missing his antlers and musk gland -- he might as well be a squirrel!
Warning: This is serious and yes, another rant. I realize that people like Frank Rich, Paul Krugman, Gail Collins, and Jon Stewart are already doing a better job than I ever could, but that doesn't stop me. If you love life, how could you not be upset at a time like this?
I've been heartened by the aggressiveness of the New York Times this week, in both its editorials and reporting; the world needs journalists to step up, and so few media empires give them the chance.
And I made the mistake of reading Michael Goodwin in the Daily News' free handout. He lambastes the Times for letting non-GOP reporters dig into the facts behind Gov. Palin's front, as though fairness is what happens when you stand midway between facts and fiction. (Interesting how Creationists use the same bogus "fairness" argument to weasel their way into science class.)
Goodwin repeats what the GOP considers Palin's qualifications, that she is not just "pro-life" but can "field-dress a moose." He's rehashing the GOP dream factory script that brought us the B-movie heroes Reagan -- whose chief accomplishment was demonizing the idea of government and "the common good" -- and Bush Jr., who, along with a GOP congress, has demonstrated the inevitable result of the GOP's cynical philosophy.
Why does the GOP make my blood boil? Because:
1) It is a con, top to bottom. It's created an alternate reality at the core of the world, where facts -- which can be shared by people of different faiths and worldviews -- don't exist. Where whoever cons best wins. The GOP, since long before Rove, has had an uncanny knack for getting voters to let their resentment trump common sense and their own self interest.
Most people just want to be left alone; people are anxious because technology and globalization are pulling the rug out from under them. The GOP sells a simple fiction to counter that anxiety -- the world is black & white, just like Leave it to Beaver -- trying to make a knee-jerk response to the world seem principled.
In a world wired together like never before, where actions cause complex hair-trigger reactions, that's a drunk-driving, suicide-murder level of irresponsibility. And in true Con Man fashion, while one hand distracts the other helps the filthy rich get richer; meanwhile the religious right has no worries -- why should they when they -- like Bush and Palin -- believe their knee-jerk impulses are part of God's plan, and that they'll wind up in heaven no matter what happens to the rest of the world?
2) Their love of ignorance. I think curiosity is at the center of the "life force." The GOP and religious right hate curiosity, because it leads to facts and answers that challenge their narrow beliefs. I really don't see the point of life if we're all supposed to sit here in the dark, regurgitating the words of a single book, as though life, human history and everything else could be reduced to one literal explanation, like a car repair manual.
And since I'm pretty sure I have a better idea of what's on God's mind than the fundamentalists, I'll just add: He/She is not happy with those who insist on blind ignorance and spit in the face of all His/Her work.
(If someone from Focus on the Family stumbles on this and has an aneurysm over "He/She," I'm happy to have facilitated God's plan; one of "the Left's" worst habits is wasting decency on those who wouldn't spend an ounce on anyone else.)
God has also shown that when it comes to earth we're on our own. All we can do is try to keep a level head as the Swift Boats approach, flinging crap, and do our best to steer toward the light.
