It rears its head....

Don't get your hopes up. I'm still on hiatus. However, I thought you might enjoy this little graphic courtesy of Crooks and Liars. I might have something relevant to say in a few more days. Or not.

*I know Hitchens is crazy, but anyone who has the balls to consistently appear on national television in a drunken stupor and still make sense is all right in my book!

Time Out

Once again I’ve reached the boiling point with my tolerance for cable news chatter and must take a forced hiatus. Every now and then the bloviating insanity that passes itself off as legitimate news in this country manages to aggravate me to such an extent that it becomes detrimental to my physical health. All signs point to a complete meltdown. Resistance if futile.

There are many factors that pushed me to this decision. The big three are the racist/sexist (insert your “ist”of choice here) treatment of Sonia Sotomayor. Insults ranging from questioning her intellect to mocking Puerto Rican cuisine came shooting out of the large intestine of the GOP faster than a rotten plantain. Look, I don’t necessarily agree with her decision in the New Haven firefighter’s case. That doesn’t mean that she isn’t totally qualified to be on the SCOTUS.

Then there’s the whole Liz Cheney attack dog stance on what constitutes torture. Who the fuck is this woman and why is she getting any airtime? Water boarding is torture. Period. End of fucking discussion. 

Now, apparently photos have surfaced showing a US soldier interrogating – no excuse me - RAPING a woman held in Abu Grahib. This is one of the two thousand photos that Obama rightfully decided not to release to the public a couple of weeks back. I guess the “I’m proud to be an American” feeling since January 20^th must now come to its natural, heartbreaking demise. 

Finally, the Proposition 8 debacle in California has proven once again that the backward thinking religious goons and the socially ignorant in the country yell the loudest and therefore win. It’s hard to blame the judges in this case, since the state of California’s laws concerning its constitution are so fucked up that if the people declared that slavery should be legalized again, they could alter their constitution in a vote referendum and make it so. The court would have no choice but to hold up the voted conclusion as law. Granted, the decision would fast-track to the Supreme Court where it would be promptly overturned. But in the gay marriage case there is no guarantee that SCOTUS would rule in favor of what is decent and fair under the law. After all, it’s only liberally biased “activist” judges who legislate from the bench. The conservative block sitting there right now - with all the softness of a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano - unfortunately has the weight of its numbers and therefore would more than likely legislate from the bench – though they don’t have the collective balls to call it that. Praise Jesus.

So, I’m turning off the TV and the blogosphere for a while. I need to focus on my tomato plants, drink good wine in the breeze of the coming summer evenings and contemplate the important things in life. Trust me; Chris Matthews isn’t one of them.

Is it hot in here?

Well guys, I'm off to sunny Florida for a conference in Clearwater. It's beyond exciting for me because I haven't been warm since October! It brings to mind my favorite line from The Pope of Greenwich Village when Paulie exclaims on more than one occasion, "It's warm there, Charlie." Yes indeed, it is. Maybe I'll check out the world headquarters of Scientology or eat dinner at 4:00 with the rest of the population. Such possibilities! I know it's too cold to swim, but a nice long walk on the beach is just about what I need right now. That and a couple of dozen Mai Tais. See y'all in about a week!

A note from the management....

I realize that posts lately have been lacking. Last week totally sucked as far as technology goes. After reformatting my PC twice, installing a brand spanking new hard drive and spending too many hours downloading and re-downloading essential programs we've come to the conclusion that the mother board is cooked and now the Mister and I must purchase a new tower all together - hopefully tonight.

To top it off, my brand new laptop also had a mother board issue and had to be sent back to Dell to be fixed. That was almost two weeks ago. I'm still waiting for them to send it back all fresh and shiny new. Until then, my only post time is at work which is totally not cool. So, stay patient reader. I'll be back making opinionated useless commentary before you know it.

Yours Truly,
The Management

Anger is an Energy....

I have to distance myself from the news cycle for a little while. Things are just becoming too distorted and weird. My seething hatred of McSame/Qualin was minimally abated by news of the collapse of America’s financial markets. That is just beyond fucked up. I’m actually getting pleasure out of seeing these two political clowns get a minor comeuppance in the media on the back of a devastating financial crash unrivaled since the great depression. What is happening to me? I used to pride myself on a rational thought process, yet lately any sleazy cheap shot at the Republican ticket has the same effect on me as a hit of crack does on a dope fiend. Why am I letting the politics of smear have an emotional effect on my otherwise analytical thinking?

It has recently dawned on me that we as a society – aside from huge portions of us just too stupid to live – have been overly processed with images, slogans and sound bytes that are now, irrevocably I’m afraid, taking control of our capacity for free will while we in turn disconnect ourselves from humanity. How many times a day do I sit through commercial after commercial telling me I’m too fat, I have acne, sexual dysfunction, bad breath, age spots, a dead-end career? The list is infinite. Americans are suffering from the worst inferiority complex on the planet and at the same time we beat our chests and mindlessly shout out, “USA, USA, USA” with one finger on the big red button. This insanity has to stop otherwise the dream and promise of America will implode. Fast.

Things are so disconnected, and people are so far removed from reality, that petty inconsequential bull shit from all directions has managed to skew any semblance of reasonable discrimination. Everything appears to have equal footing regardless of the obvious inequities staring us right in the face. No, the O’Reilly Factor does not have the same journalistic integrity as The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. No, “executive experience” does not trump constitutional law. And fuck no, emergency contraception is not abortion. Yet here we are, a society of dim wits having bogus information spoon fed into our every orifice. Did you know that 1 in 5 Americans has genital herpes? Rome is burning.

Perhaps I’m wasting my time trying to distinguish my self from the rest of the herd. They seem to be having a pretty good time overall. The anger that has sustained me for so long and enabled me to remain alert and informed is beginning to lose its fire. Maybe the flood of useless psychobabble and distorted images is just what’s needed to once and for all wash over my overburdened brain and extinguish the flame. A baptism of sorts. Oh the irony.