To Read or not to Read...

“In My Time,” that is, Dick the Slimy’s new book that he assures us will cause some heads in Washington to explode. After a full two seconds of thought I decided against reading it. I would not, first of all, do anything that might put even one more cent into the pockets of this unrepentant evil war criminal. More importantly, as in the eight years of the Bush/Cheney administration neither one of them ever said even one thing that was true, why would I believe they would say anything that was true now? The only true thing either of them has said was that they did in fact torture people, a blatant war crime that goes completely uninvestigated and unprosecuted. I assume there must have been assurances given by Obama that he would not pursue any investigation, itself I believe a violation of his obligations under the Constitution, making him, if not a war criminal himself, at least a fellow traveler, an accomplice. Finally, I won’t read it because I know it would make me so angry it would quite likely shorten my life (by making my head explode). Besides, I don’t need to read it as I’m certain it will be reviewed, dissected, analyzed, summarized, reviled, praised, and critized by dozens of others, on the internet, in the press, and on television. I can’t truly say he is the most evil man that ever lived, after all he has some really stiff competition from Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Amin, and others, but if the next revised dictionary doesn’t place his picture next to the word “evil,” they certainly should. Anyway, having not a whole lot longer to live, and having displayed no previous concern about what anyone thinks (but himself), what does he have to lose, especially after having been granted amnesty by the current administration? It is true that it has not been the policy for one administration to take any kind of action against its predecessor, but there has never been a precedent where a previous administration strutted around boasting of its war crimes.

One of our most well-known religious nut-cases, Pat Robertson, has suggested the recent earthquake that caused a crack in the Washington Monument might be a sign from God that Jesus is about to return to earth (and Armageddon is coming, I guess). It would seem to me this attack on our most famous phallic symbol, along with the current hurricane, is far more likely a warning from Mother Earth that we had better bloody well change our ways, and fast. Even the most terribly abused women often resort to violent rebellion, and Mother Earth has had more than her share of abuse from the human species.

Hungary has destroyed 1000 acres of Monsanto Genetically Modified crops. Peru has passed a ban on such crops. Many European countries have indicated they do not want GM seeds. In spite of this the U.S. is apparently still promoting them around the world. Monsanto obviously has more influence on the U.S. than all the countries that have made it clear they do not want their GM seeds. I guess this is another example of “American exceptionalism.” We always know best.

Now that Governor Perry is leading the pack of Republican candidates more and more information about him and his record in Texas are being revealed, his blatant pay-to-play philosophy, his attempt to con retired teachers to sign away their life insurance, his executions, and so on. I wonder if all this is going to make any difference to his supporters, and more interesting, what if it does? I guess there are always Bachmann, Santorum, Gingrich, Palin, Giuliani and others waiting (lurking) in the background, oh happy day! It is certainly an interesting situation when no matter how bad Obama may be, perhaps no matter how much worse he may become, he will still be far better than any of the Republican semi-lunatics wanting to replace him. This is American democracy at its finest, the culmination of more than 200 years of “the noble experiment,” most probably even the “final solution.” But be of good cheer, great strides have been made in artificial erections and growing eyelashes, dog and cat food is so fine it can be consumed by humans, and peace is no longer even a remote possibility.

In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican.

H. L. Mencken