out had Bush's "guy for life" been fired before Nov. 7? A related queasy feeling everyone has about this whole election is that the Democrats are winning because the war is a failure. The liberals would not be cheering if soldiers weren't dying in increasing numbers. What if we were "winning" the war? What does winning the war mean -- to Democrats?

So this is a repudiation of Bush's incompetence and arrogance. But it's not an affirmation of Democrats.
It's fun to watch the X+Y=Zcause and effect -- get your ass kicked in an election and fire your widely hated defense secretary the next day. It has a narrative with a strong punch line, but getting caught up in that narrative might fool us. The real problem, is best summed up in this essay from the London Review of Books. It's hard to read -- in typical fuck-you-i'm-smart intellectual fashion that is inaccessible (triangulation? deliquiescence? WTF dude) but illuminating, as long as you've got a dictionary next to you. It's got America's left down pat and it aint pretty.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n18/judt01_.html

And here's the American left's response:
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=12138

Dude.

So, George Allen and Michael Steele went down hard. Democrats inched back into relevance, taking over the House and possibly the Senate (Virginia! Montana!), a holyfuckingshit development of the shut-the-hell-up! variety.
It's like the Democrats should have carried brooms with them the way fans do at the end of baseball sweeps. Would that the Orioles made the playoffs this year, or, heh, any of the last six to ten years. Life woulda been that much sweeter.
Anyhow, today's an important day. After recounts and election talk, it'll be a delicate Democrat dance. And as infectious as optimism and momentum is, there's a little voice in the back of the world's collective unconcious that's askin all kindsa questions, like:
Will they govern with credibility and authority? or with reactivity and partisanship? Will they be snakes in the grass; Republicans in sheep's clothing? because with some "Democratic" candidates, Lucy's got some 'splainin to do.
They'll change course in Iraq, sure. (Who the hell knows if it will be for the better.) That's the whole reason the've regained some measure of power. But what about healthcare (Aetna should really be pronounced Nyet, as in Russian for "nothing" as in they fucking suck.), poverty, social security (my 401K has gotta mortal wound, is bleeding from its belly), and adjusting national priorities as regards the environment, globalization and international relations, i.e. getting the hell out of countries we don't belong in-- both fiscally and in other ways?
Can they make habeas corpus John Yu -proof or will they emulate Republicans and try to straddle the red and blue divide like spineless dickheads? Will they embrace a truly liberal base or will they look the other way when so-called "conservative Democrats" attack the rights of gays and immigrants and pro-choicers? Will they restore civil liberties or embrace the morality-free military industrial complex in attempt to shed their "weak" reputation? Will they fall prey to war-mongering defense contractors whose money they could surely use in 2008?
What about privacy, the broken immigration and prison systems? And in the international realm, is there the slightest chance they'll rethink our preposterously uncritical alliance with Israel? In other words, will they lead -- lead with moral goddam authority and liberal goddam ideals?
The Green Party represents many of these liberal -- true left -- ideals, but former Naderites for years have been soundly rejected by the liberal intelligentsia. Mainstream media have ignored and marginalized the Greens for so long, it's gotten fashionable in the coffeehouses. After they were blamed -- in what I believe is a shameless and cowardly argument -- for the 2000 election, it became official: it ain't easy being Green. (Didn't that poor little bastard Kermit speak the truth.) But, for the most part, they represent something -- they represent souls that aren't for sale, and this gives me hope.
What I'm saying is, I hope the Democrats follow suit and don't fight their battles on Republican territory as they've done with gay marriage-ban apologists, bigoted immigration concessions, chest-heaving security initiatives. I hope they fight on their terms. It should be a no-brainer: people follow when you stay true to your ideals unapologetically and don't waffle to please everyone. Everybody respects balls.
Now something tells me I may be asking too much, expecting too much. Whatever. All I'm saying is that this is important. I just hope that all this optimism and momentum doesn't wind up in a trail of disappointment, which would turn quickly I expect into disaster.
Because the world can't -- and won't-- wait.

An Accidental Posting, but hey

There is some optimistism being bandied about willy nilly these days.
People are excited, anticipating big changes with the midterm election on Tuesday, four days from today. They hope that the Republicans will be nudged from power, losing the House and possibly the Senate to balance out the grotesquely awesome accomplishments of this murderous administration.
The media says that in greater numbers, especially in the middle of the country, people are fed up with war and [correction] its perpetrators, with our fiscal mess at home, and with their perception of an arrogant, elite, war-mongering and radical -- in the bad way-- executive branch. These people will be voted out eventually, I am certain.
But in the meantime, there remains a huge group of other people who for various reasons are not politically engaged. It's at 75 percent, I hear. I am guessing either they've been rejected or suppressed by our institutions or they choose voluntarily to reject them.
For the latter folks, it's time to rethink things. As much as I understand the sentiment that this country is beyond redemption, and that elections have become choices between evils, I can't agree anymore that non-voting is an answer.
In 2000, many thought it couldn't get worse. Then Sept. 11 happened. And everyone -- even the ubernegative -- shook their heads because it did. And the badness has yet to wane.
Well, maybe this election is a sign -- a small, hopeful sign. Something to be optimistic about. There exist today some great and honorable public servants, who could be future heroes. That's something.
And more and more people are waxing political. Being in D.C. it's hard to tell if that's an inner Beltway thing, or if the whole country really is more engaged than it was six -- or even two -- years ago. Here in my supersecret city around the District, I'm flanked by two crucial senatorial races between horrendous Republican candidates and tolerable Democrats. It's a nasty fight and it's all people are talking about. So my hunch is people are into it, invested, angrier and surlier about the state of affairs. It's affecting their pocketbooks and their sense of stability, sanity and safety. Maybe, in sum, there is a tad less apathy than there was before.
It's not a lot, but it's something.



I think I should have just posted a picture of Madonna draped in the American flag with the words "Rock The Vote" in black lettering. Woulda saved us a few grafs.

Why Porcupine needs a nap

My new mentee, Anum, 9, and I are getting to know each other. We both happen to speak Urdu (ok, i barely speak it, but whatever) and are chatting with each other in that language when a look of recognition passes across her face. She does an exaggerated gasp, the way kids do:
"Are you from Baltimore?" she asks.
"No, why do you ask?"
"You look like you're from Baltimore."
"Really? How do people from Baltimore look?"
"Well," she says, checking out my hair and face, "People from Baltimore look tired. It's an hour away."

Outta the mouths of babes. She's a nice kid, though.