Earlier this year I decided to take a break from the bullshit. This site and and a few others have been outposts of sanity in a medium literally choking in crap. Is it just me or has the level of all round mendacity reached the point where it all blurs into a numbing howl of white noise?
Anyway, as I understand it all opinions are welcome as long as nobody is intentionally trying to piss anyone off. If you’re looking for the same old screams about evil Republicans you won’t like this piece.
Why McCain? Simple, really. I absolutely cannot find anything to cheer about in the supine party. The folks who allowed George Bush to run America into the toilet, increase crime and income disparity along with a slew of evils look to capitalize on their cowardice and dishonesty and Bush’s horrific record. Count me out.
Meteor Blades and a commendable group of folks are doing their best to raise consciousness about the environment in this venue and others, including the ‘Good Ship Lollipop’. The mountain of plastic does not seem to be diminishing, however. Meanwhile, visibility in many Chinese cities is about 100 meters and their chunk of the planet is an environmental disaster zone.
Tibet and Nepal existed for most of the 20th century as mystical backwaters where disenchanted Westerners could go for six weeks or seven years and feel ‘holy’. The locals existed for the most part as props in this narrative, surviving in a state of abject poverty where infant mortality and preventable childhood diseases were the norm. Has China fucked over Tibet? Without a doubt. Is that the main issue about the Olympics? Not in my book.
Out of Iraq? You’re fucking kidding me. Everyday for the next four to eight years the majority of Americans who drive cars will put a key into the ignition of a two-ton chunk of steel powered by fossil fuels America doesn’t have. When Americans start driving environmentally friendly vehicles that do not use oil; or start taking the bus or transit I’ll start taking all the claims about ‘getting out of Iraq’ seriously. Not until.
Outrage over Tibet and the Olympics, however, may finally lead to some serious discussion about the scope of the environmental challenge China faces and the international communities’ solutions to this problem. Freezing China out or vilifying the government might make some feel good, but the reality as it was explained to me yesterday by one Chinese lady is that most Chinese are much more interested in owning their first home or car than any environmental concerns.
Self-interested American consumers see the world the same way. Bullshit promises to leave Iraq while America is still dependent on oil choke the airwaves and are parroted by supporters of both Dem candidates. I can think of countless reasons to criticize McCain but thirty trillion dollars worth of oil says America is staying in Iraq no matter what; and that McCain is telling the truth about America’s and the west’s hypocritical posturing over energy, oil, war and foreign policy.
Go McCain!
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is celebrating a birthday this weekend. I’m doing great with my other work.
Hope others are similarly un-yoked.
i always get shit for saying: let the republicans win another four years in the WH.
but why not? until i hear someone talking about restoring the the rule of law, holding those elected to uphold the law accountable to those laws, and restoring our adherence to the Constitution, then they’re all talking bullshit.
they can blather on about health care. but we can’t pay for it. and the american consumer? that meant something, once. we’re suffering under delusions here.
we won’t have much choice about those two-ton clunkers… sooner than later.
and China? they’ve had what, 5000 years of experience at this civilization shit. they are quicker to realize the impact of pollution and its costs than we are. and they’d be willing to do something about it. they are going to burn coal. how about partnering with them on finding ways to burn it clean? this shit can be done.
don’t get me started. i vacillate between us being morons or just at the end of our own road. sometimes, when i don’t feel completely trapped by the decisions of others, i think we’re not so bad.
Oh and Fuck McCain!
Sideways!
Twice!
With a giant rotating eggbeater!
How ya been?
I understand where you’re coming from, but I’m not sure this is the right way to go about it. I definitely don’t get too excited about the supine party either. I certainly don’t expect either Obama (the likely candidate) or Clinton to do anything major to change the course of the country.
But there are certain things they’re more likely to do than McCain that I think are important – even if not for me, then for other people. A Democrat would sign ENDA into law, and possibly even the medical marijuana bill that has a shot as passing in Congress. A Democrat will keep SCHIP healthy, and possibly push for a more universal healthcare. A Democrat would pick a marginally better SCOTUS candidate, which may not seem like much, but when the SCOTUS votes are coming down to slim margins on shades of meaning, I’d feel more comfortable with our people in – especially once the Big Issues (DOMA, torture, possibly even abortion) start hitting the fan.
Like I said, I don’t expect a Democrat to change our course dramatically. It just ain’t happening. But there are a lot of people who stand to win or lose based even on the smaller differences between a split government (Repub president, Dem congress) and a unified Dem government. I’m voting for the lesser of two evils for them, knowing the bigger issues still need our work.
And I do mean work: we have to hit hardcore on the local level first. We can’t rely on a president to change the country. It starts in the community.
He wants POTUS on his obit notices. Nice state funeral, too. And a presidential library. Air Force One, MC One, Camp David. All the imperial trappings. It’s probably some inner-child inadequacy when measured against his dad and granddad.
I voted for him in 2000 in the mA primary. It was a two-fer, pro-Johnny Mc and anti-W. This time around he has lost every last shred of credibility. This is a guy who was tortured for years in North Vietnam. The torture included waterboarding. When the news broke that his newest, bestest buddy George was into that sort of shit, John-boy just zipped it. He’s going along to get along. What a standup guy! He’s been tortured and now he remains silent as his CinC endorses brutalizing illegally rendered, untried, unconvicted human beings.
The Dems suck, too. Hillary is a corporate tool who will change very little but I don’t see her or Obama, the Great Orator, condoning torture or the illegal wiretapping. I’ll settle for that, SCHIP and scrapping NCLB as major advances for homo americanus for the next four years.
But hey, it’s what used to be a free country. When I get in this frame of mind I vote Green Party or some such.
Shanti.
The Republicans are fascists.
We’re impatient with the collaborators, so let’s throw in with the fascists?
Talk about embracing the horror.
The electorate bounces around in the tiny political cage they’ve been given, crazy as a rat in a coffee can. They’d rather endorse any savagery than actually try to change things.
Thinking outside the box is just too much effort, so let’s kill another million so we can fill up those SUVs. If we don’t do it, somebody else will.
McCain’s honest? Really tortures the meaning of the word.
how many times has this been used as an excuse for imperialism? In the backwater of North America when it was “discovered” and systematically depopulated by Europeans (who had centuries of experience building civilization). And Palestine — well, there’s no such country as Palestine, just an empty space ready for settlers. Or Australia and New Zealand, where the best thing the indigenous populations could do is make way for the white man and his burden:
When Tibet disappears, no regrets, right? Just making way for the inevitable.
Curious that the world order that keeps us comfortable at the cost of another’s blood is “inevitable.”
of what “government” would do given a “change” mandate of a win by either Dem candidate to my wife and she is solid McCain.
I am still planning on doing a Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich write in but that November date is still a thousand years away in the possibility of us making it till then.
Rearrainging the deck chairs on the Titanic is of little interest.
well, i agree with much of this, but disagree strongly with your conclusion. but it’s great to see you- and hope you’ll stop in more often!