Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Instant Karma's done got us, folks!
“...Nothing so much emphasizes our moral fraudulence than the way we treated [Indians] from the time we hit shore to the last fifteen minutes. God must squint, turn his face and puke, when he’s not busy elsewhere.”
That’s from Jim Harrison’s The Road Home. That pretty much summarizes what I feel must be God’s hourly responses, these days. From the furor over some bimbo’s body, baby, and booty to the Vice-President’s latest thunderings about the war effort, it’s amazing God hasn’t been hospitalized from too much puking. Our “newsmen” on CNN, NBC, CBS, in the New York Times, the Washington Post, they open their mouths and our pours utter drivel. Any twelve-year-old with a semi-functioning brain can tell it's pure bullshit.
I guess America does deserve what it gets. Assuming there’s some sort of karmic retribution for our treatment of the Indians, Africans, Mexicans, etc., etc.—and now Iraqis, this country should be in for a shit-storm of chickens home at last to roost above us. And rain crap on us from now until the sun falls out of the sky.
And it goes on. History, someone said, doesn’t repeat itself. But people do. Last night I watched some old clips of Lyndon Johnson speaking about Viet Nam and George Bush 43 speaking about Iraq. Almost word for word, Bush spouts the propaganda left over from Viet Nam. Same metaphors. Same sulky optimism: you better believe we’re winning or else! I’m not the best educated turnip in the patch. I certainly don’t have the benefit of dozens of advisors and a huge research staff, yet I can see the insanity in our current international position. What the fuck are those guys in Washington smoking?
So, this awareness penetrates farther and further into the caves of my brain than it has before. We're dealing with crazies, folks. We can go into outrage, we can wave banners announcing the latest government gobbledy-gook from the roof-tops, but the fact remains: we are being led by crazies. And we are finally paying the cost of centuries of hypocracy, exploitation, and arrogance. Is there any way around this? I don't think so. We have the government we deserve—and, as far as I can tell—continue to deserve. Can we change it? Not until we pay the bill. And it's a big one.
That’s from Jim Harrison’s The Road Home. That pretty much summarizes what I feel must be God’s hourly responses, these days. From the furor over some bimbo’s body, baby, and booty to the Vice-President’s latest thunderings about the war effort, it’s amazing God hasn’t been hospitalized from too much puking. Our “newsmen” on CNN, NBC, CBS, in the New York Times, the Washington Post, they open their mouths and our pours utter drivel. Any twelve-year-old with a semi-functioning brain can tell it's pure bullshit.
I guess America does deserve what it gets. Assuming there’s some sort of karmic retribution for our treatment of the Indians, Africans, Mexicans, etc., etc.—and now Iraqis, this country should be in for a shit-storm of chickens home at last to roost above us. And rain crap on us from now until the sun falls out of the sky.
And it goes on. History, someone said, doesn’t repeat itself. But people do. Last night I watched some old clips of Lyndon Johnson speaking about Viet Nam and George Bush 43 speaking about Iraq. Almost word for word, Bush spouts the propaganda left over from Viet Nam. Same metaphors. Same sulky optimism: you better believe we’re winning or else! I’m not the best educated turnip in the patch. I certainly don’t have the benefit of dozens of advisors and a huge research staff, yet I can see the insanity in our current international position. What the fuck are those guys in Washington smoking?
So, this awareness penetrates farther and further into the caves of my brain than it has before. We're dealing with crazies, folks. We can go into outrage, we can wave banners announcing the latest government gobbledy-gook from the roof-tops, but the fact remains: we are being led by crazies. And we are finally paying the cost of centuries of hypocracy, exploitation, and arrogance. Is there any way around this? I don't think so. We have the government we deserve—and, as far as I can tell—continue to deserve. Can we change it? Not until we pay the bill. And it's a big one.
