The Fire This Time

I thought I would be more prolific in this medium. I have heavy thoughts weighing on my mind, man. And I wanted to give them a voice as much as I wanted to let my far-flung relatives know how my family is doing.

But "essayist" is apparently a job for which I need not apply.

So I'll sweep away the virutal cobwebs from this page by simply stating: No, we are not in danger from the fires that are currently ravaging parts of SoCal. The air is full of soot, but we're doing fine. Although the local TV news says some jackass did attempt arson in nearby Eaton Canyon earlier tonight. (Sorry, no link.)

Just keep the evil overlords at FEMA away from me and mine.

Posted at 12:03 AM | View all replies (2)

Forced Perspective

This is going to be a great year. Along with millions of other freedom loving Americans, this year I will vote Resident Bush, our aspiring dictator, out of office and into the dustbin of history.

Or: This is going to be an awful, tragic year. Along with millions of other fearful and cowed Americans, you will be seduced by BushCo's $200 million propaganda machine and its promises of peace through war. The ends will justify the means.

I'm sorry; I can't put on a New Year's happy face and pretend that life is grand in the "greatest country in the world." It's not. These are dark times, and I fear that it's going to get much darker before the dawn - if it comes at all.

Perhaps I'm being melodramatic, but it's impossible to deny that there has been a gross intelligence failure throughout America since the last Presidential election. I'm not just talking about 9-11. I'm talking about the massive public indifference to the judicial coup that propelled Bush into the White House. I'm talking about our abject failure as a nation to honestly confront the question of why we were attacked. I'm talking about the fact that an Administration that is blatantly hostile to freedom has even the slightest chance of retaining power (through the democractic political process, anyway).

Is it enough just to vote against Bush? Is there a presidential candidate out there who has the courage to restore the balance of power between the branches of the federal government by repealing the PATRIOT Act and rescinding dozens of Bush's unconstitutional executive orders, and is yet electable? And does it even matter if the electoral process itself has been corrupted beyond redemption?

I admit that I do not have ready answers to these questions, and so perhaps this article reads as mere Bush-bashing. So be it. I know better. A cynic is an idealist that has been betrayed one too many times. Bush has betrayed his sworn duty to the People, but I still have hope in the ideal of America.

So where does that leave us?

I don't know, but I feel comforted for having gotten these words out of my head and into yours. I may even be ready to return to more light-hearted subjects in this wonderful new year...

Posted at 5:28 PM

2/16/66

I turned 38 years old today. Still have all of my hair and 20/20 vision.

Nevertheless, looking at that number makes me feel old. I look back on the past and see opportunities squandered and a preference for security over adventure. Resolve to wake up and smell the coffee.

How long will I live? When I was in college and deep in the throes of Angry-Young-Man-itis, I frequently predicted my own demise at the age of 25. All the goth girls thought I was deep. Now I hope to live at least a century, science willing.

Thank you, Monique and Darby, for baking monkey bread on my birthday and for making me smile.

Posted at 12:00 PM | View all replies (3)

I Need an Antonym for "Metaphor"

Apparently not content to just figuratively shit on the music-loving public, Dave Matthews recently made a bold move into the world of avant garde performance art. Who knew he was such a fan of Genesis P-Orridge's blood-and-semen-soaked COUM Transmissions?

I'd really like to hear from The Dave's rabid fans about this radical new direction in his art. Especially from you fans that perfer not to use any punctuation whatsover. But especially from anyone on AOL.

Posted at 10:24 PM | View all replies (1)

Feelin' Fine

What he's typed will be a window into his madness.
- Marge Simpson

Is it a bad idea to blog while depressed?

I started this blog (how I hate that word) to rag on the humanoid called George W. Bush (how I hate that faux cowboy). But it's just no good. It's too overwhelming. Just thinking about the last presidential election gets my blood up. It's not use trying to make sense of the last four weeks, nevermind the last four years.

Bushco is a secretive, authoritarian, deceitful, war-mongering cabal of plutocrats. And John Kerry is no better. We are truly fucked.

I've been coy about revealing my personal beliefs here (other than my infinite hatred for Bushco), and have probably left the impression that I'm just another disgruntled leftie shouting into the void. No, that's not correct. I'll certainly own up to being disgruntled. I cannot fathom how anyone can remain gruntled in Bushco's America. (OK, maybe the richest 1% of the population has good reason to be gruntled, but that's not me either.) And I'm certainly shouting into the void. But I am no leftie.

I self-label as libertarian. Perhaps you think that's a code word for "Republican wingnut" (like I did back in my stupid youth). But again, no, that's not correct. I actually believe in limited government and civil liberties. I place the highest value on personal freedom and personal responsibility. I demand a government by, of and for the people. In other words, I expect America to live up to its hype. That sure does put me firmly outside the big tent, six sigma away from the median, ostracized by the red and blue Republocrat cliques. Plus, I'm an atheist. I am well and truly fucked.

And so I sit here typing while my family sleeps, trying to exorcise my demons in public.

But it gives no comfort. I cannot see the day when the monstrous PATRIOT Act is repealed and the full complement of liberties guaranteed by the plain language of the Constitution is restored. I worry about the world my daughter will inherit. She's growing up in a culture where "freedom" in practice means the opportunity to consume. Even if I am able to counteract her inevitable indoctrination in the ways of American exceptionalism, will she be able to find happiness in a land of pod people? Will she discovered and condemned by the Thought Police? Or will she succumb to the sleazy pleasures of the feelies?

No answers, only disturbing questions. Sleep now. Try, anyway.

Posted at 11:51 PM | View all replies (4)

People Are Stupid

Some of friends have asked me why I don't write more often. The answer is that whenever I look closely at what's going on here in the Homeland™, I get too depressed.

Posted at 10:43 PM | View all replies (2)