Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Monday, June 09, 2008

on the American flag


Flags are powerful symbols and though I may long for an earth someday free of them (or perhaps free of what they currently represent to most folks), they're going to be with us for a while.

Anyway, ever since Sept 11 2001 I've carried a question with me that comes to mind every time I hear someone critical of another not wearing/flying/bumperstickering old glory.

Where was your lapel pin Sept 10 you jingoistic hypocrite?

I really don't care pt 2

It is said, us menfolk are cold and insensitive jerks who when words turn to things like feelings and empathy we fall away, disinterested.

So it is that I find myself watching this movie.

Being an amateur political junky I was looking forward to a discussion of the erosion of civil liberties, talking head wonkery, the usual.

About 20 minutes into it we get to know a family going through the nightmare of post sept 11 profiling and legally questionable detentions.

But I'm sitting there quickly losing interest as they insist on 'personalizing' the story in the event I can't make that leap on my own.

Honestly I kind of feel bad for my indifference but I found myself just not caring about these people and annoyed at their getting in the way of what I am really interested in, policy, analysis.

These people have suffered greatly and I worry about our erosion of liberties like many do.

Let's keep the family drama to Lifetime or Oxygen.

Does that make me a jerk?

Sunday, June 08, 2008

I really don't care pt 1

I wish I had a more nuanced opinion on the Israeli and Palestinian situation (of which I'm fairly ignorant, but is it really any more complex than a gradeschool shoving match?), but in the end my fatigue at hearing this thing bitched about incessantly for literally my entire life leaves me with the desire to see both destroy each other for the good of the rest of the world.

I hold similar feelings for most Republicans/gun nuts who I fantasize finishing each other off in a massive quail hunt ala Dick Cheney.

The NeoCons may have invaded Iraq with a completely fabricated pretext, perfectly executed, at least there was the framework of something plausible.
Plus look at all that yummy oil.

Are these idiots fighting about anything more complex than the fact that my most precious and singularly unique and in noooo way similar god/prophet/one ring to rule them all sprang out of this utterly dreary sandy hell on earth and we must defend it because there's no way they could have made up the very same story about the very same place using different names.

Does that make me a jerk?

Friday, March 21, 2008

Re: the preacher

This link on Douglas Rushkoff's site pretty much sums up my feelings on this whole kerfuffle.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

That's a first

For some reason, hearing that Sen. Clinton loaned her campaign 5 mil (whether true or just to fool her supporters into donating, see how you can't even trust that she's telling the truth about that?) spurred me to donate to a political campaign for the first time ever.

So I sent a few bucks to Barack.

I'd been real suspicious of the initial 'rock star' media circus and waited a while before deciding who to get behind. More than anything I think the word integrity describes why I went black.

Self financing, crocodile tears, Clinton resembles less a Senator than a rich privileged High School student council candidate being denied what she feels has always been her birthright, pouting and complaining to her friends that everyone's voting for the new guy from somewhere else instead.

P.S. see also the Michigan and Florida primaries where all Dems agreed to not campaign in those states because the DNC was going to refuse their delegates because they moved them up so early. Seems ol' Hill couldn't find the time or energy to remove her name from the ballot like nearly everyone else (oops). Look for a repeat of Florida lawyerthon 2000 if they are tied going into the convention.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

The Lance effect

I have, from personal experience and otherwise, been of the opinion that all persons named Lance are in fact, dicks.

You can call 'em douchebags, pricks you name it, you know what I mean.

Of course this begs to ask, what about our City/State/National hero Armstrong?

I'd always suspected anyone that determined, (not at all for personal growth but to make sure every last teenage cycling enthusiast just gives up hopes of ever winning the tour de france as many times since when again will a decent enough athlete get a similar case of cancer which lets doctors cut away pounds of heavy flesh giving a significant weight advantage and heck why not give the finger to any sense of tradition or sportsmanship and win the fucker just once more so I can be remembered long after my massive ego swallows our entire solar system) and named Lance, well he'd have to be...you know?


Finally I can rest assured that my suspicions were genuine.



Given that I am to much hypocrisy, I'll probably realize I have a long lost friend with that name or was Ghandi's nickname.