How 'bout that oil spill, huh? Oil rigs are SAFE! Until they aren't. All it takes is ONCE, right? Kinda like, ah, Three Mile Island, or uh, Love Canal? Drill, baby, drill. Those wind farms are getting less and less ugly every day, aren't they? Now we're gonna get Congressional hearings until we get to the BOTTOM of this! Find out who's responsible, and put 'em AWAY! Like we put the Tobacco Industry execs who perjured themselves in front of a committee away! Say, what ever HAPPENED to those guys, anyway? And last I heard, Mr. Blankenship, killer of coal miners, was still free. Remember this song?:

Oh what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney.
Is there hope for the future?
Cry the brown bells of Merthyr.
Who made the mine owner?
Say the black bells of Rhondda.
And who robbed the miner?
Cry the grim bells of Blaina.

They will plunder will-nilly,
Cry the bells of Caerphilly.
They have fangs, they have teeth,
Shout the loud bells of Neath.
Even God is uneasy,
Say the moist bells of Swansea.
And what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney.

Throw the vandals in court,
Say the bells of Newport.
All will be well if, if, if,
Cry the green bells of Cardiff.
Why so worried, sisters why?
Sang the silver bells of Wye.
And what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney?

Two Years?

I've been lax. That's nothing new, but having my most recent post up since 2008 is ridiculous. This is supposed to reflect a cynical view of the world, and I've got plenty of fodder for the job. Lots of new stuff since 2008! Back then nobody knew who Sarah Palin was. Now we do. People with a reasonably well rounded grasp of history know better than to laugh at her. If our recent eight year dance of death with the village idiot and its disastrous aftershocks are insufficient evidence of irony, we can all take a longer glance back to Munich in the Nineteen Thirties. These so-called leaders, Boehner, Palin, Bachmann, Gingrich (Yep, he's back!) are all guilty of the crime of sedition. The folks they encourage to armed insurrection call themselves Teabaggers, but they are in actuality a small group of delusional, fat, bearded white men who hate the fact that a "Liberal" is in the White House. A black Liberal (he's actually more of a moderate). They have a problem with the new Health care bill. So do I, but for vastly different reasons. I believe it doesn't go far enough towards a single payer system. This new bill may not work smoothly out of the gate, but it does accomplish some potentially beneficial things. As far as the idiotic tenets of the "Tea Party," go, they seem to lean towards the wrong-headed assumption that the Founders (who are long since dead anyway) were of a single mind as to the role of the Federal Government. They weren't.

Lately in the news is the horrendous damage caused to the State of Mississippi, and the statements by its governor, Haley Barbour (the same guy who is currently taking the Federal Government to court to try to exempt his state from the hideous burden of "forcing" citizens to purchase health insurance) that he is unsure if his state will be able to repair the damage caused by the storms. Where might he go for the extra money? Right, the Federal Government. Or he could secede from the Union and deal with his problems himself. Ironic, no?

To the Teabaggers: Lose some weight, stop carrying semi-automatic weapons to your events, read some history, take a deep breath, turn off your radios, and give Obama a chance. To the "leaders" of the Tea Party, stop inciting to armed violence. It's illegal.

The Aftermath... And our grapes of wrath...

The holidays and their attendant enforced cheer are over, and I couldn't be more glad. The season has always exhausted me, mostly on an emotional level. I have executed my duties as a gift consultant, envelope licker, glad-hander, gift wrapper, and chauffer with what I sincerely hope was appropriate good cheer.

I have watched CSPAN, CNN, MSNBC, and even the network "news" programs, leaning forward in my chair, hands wringing in frustration, teeth grinding, seemingly detached from my will. The message of the hour seems to be that we are all about to, individually and collectively, experience our own Tom Joad moment. Things on the economic front, to paraphrase ex-Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, are "less than good." It appears we are in for a financial pranging. Oh, the folks responsible for this disaster will weather the storm fairly well; they have made no signal that they are going to give up their government pensions or perks for the good of the country. As is their wont, they have cast their jaundiced gaze on the most needy and helpless among us- those on Medicaid, Social Security, Medicare, and other entitlement programs. And what do we do about their mendacity and mediocrity? Absolutely nothing. In Italy the citizenry would probably call a general strike or string them up by the heels. Not here-all our leaders need do to keep our panties sticky is appeal to our "patriotism" and call on us to sacrifice. Sacrifice what? A few inches off the diagonal measure of our next flat screen TV purchase, made in China, and sold to us by a society that would by now have had our entire executive and legislature hanged for their failure and sloth?

Bafongool!

The Jackass as Guest

A day after...

Giving Thanks