"Don't you worry 'bout a thing."
Balderdash
for release 09-12-05
Washington D.C.
by Lightning Rod
Every now and then even Lightning Rod gets a little mushy. You know, all optimistic and gullible and touchy-feely? I know it's hard to believe that a chronic skeptic like me could lapse into a Pollyannaish malaise and wax rhapsodic about how wonderful things could be if only, if only. But we all have our moments of weakness I suppose.
I was listening to CNN tonight and the newscaster was rambling on about "the NEXT hurricane or the NEXT terrorist attack or disaster." And just for a moment, just for a fleeting moment, I allowed myself this fancy: Suppose there was NO next catastrophe. Suppose no more hurricanes or earthquakes or terrorist suicide bombings or murders or robberies or looting or fraud occurred--ever?
Suppose everyone was nice to each other and there were no epidemics or computer viruses or danger from prescription drugs, telephone solicitors or jihads or West Nile virus or global warming. Suppose AIDS mutated into a harmless virus or that mosquitos quit transmitting malaria or that seatbelts and airbags worked every time or they just didn't need to work because nobody tried to drive while drunk or on a cell phone.
Suppose politicians told the truth and were really interested in serving the public good.
Slap! Slap! Ok, let's get back to reality, Lightning Rod.
Shit happens. Life is a series of hazards. You could catch the avian flu or be hit by a bus or eat a bad shrimp and die tomorrow. You could slip in the shower and impale yourself on your Teledyne Waterpik. You can't avoid hazard. Oh, you could avoid hurricanes by moving to Kansas, but they have tornados there. Wherever you go on this earth, nature has something to remind you of your ultimate vulnerability.
As much energy and money as our government has spent trying to convince us that they are keeping us safe from terrorism or disease or disaster, the fact is that there is no protection from the unexpected. About all you can do is minimize your risks. For the past four years, this government has hung its political hat on the hook of, "We are protecting you." Oh yes, they say they are protecting us from suicide bombers and Bic lighters on jet airplanes and Osama bin Boogie Man, but it is becoming apparent that the only thing from which our government is really protecting us is the truth.
I must admit that I'm puzzled. I can't decide how to interpret what my senses observe. I don't know if the suits in our government really believe the things they say are true and they are just that deluded and living in a different world than the rest of us or if they are diabolically clever and devious and know that they tell lie after lie and do it on purpose.
Lies like: "You are safer," because we have stirred up a wasp's nest in Iraq and created the perfect boot-camp for terrorists, and "You are better off economically because of our tax cuts," when you are paying a hundred bucks to fill up your SUV, and "Your healthcare has been improved," because we have entrusted it to the profiteers in the drug and insurance companies. And I'm not even going to mention aluminum tubes, WMD's and Yellow Cake from Niger.
The Poet's Eye would like to see a little more truth in advertising. The corporate slogan of BushCo should be "PR over Policy every time." Spending a couple of million on a staged photo-op in New Orleans is more important than fixing the levees and repairing the wetlands.
Troubled world
Ain't it sad
Famous Bastards
We've been had
Obesity in the breadline
Mad monologorhymists
all mumbling their formulas
if only, if only, if only.....
----Barry Gremillion
Listen to The Joy Urchins performing Famous Bastards
