there was something about some dems meeting and deciding on a new slogan. there was something about the dnc and the ndn giving money for nothing. something about orange. something war and numbery. Something z-mas, froggy, and edgy.

there is something else: our world is broken.

Looking back at late 2005, it is difficult to believe how reviled George W Bush once was. After his xxxxxxxxxx episode, and the subsequent end of his presidency, one could only hope for him to simply disappear, fade away into nothingness, to have him dissolve completely, forgotten. His painful legacy had become all the more acute due to the attacks and revelations made by his closest personal allies whom he betrayed with such viscous clarity during the last months of his downfall.

Nixon quit 565 days into his second term.

And he wasn't half the criminal the current murderous thugs appear to be.

Missing you.

The Honorable Henry A. Kissinger, The Secretary of State,
Washington, D.C. 20520

October 10, 1973

Dear Mr. Secretary:
I hereby resign the Office of Vice President of the United States, effective immediately.

Sincerely,
SPIRO T. AGNEW

There is a big puddle that has gathered in the street in front of our house. There are several reasons the puddle is there, but we pretend that the puddle is caused by the rain, since when it rains the puddle gets bigger, deeper, and muddier.  Yet the puddle does not go away when the rain stops.

The pipe from our house to the sewer leaks a bit.  We never fix it.  There is a depression in the street that is the puddle's home.  We refuse to pay taxes to repair the street. Our vehicles get dirty when we drive through the puddle; when I wash my Chevy Suburban, or my wife's Ford Explorer, the runoff collects in the puddle. I am often too lazy to turn off the hose and it adds to the puddle as well.  One of our trucks leaks a little oil and that gives the puddle a glimmering sheen.

Dr. Rice, from her opening remarks:

Naturally, the very regime she to which she pledges allegiance fails the test absolutely:

The President of the United States has attracted some criticism for, prior to his decision to re-mold the entire fabric of the Middle East, not having read any of the many volumes dedicated to the intricate and intriguing history of the peoples of the region.

There are, of course, a great number of books on the subject, ranging in complexity and point of view; even the memoirs of the president's father (a man who could have occupied Iraq had he made the choice to do so) might have been appropriate.

In light of the president's previous reticence to examine the myriad resources available to him, a recent White House press release has been attended with a fair amount of curiosity.

(more below the fold)

Everything's fine.

The hell with everlasting fire and pain and irony?  Is it orangy-yellow-red with shadowy figures lurking?  Are there black demons with red eyes schooled in torment?  Are the tortured themselves torturers, or murderers, thieves, liars,  adulterers, homosexuals, jews, hindus, unitarians, masturbators, those who said god damn it?  Have you seen pictures?

This is the year of cursing, and I am trying to pace myself.

A few days after the election, I canceled cable tv.  
I was done, and content to read for a while.

I had to go to chicago, sadly, for a funeral of someone I really liked.
He had died on election night.

On the way home, O'hare was awful.  Endless little mobs at the sea of self-serve check-in machines: understaffed by overworked people as the frustrated passengers gathered and pressed.  TSA staff threw luggage on surgical tables with lazy disdain, opening most in slow motion and swabbing compartments and underwear while wearing latex gloves.

Anyway,
Bigotry was a decisive issue in the presidential election of 2004.
Global warming is real.
America is responsible for 100,000 deaths in Iraq, as well as torture of human beings.
A 500 pound bomb dropped in the vicinity of children is called a surgical strike.
There is only one reason to create a voting machine that is in-auditable, un-recountable, and utilizes software that is not available for public scrutiny.
Residents of the city that suffered the most significant attack ever on American soil overwhelmingly voted against an incumbent president who campaigned as best able to defend against terror attacks.
The united states has the largest deficit in its history.
The bible bans shirts of mixed fibers.
More children live in poverty this year than last year.
Empirical data is important.
Learning from history saves lives.

We have laws.

We are ready for a new political label.

We need a new word which cuts across the words we use now, words which are essentially meaningless due to the abuse they have suffered during the political process.  This new descriptor should apply to persons who are dedicated to the following ideals and explicitly not apply to persons who do not recognize these tenets as their own.

Celebrate 28 October 2004 as Moderately Optimistic Day.

On this day, people throughout the world, and especially in the United States, can read, reflect upon, and contribute to a list of imagined events which might easily be true after one year of a Kerry Administration.