If you had asked me, 127 days ago, if I thought the absence in my life of daily doses of news would have the effect of making my world outlook calmer or more mellow, I would have answered in the affirmative. As is very frequently the case, I would have been wrong. Increasingly, I have found that I have less and less tolerance for the machinations and short-sightedness of those who are purportedly running the show. In addition to my lessened tolerance I am experiencing a marked decline in the polarization of my views, in particular towards politics. My belief that the left in America would one day rise to the challenge of reform has been so eroded as to not exist. I have no side to be on anymore. Why would I become more radical the less I read and hear about the shenanigans of the megalomaniacs that pass themselves off as "leaders"? More time to think about it I guess.
Until fairly recently, my view of American politics would have condemned the conservative right to the shame they justly deserve while reserving a tempered purgatory for the ever-wavering left. I would have gritted my teeth and swallowed the argument of the greater good which always turns into a justification of the lesser evil. That was then. Today, if you asked me what those people entrusted with power in America were up to, I would tell you that it looks to me like a parade of fools carrying hand baskets full of heads on a dead run for hell. The only difference in the dash to disaster is that the fools parade of the right is in the lead but the left is hard on their heels. Don't get me wrong, I still reserve a deep vitriol for Bush and Cheney and their ilk, liars, thieves and plunderers each and every one, but they are just leading the dash. It seems I am experiencing a full-fledged return to the politics of my youth and a strong desire to man the barricades.
My recent return to radicalization has shown me the possibility of myself as an ex-patriot, a view that up until recently I would have looked at askance. I have met my share of ex-pats in my travels, mostly Americans and Brits, and they usually strike me as a bitter bunch, cynical and sad. I never thought it was my lot to end up owning some dumpy little bar in a small town in some far-flung country, holding forth on the evils of the place I hailed from. I still don't see that fate for myself, not being much for a good old alcoholic debauch anymore. But sober and away from the sad circus that is an excuse for the American body politic? That may be a future I can visualize without cringing.
As for the fanatics of any ilk, moral hall monitors included, my tolerance is at an end. But there is hope! Despite my news blockade, I have heard the rumbling that the official word is out and that the end date for the Christians is May 21st, 2011. They even have the billboards and bus-stop signs proclaiming that it is so. I have not personally seen the signs (oh punster, thou stoop so low) but some of my Atheistic leaning cohorts on Facebook have leaked tidbits of information about the coming rapture. Rapture it will indeed be and not soon enough can it arrive. The only possible event that could make the instant departure of the western-brand of religious fanatics from earth better or more worthy of celebration is if there is a cross-cultural corresponding force that sucks all of the other intolerant religious fanatics along with them. Oh happy day! I will shine my shoes to a fare-the-well and put on my best tie just to look sharp while I join the choir of Secular Humanists singing "Happy Trails" as each and every one of those bastards sails off of the face of the earth and good riddance.
I am sure that I will work up more than a few good rants about as this process continues. I think this is about enough for tonight. But for now suffice it to say that where I once hoped against hope for at least some semblance of progress from the people invested with power in my country, I now hope only for our "leaders" to do me and those I care about the least possible harm as they blunder about, reacting to the direction of the latest passing political wind. And for those who would tell me or others all the many ways we should or cannot live our lives, may gravity quickly loose it surly bonds and free you of this vale of tears.
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